|
|
Article: Federal Election Commission
- Article from:
- West's Encyclopedia of American Law
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2005 The Gale Group, Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
|
FEDERAL ELECTION COMMISSION
The Federal Election Commission (FEC) is an independent agency that was established by the 1974 amendments to the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 (88 Stat.
§
1280 [2U.S.C.A.
§
431 et seq.]). The 1974 amendments
—
passed after President richard m. nixon resigned in the wake of the watergate scandals, which included charges of abuse of power and obstruction of justice involving campaign contributions
—
set out financial rules governing campaigns for federal office. The FEC was designed to act both as a clearinghouse for information on federal campaign laws and as the enforcer of campaign laws.
The FEC is composed of six commissioners ...