Vermont Business Magazine The Vermont Attorney General’s Office has concluded that an email solicitation by Bernie Sanders’ campaign in May of this year that stated Sanders’ support for several state and local candidates around the country, including Vermont state senate candidate Chris Pearson, and encouraged recipients to donate to these candidates, did not violate Vermont’s campaign finance laws.
“The email was not express advocacy for the election of Pearson,” said Attorney General Sorrell. “As a result, the email does not meet the definition of the type of speech regulated by the Vermont statute, particularly given the First Amendment protections for certain types of advocacy in campaigns.” Both the United States and Vermont Supreme Courts have held that the State’s ability to restrict campaign communications is limited to messages that cannot reasonably be interpreted other than as an appeal to vote in a particular way in an election. “The email does not meet the Courts’ test,” explained General Sorrell, “primarily because its central and sole purpose was to raise funds for particular candidates, not to request that its readers vote a particular way or for a particular candidate.”
The Attorney General noted that some state laws and the federal election laws do include provisions that regulate solicitations like the Sanders email. Federal election law, for example, requires disclaimers as to the source of solicitation mailings. “It is up to the Vermont legislature
to determine whether Vermont’s law should be expanded to include regulation of this type of activity,” said General Sorrell.
Source: Attorney General 9.6.2016