John Hardin Young spent an entire week in February 2010, in Manila meeting with the Commission on Elections (COMELEC) and other stakeholders and advise on complaints adjudication as the entire country shifts to Optical Scan Ballot technology for the upcoming May 2010 general election. Mr. Young and Minnesota Supreme Court Justice Paul H. Anderson also met with high-ranking members of the judiciary, as well as prominent civil society groups, academics, and other election stakeholders.

Both experts participated in a panel discussion about their experiences in the Phillipines at IFES after they returned.  Read the transcript and/or listen to the podcast here.

Neil Reiff discusses the implications of Speechnow.org v Federal Elections Commission in a published comment in JURIST.  In the comment, Mr. Reiff examines the momentum of recent campaign finance decisions and forecasts the impact of recent decisions on the changing political landscape.

Mr. Reiff writes, “The Speechnow.org decision (which also upheld political committee reporting requirements for independent expenditure committees) will bring more independent spending into the light by inducing committees to avoid the subterfuges of “issue advocacy” while subjecting their activity to the reporting regime of federal campaign finance law.”

Read the full comment here.