Hans A. von Spakovsky
Commissioner Hans A. von Spakovsky was nominated to the Federal Election Commission by President George W. Bush on December 15, 2005 and was appointed on January 4, 2006.
Prior to his appointment, Commissioner von Spakovsky served as Counsel to the Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights in the U.S. Department of Justice, where he provided expertise and advice on voting and election issues, including of the Help America Vote Act of 2002.
Commissioner von Spakovsky has had a wide range of experiences in election related issues, including as a member of the first Board of Advisors of the U.S. Election Assistance Commission and the Fulton County Board of Registration and Elections, which administered elections in the largest county in Georgia. He served on the Voting Standards Committee of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) and on the Election and Voter Service Technical Committee of the Organization for the Advancement of Structured Information Standards (OASIS), which were developing standards for voting equipment and electronic data interchange.
Commissioner von Spakovsky is a past member of the Board of Advisors of the Georgia Public Policy Foundation, the Georgia Election Officials Association and the International Association of Clerks, Recorders, Election Officials and Treasurers. The Commission on Federal Election Reform organized by President Jimmy Carter and Secretary James Baker has also sought his expertise. Commissioner von Spakovsky has testified before state and Congressional legislative committees and published articles on voter fraud, election reform, e-government, and Internet voting. He has appeared before numerous organizations including the National Association of Secretaries of State and the National Association of State Election Directors.
Prior to entering public service, Commissioner von Spakovsky worked as a government affairs consultant, in a corporate legal department, and in private practice. He received a J.D. from the Vanderbilt University School of Law in 1984 and a B.S. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1981. He is a member of the Georgia and Tennessee bars. He is a first-generation American whose parents immigrated to the United States in 1951. They met in a refugee camp as displaced persons after the end of World War II. He is originally from Huntsville, Alabama.
Statements and opinions
Advisory opinions
- Concurring Opinion, Advisory Opinion 2007-11 (with Commissioner Mason), California State Party Committees (re: Including name of Federal candidate/officeholder as "Featured Speaker" or "Honored Guest" on invitations to State or local party non-Federal fundraiser does not violate FECA), August 3, 2007 (PDF)
- Dissenting Opinion, Advisory Opinion 2007-04, Atlatl, Inc. (re: Political committee payment of credit card processing fees), April 19, 2007 (PDF)
- Concurring Opinion, Advisory Opinion 2006-33 (with Commissioner Mason), National Association of Realtors, December 19, 2006 (PDF)
- Statement, Advisory Opinion 2006-31 (with Commissioners Toner and Mason), Bob Casey for Pennsylvania Committee (re: provisions of lowest unit charge and in-kind contributions), October 24, 2006 (PDF)
- Dissenting Opinion, Advisoy Opinion 2006-24, National Republican Senatorial Committee and Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (Re: election recount funding), October 5, 2006 (PDF)
- Concurring Opinion (with Commissioner Mason) and Dissenting Opinion of Commissioner Toner, AO 2006-10, EchoStar Satellite LLC (re: Public service announcements and the solicitation exemption of the coordinated communication regulations), September 26, 2006 (PDF)
- Concurring Opinion, Advisory Opinion 2006-19, Los Angeles County Democratic Party Central Committee (LACDP), June 5, 2006 (PDF)
- Dissenting Opinion, Advisory Opinion 2006-04 (with Commissioner Toner), John Ponder, Treasurer—Thomas Tancredo for Congress Committee (re: Contributions of federal candidate to state ballot initiatives), May 16, 2006 (PDF)
Enforcement
- MUR 5711, Senator Barbara Boxer, Senator Dianne Feinstein, Representative Nancy Pelosi and Phil Angelides (re: Federal candidate's appearance on a non-federal candidate's website and the Cantor/RGA advisory opinions), September 20, 2007 (PDF)
