Federal Election Commission

Some of the key events about Federal Election Commission

• 1975

  Established as an independent regulatory agency to enforce campaign finance law
• 1975

  Failed to fully enforce campaign finance laws due to lack of resources and authority
• 1976

  Issued first comprehensive set of regulations for federal elections
• 1979

  Implemented electronic filing system for campaign finance reports
• 1979

  Criticized for ineffective enforcement of disclosure requirements for political action committees
• 1980

  Conducted first audit of a presidential campaign
• 1984

  Accused of partisan bias in enforcement decisions
• 1990

  Introduced standardized forms for reporting campaign finances
• 1991

  Faced criticism for slow response to campaign finance violations
• 1996

  Struggled to regulate "soft money" contributions to political parties
• 1999

  Launched online database of campaign finance information
• 2000

  Unable to effectively address issues with online political advertising
• 2002

  Implemented new regulations following the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act
• 2007

  Expanded disclosure requirements for bundled contributions
• 2008

  Criticized for weak enforcement of coordination rules between campaigns and outside groups
• 2010

  Issued new rules in response to Citizens United v. FEC Supreme Court decision
• 2010

  Failed to adequately respond to the impact of Citizens United v. FEC decision
• 2016

  Deadlocked on key enforcement decisions due to partisan gridlock
• 2018

  Improved website to enhance public access to campaign finance data
• 2020

  Faced criticism for ineffective oversight of digital political advertising

Disclaimer: This material is written based on information taken from open sources, including Wikipedia, news media, podcasts, and other public sources.