Campaign Fundraising Gets a Text From the FEC

You can already send money to your favorite charity via text message. Now it may not be long before you’ll be able to do the same for political candidates. On June 11 the Federal Election Commission unanimously agreed to let campaigns begin accepting modest political contributions via mobile messaging, a ruling that even campaign finance watchdogs lobbied for as an antidote to the influence of billionaire-funded superPACs.

If phone companies sign on, candidates, parties, and independent political groups will soon be allowed to register for a unique five- or six-digit “short code.” Supporters could then text that number with a donation, which will appear on their cell phone bill. Campaigns won’t know who sent them money, only what phone number it came from. Federal election laws require campaigns to keep records of donors who give more than $50, and to disclose those who give more than $200 a year, so the FEC is limiting texted contributions to $50 a month per cell phone number. Campaigns will also have to make donors attest that they’re U.S. citizens, at least 18 years old, and putting forward their own funds—not those of a relative or employer who pays the bill.