Toledo, OH — Should donating even five dollars or less to a candidate result in your personal information being posted online for anyone to find? Confusingly, current law says “sometimes.”
The law says “no” if you personally hand a check for $200 directly to a federal candidate. But it says “yes” if your donation, no matter how small, is passed through a conduit like WinRed and ActBlue. Your direct donations are protected, but your indirect ones are exposed.
The Institute for Free Speech strongly believes the answer should be uniformly “no,” which is why attorneys from the Institute filed a federal lawsuit today in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Ohio on behalf of two small-dollar donors from Toledo. The suit challenges the constitutionality of federal campaign finance disclosure requirements for small-dollar donors who use online platforms to donate.
The lawsuit seeks to make disclosure rules uniform by enjoining the Federal Election Commission (FEC) from applying federal disclosure requirements to contributions of $200 or less made through online fundraising platforms like WinRed or ActBlue.
Under current law, political committees are not required to disclose identifying information for donors who give $200 or less. However, when these same small-dollar donations are made through online platforms, the donor’s personal information must be reported to the FEC and posted online.
The plaintiffs fear that the public disclosure of their small-dollar political donations could lead to personal and professional repercussions, including potential impacts on their business relationships and increased pressure from other candidates for further donations, effectively chilling their ability to engage in anonymous political speech.
“A small-dollar donor’s privacy is constitutionally protected because a modest contribution can’t be corrupting,” said Institute for Free Speech Senior Attorney Charles “Chip” Miller. “That’s why direct small-dollar donations are not publicly reported. This discrepancy for indirect donations violates the First Amendment and must end. Undoubtedly, most of the millions of citizens who donate to federal candidates online don’t know that such a small contribution results in a loss of privacy.”
The lawsuit argues that the disclosure requirement for conduit contributions violates donors’ First Amendment rights to free speech and association. It seeks declaratory and injunctive relief to prevent the FEC from requiring disclosure of donor information for contributions of $200 or less made through online platforms—bringing the law in line with reporting requirements for direct donations. The platforms would still be required to report the information to the receiving campaign, so that the campaign would know the identity and could make appropriate reports to the FEC if other contributions from the same supporter push the total over $200.
The complaint highlights the massive scale of the disclosure of small-dollar donations. Since January 2023, WinRed has reported routing over $622 million in earmarked contributions, with its latest quarterly report exceeding 4.5 million pages. Over 21 million of WinRed’s conduit contributions totaled $200 or less during this period.
The FEC itself has recognized issues with the current law. In December 2023, the Commission unanimously approved a legislative recommendation urging Congress to amend the reporting requirement for conduit contributions to establish an itemization threshold consistent with other reporting requirements. The agency told Congress the change was one of the four “highest priority” recommendations.
“The FEC admits there’s a problem, but Congress hasn’t acted,” Miller added. “Meanwhile, millions of Americans are having their personal information needlessly exposed. It’s time for the courts to step in and protect the rights of small-dollar donors.”
The lawsuit requests that the court certify questions about the constitutionality of the law, which appears at 52 U.S.C. § 30116(a)(8), to the en banc Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals, as provided by another part of federal campaign finance law. It also asks the court to order the FEC to remove the plaintiffs’ past small-dollar conduit donations from its public reports.
To read the complaint in the lawsuit, Oliver, et al. v. Federal Election Commission, click here. To read more about the case, please see our case page here.
About the Institute for Free Speech
The Institute for Free Speech promotes and defends the political speech rights to freely speak, assemble, publish, and petition the government guaranteed by the First Amendment.
