Throughout the 2012 election cycle, Breitbart News provided extensive coverage of the threat of illegal foreign and fraudulent online campaign donations.
The Government Accountability Institute’s comprehensive 108-page report–“America The Vulnerable: Are Foreign and Fraudulent Online Campaign Contributions Influencing U.S. Elections?”–revealed myriad gaping online security holes that leave U.S. elections vulnerable to fraudulent campaign contributions.
In Wednesday’s USA Today, Government Accountability Institute President Peter Schweizer proposed a simple, four-part plan to increase transparency and begin safeguarding U.S. federal elections from illegal foreign money. Whether through voluntary implementation or changes to Federal Election Commission (FEC) laws, GAI recommends that all federal candidates do the following four things:
- Disclose the names of all campaign bundlers.
- Publicly report all donations, including those under $200 (candidates are not presently required to report identifying information for donations under $200 in an election cycle).
- Make donation websites require donors to enter their credit card security code (known as the CVV) before making online contributions.
- Notify foreign website visitors via a pop-up that it’s illegal to donate.
“Federal elections this cycle spent roughly $6 billion,” said GAI President Peter Schweizer in an interview with Breitbart News. “A big portion of that was raised online, where anonymity masks identity. The time has come for outdated Federal Election Commission (FEC) laws to catch up to the realities and dangers of online fundraising in the digital age.”