The Los Angeles Post

Campaigns can bypass spam filters, FEC says

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The Federal Election Commission (FEC) voted Thursday to allow Google to push forward a Gmail pilot program that would allow campaign emails to dodge spam filters, a move that comes after accusations from Republicans that the filters were biased against their messages.

 

The FEC voted 4-1 to approve the program, concluding that the test of new features is permissible under campaign law.

  • Commissioner Ellen Weintraub, a Democrat who voted against the order, said she has “a hard time getting around the fact that this is a unique benefit offered to political committees, and only to political committees.”
  • Democratic Commissioner Dara Lindenbaum joined the three Republicans in voting for the program, but expressed similar hesitation.
  • “I don’t want to [support this], and it’s for the same reasons all the commenters don’t want to, but I think the law and commissioner regulations and commission precedent permits this,” Lindenbaum said.