OLYMPIA, Wash. (AP) — State officials are mulling their options after a federal judge overturned a state law limiting campaign contributions in the final weeks of ballot measure campaigns.
The lawsuit was filed last year by Family PAC, a political action committee involved in the Referendum 71 vote on expanded partnerships for gay couples.
Family PAC said the state’s ban on donations over 5,000 in the three weeks before Election Day amounted to an unconstitutional violation of free political speech.
In a ruling last week, U.S. District Judge Ronald Leighton agreed. But Leighton kept in place disclosure requirements that spell out who gives all but the smallest donations.
Attorneys for the Public Disclosure Commission haven’t decided whether to appeal yet.
