How does NVRI find the cases in which it becomes involved?
We work with a wide network of activists and organizations nationwide. These individuals and organizations are aware of NVRI’s active role as a legal and public education center in the campaign finance reform field. The Institute has also gained prominence through its collaboration with state attorneys general and secretaries of state throughout the United States. Individuals, organizations, and government agencies contact us for our legal expertise and public education experience in campaign finance reform efforts. In 1976, the U.S. Supreme Court decided that it was unconstitutional to limit the amount a candidate can spend on his/her campaign. The Court said that it violated candidates’ free speech rights of the First Amendment. Is NVRI saying that the Supreme Court is wrong? Yes, and the Supreme Court has been wrong before. For example, in 1937 and in 1951, the Court upheld the poll tax, a fee charged to voters in order to vote. Then, in 1966, Annie Harper, a poor Virginia voter, an
