The original law required Petitioners to include disclaimers that took up 23% of a mailer, 35% of a newspaper ad, and 51% of a video ads’ screen.
Respondents told this Court that compelling political committees to identify secondary donors as part of their ads is “vital” to informing the electorate.
They argued that the city’s interest here “is of a great magnitude,” id. at 13 (cleaned up), because the information is “valuable” to the voters, id. “Without [the old version of] Proposition F,” Respondents claimed, “political committees would continue to be able to hoodwink the public .
Third, the change does not address two other reasons for granting certiorari: clarifying the standard of review, Pet.18-22, and, most critically, resolving the constitutionality of publicizing the identity of so-called secondary donors, id. 22-24, 29-30.
Those problems range from spreading “misinformation,” Van Hollen v. Fed. Election Comm’n, 811 F.3d 486, 497-98 (D.C. Cir. 2016), to having donors withhold support out of fear that the secondary-donor rule might be triggered, Reply 9; Pet. App. 66a-67a, 129a.