- MUR 5787R, David Vitter for U.S. Senate and William Vanderbrook in his official capacity as treasurer (re: Disclosure on polling and research telephone calls), September 4, 2007 (PDF)
- MUR 5679, Scranton Times-Tribune; Bob Casey for Pennsylvania Committee, and Vanessa DeSalvo Getz, as treasurer (re: Scope of the media exemption), April 12, 2007 (PDF)
- MUR 5722, Friends for Lauzen and Lee Holmes, in his official capacity as Treasurer, Chris Lauzen (re: Funding of "testing the waters" activity), March 26, 2007 (PDF)
- MUR 5681, High Point Regional Association of Realtors; National Association of Realtors Political Action Committee and Bruce Wolf, in his official capacity as treasurer (re: Solicitation by trade association PAC in monthly newsletter), March 26, 2007 (PDF)
- MUR 5733/MUR 5672, John "Jack" Davis Jr., in his personal capacity; Jack Davis for Congress and Robert R. Davis, in his official capacity as treasurer; I Squared R Element Co., Inc.; Save American Jobs PAC; Jack Davis Exploratory Committee, Inc.; Davis for Congress and Alan J. Davis, in his official capacity as treasurer (re: The intent element of the "testing the waters" regulation; disclaimer requirements for e-mail communications), March 13, 2007 (PDF)
- MUR 5672/MUR 5733, Save American Jobs Association, Inc.; Jack Davis for Congress and Robert R. Davis, in his official capacity as treasurer; I Sqared R Element Co., Inc.; Save Jobs Party and Jack Davis, in his official capacity as treasurer; John "Jack" Davis Jr., in his personal capacity (re: The intent element of the "testing the waters" regulation; disclaimer requirements for e-mail communications), March 13, 2007 (PDF)
- MUR 5597, John McConnel Wolfe, Jr.; John McConnel Wolfe, Jr. for Congress and Alfred F. Teague, in his official capacity as treasurer (re: Fact-specific dismissal; prosecutorial discretion), March 13, 2007 (PDF)
- MUR 5743, Betty Sutton; Betty Sutton for Congress and Joseph Quolke, in his official capacity as treasurer; EMILY's List and Judy Lichtman, in her official capacity as treasurer; OH Women's Vote!, a project of EMILY's List (re: Use of photograph publicly available on internet does not constitute replication of campaign materials), January 23, 2007 (PDF)
- MUR 5744, Daniel W. Hynes; Hynes for Senate, and Jeffrey C. Wagner, in his official capacity as treasurer (re: Personal liability of a candidate entitled to increased contribution limits under the Millionaire's Amendment), December 19, 2006 (PDF)
- MUR 5604, William D. Mason; Friends of William D. Mason and Thomas Regas, in his official capaicty as treasurer; Kerry-Edwards 2004, Inc. and Robert Farmer, in his official capacity as treasurer (re: Handbills and the volunteer exemption; handbills are not public communications), December 11, 2006 (PDF)
- MUR 5410, Oberweis Dairy, Inc.; Robert Renaut; James D. Oberweis; Oberweis for U.S. Senate 2004, Inc. and Joseph M. Wiegand, in his official capacity as Treasurer (re: Commercial advertisements as coordinated communications), December 8, 2006 (PDF)
- MUR 5526, Graf for Congress, and Thomas Linn, in his official capacity as treasurer (re: Disclaimer requirements for websites), November 27, 2006 (PDF)
- Dissenting opinion, MUR 5563, Kirk Shelmerdine Racing, LLC (re: The federal campaign finance law implications of campaign decals on a NASCAR driver's race car), September 29, 2006 (PDF)
- MUR 5651, Joseph Gallagher, Blought County Democratic Committee, and Arnold G. Pesterfield, Treasurer (re: Amount threshold for pursuing enforcement actions predicated on FEA, coordinated communication, independent expenditure, and/or political committee status violations), September 21, 2006 (PDF)
- MUR 5600, Michigan Democratic State Central Committee and Alan Helmkamp, in his official capacity as treasurer ; John D. Dingell for Congress Committee and Guy R. Martin, in his official capacity as treasurer; Representative John D. Dingell (re: Applicability of federal disclosure requirements to communications made wholly in connection with nonfederal elections and paid for with nonfederal funds from nonfederal accounts), June 30, 2006 (PDF)
- MUR 5721, Lockheed Martin Employees’ PAC and Stephen E. Chaudet, in his official capacity as treasurer; Kenneth Phelps, in his personal capacity. (re: Regarding the maintenance of payroll deduction authorization forms and recordkeeping requirements), June 12, 2006 (WORD) ((PDF)
