[T]he solicitation from and contributions by candidates, slates of candidates, campaign committees, political issues committees, permanent committees, and party executive committees to any religious, charitable, civic, eleemosynary, or other causes or organizations established primarily for the public good is expressly prohibited; except that it shall not be construed as a violation of this section for a candidate or slate of candidates to continue regular personal contributions to religious, civic, or charitable groups.
No candidates running as a slate for the office of Governor and Lieutenant Governor shall make combined total personal loans to their committee in excess of fifty thousand dollars ($50,000) in any one (1) election....
No slate of candidates for Governor and Lieutenant Governor or their immediate families shall loan any money, service, or other thing of value to their campaign, and all moneys, services, or other things of value which are loaned shall be deemed a contribution, which may not be recovered by the slate of candidates, except to the extent of a combined total of fifty thousand dollars ($50,000).
A slate of candidates for Governor and Lieutenant Governor that has filed a statement of intent to accept transfers from the fund and abide by the maximum expenditure limit that was not rescinded pursuant to KRS 121A.040(4) may receive contributions from permanent committees which, in the aggregate, shall not exceed twenty-five percent (25%) of the qualifying contributions received by the slate of candidates in any one (1) election. A slate of candidates that has filed a statement of intent to reject transfers from the fund and not abide by the maximum expenditure limit or one that has rescinded a statement of intent to accept transfers from the fund pursuant to KRS 121A.040(4) may receive contributions from permanent committees which, in the aggregate, shall not exceed twenty-five percent (25%) of the qualifying contributions received by the slate of candidates in any one (1) election up to a maximum of one hundred fifty thousand dollars ($150,000) in any one (1) election.
All newspaper or magazine advertising, posters, circulars, billboards, handbills, sample ballots, and paid-for television or radio announcements with reference to or intended for, the support or defeat of a candidate, slate of candidates, or group of candidates for nomination or election to any public office shall be identified by the words “paid for by” followed by the name and address of the payer, or the committee, organization, or association and its treasurer, on whose behalf the communication appears....
The Registry contends that Congressman Bunning used the poll, in part, to test the waters for a possible gubernatorial run, and this constituted “exploratory activity” prohibited by the new Public Financing Campaign Act. However, ... we have grave concerns that such a construction of the statute would have a profound chilling effect on the exercise of protected rights to free association and speech.”
The Registry has, however, informed Wilkinson it will enforce KRS 121.150(1) by requiring that he register a committee through which to report all such expenditures, as well as all contributions, whether by him or from third parties, from which those expenditures are made. Wilkinson does not concede that the Registry may require him to do so.
[T]he Registry has interpreted the proviso to KRS 121.150(2) as not prohibiting natural persons from making charitable contributions when they become candidates for public office. As interpreted by the Registry, KRS 121.150(2) only prohibits registered committees, including candidates' campaign committees, from making charitable contributions. See, Answer at ¶ 23. Since both Plaintiffs are natural persons, and neither is a registered committee, the Registry's interpretation renders their challenge to this statute moot.
In general, the likelihood of success that need be shown will vary inversely with the degree of injury the plaintiff will suffer absent an injunction.... It thus appears that the precise wording of the standard for the likelihood of success on the merits is not as important as a realistic appraisal of all the traditional factors weighed by a court of equity. A balancing is required, and not the mechanical application of a certain form of words.
In view of our finding that a presidential candidate is not compelled to accept public financing under the statutes or to accept the limitations imposed ... we are left with the issue of whether Congress may lawfully condition a presidential candidate's eligibility for public federal campaign funds upon the candidate's voluntary acceptance of limitations on campaign expenditures and private contributions ... if so, is the effect of the law to abridge either (a) the rights of the candidate or (b) the rights of his or her supporters. We have no difficulty concluding that the imposition *927 of such conditions lies within Congress' power to legislate under the General Welfare Clause and that, as long as the candidate remains free to engage in unlimited private funding and spending instead of limited public funding, the law does not violate First Amendment rights of the candidate or supporters.
[T]he knowledge that a candidate who one does not want to be elected will have her spending limits increased and will receive a public subsidy equal to half the amount of the independent expenditure, as a direct result of that independent expenditure, chills the free exercise of that protected speech.”
An annual $100 limit on contributions to or by political funds and committees is too low to allow meaningful participation in protected political speech and association, and thus is not narrowly tailored to serve the state's legitimate interest in protecting the integrity of the political system.
In contrast to the ordinance at issue in Talley, appellees can legitimately claim that R.C. 3599.09 has as its purpose the identification of persons who distribute *932 materials containing false statements.... The minor requirement imposed by R.C. 3599.09 that those persons producing campaign literature identify themselves as the source thereof neither impacts the content of their message nor significantly burdens their ability to have it disseminated. This burden is more than counterbalanced by the state interest in providing the voters to whom the message is directed with a mechanism by which they may better evaluate its validity. Moreover, the law serves to identify those who engage in fraud, libel or false advertising. Not only are such interests sufficient to overcome the minor burden placed upon such persons, these interests were specifically acknowledged in [First National Bank of Boston v.] Bellotti, [435 U.S. 765, 98 S.Ct. 1407, 55 L.Ed.2d 707 (1978) ] to be regulations of the sort which would survive constitutional scrutiny.
If the provisions of subsection (2) of Section 5 of this Act are declared unconstitutional, the maximum contribution which may be made to or received by a slate of candidates that has filed a statement of intent to reject transfers from the fund and not abide by the maximum expenditure limit or a slate that has rescended [sic] a statement of intent to accept transfers from the fund shall be five hundred dollars ($500) in any one (1) election.
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