- ADR 243/MUR 5516, Patlak for Congress and James S. Carver, Treasurer (re: Rejection of Alternative Dispute Resolution Office (ADR) proposed settlement), May 17, 2006 (PDF)
- MUR 5641, Robert Shrum, John Kerry for President, Inc., David Thorne, Treasurer and Shrum Devine & Donilon, Inc. (re: Contract disputes that implicate federal campaign finance laws), May 10, 2006 (PDF)
- MUR 5595, World Class Gun Shows, Inc & Clear Channel Communications, Inc.—WFBQ Radio (re: Application of Electioneering Communication provision to commercial advertising), April 7, 2006 (PDF)
- MUR 5569, Cynthia Matthews, Committee to Elect Cynthia Matthews, John Kobylt, Ken Chiampou, KFI AM-640, and Kinde Durkee, Treasurer (re: Proper application of the media exemption), March 17, 2006 (PDF)
- MUR 5555, Dave Ross, Friends of Dave Ross, Entersom Seattle, LLC d/b/a/ KIRO-AM and Philip Lloyd, Treasurer (re: Proper application of the media exemption), March 17, 2006 (PDF)
Rulemaking and litigation
- Statement on the Adoption of New Travel Regulations, December 14, 2007 (PDF)
- Statement on Proposed Interim Final Rule Exempting Certain Grassroots Lobbying Communications From BCRA's Electioneering Communications Provisions, August 3, 2006 (PDF)
- Statement on Commission's Decision Not To Open New Rulemaking on 527 Organizations, May 31, 2006 (PDF)
- Statement on Internet Rulemaking, March 27, 2006 (PDF)
- Statement on Definitions of "Solicit" and "Direct," February 23, 2006 (PDF)
- Statement on Final Rule on Definition of Agent for BCRA Regulations on Non-Federal Funds or Soft Money and Coordinated and Independent Expenditures, January 23, 2006 (PDF)
- Statement on the Commission's Implementation of the Supreme Court's Decision in Wisconsin Right to Life v. FEC, November 20, 2007 (PDF)
Audits and public financing
Media and appearances
Speeches and articles
- Speech, "Implementation of Computerized Voter Registration Databases—The Help America Vote Act of 2002 (HAVA)," Intended to be presented at the INFORMA Conference Modernising Elections, London England, March 30 & 31, 2006, but the conference was cancelled. (PDF)
- Statement on Tribal Political Contributions, in response to testimony presented at January 23, 2006 hearing of Senate Indian Affairs Committee, February 8, 2006 (PDF)
- Article, "The Help America Vote Act of 2002: A Statutory Primer," The Federalist Society for Law and Public Policy Studies, June 2005 (PDF)
- Article, "Voting by Military Personnel and Overseas Citizens: the Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act," The Federalist Society for Law and Public Policy Studies, January 2005 (PDF)
- Editorial, "Mix of Voting Equipment is Best," The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, September 7, 2001 (PDF)
- Testimony, "Voter Fraud and Election Reform," before the Senate Rules Committee, United States Senate, Washington, DC, July 23, 2001 (PDF)
- Testimony, "Absentee Balloting and Voter Fraud," before the Senate Governmental Affairs Committee, United States Senate, Washington, DC, May 9, 2001 (PDF)
- Article, "Model State Legislation for Voting Equipment Vendors," April 12, 2001 (PDF)
- Article, "Gauging the Risks of Internet Elections," The Enduring Debate, Classic and Contemporary Readings in American Politics, Third Edition, Originally Published January 2001 (PDF)
- Article, "Eliminating State Trade Barriers to E-Commerce," Issues Analysis, Georgia Public Policy Foundation, September 18, 2000 (PDF)
- Editorial, "Internet taxation not in Georgia's best interest," Statesboro Herald, , March 19, 2000 (PDF)
- Article, "Sales Taxes and the E-Commerce Revolution," Issues Analysis, GA Public Policy Foundation, March 15, 2000 (PDF)
- Editorial (with Deborah M. Phillips), "Internet Voting Short on Security," The Atlanta Journal, February 8, 2000 (PDF)
- Article, "Should Georgia Adopt Early Voting?", Issues Analysis, Georgia Public Policy Foundation, August 6, 1999 (PDF)
- Article, "Paycheck Protection: Union Dues, Political Spending, and Employee Freedom of Choice," Issues Analysis, Georgia Public Policy Foundation, April 20, 1999 (PDF)
- Article, "Voter Fraud: Protecting the Integrity of Our Democratic System," Issues Analysis, Georgia Public Policy Foundation, March 24, 1997 (PDF)