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The Federal Election Commission (or FEC) is an independent regulatory agency that was founded in 1975 by the United States Congress to regulate the campaign finance legislation in the United States. It was created in a provision of the 1975 amendment to the Federal Election Campaign Act. It describes its duties as "to disclose campaign finance information, to enforce the provisions of the law such as the limits and prohibitions on contributions, and to oversee the public funding of Presidential elections."

Membership
The Commission is made up of six members, who are appointed by the President of the United States and confirmed by the United States Senate. Each member serves a six-year term, and two seats are subject to appointment every two years. By law, no more than three Commissioners can be members of the same political party, and at least four votes are required for any official Commission action. This structure was created to encourage nonpartisan decisions and, some claim, to discourage rulings which would be harmful to both major parties.

The Chairmanship of the Commission rotates among the members each year, with no member serving as Chairman more than once during his or her term.

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Official duties
Although the Commission's name implies broad authority over U.S. elections, in fact its role is limited to the administration of federal campaign finance laws. It enforces limitations and prohibitions on contributions and expenditures, investigates and prosecutes violations (investigations are typically initiated by complaints from other candidates, parties, "watchdog groups," and the public), audits a limited number of campaigns and organizations for compliance, and administers the presidential campaign fund, which provides public funds to candidates for president and nominating conventions.

The FEC also publishes reports filed by Senate, House of Representatives and Presidential campaigns that list how much each campaign has raised and spent, and a list of all donors over $200, along with each donor's home address, employer and job title. This database also goes back to 1980. Private organizations are legally prohibited from using these data to solicit new individual donors (and the FEC authorizes campaigns to include a limited number of "dummy" names as a measure to prevent this), but may use this information to solicit Political Action Committees. While these exhaustive campaign finance resources are available to everyone, they are rarely used by the public. The FEC also maintains an active program of public education, directed primarily to explaining the law to the candidates, campaigns and committees which it regulates.

Criticism
Critics of the FEC, including campaign finance reform supporters such as Common Cause and Democracy 21, have complained that the FEC's bipartisan structure renders the agency "toothless." Critics also claim that most FEC penalties for violating election law come well after the actual election in which they were committed. Defenders of the agency point out, however, that the Commissioners rarely divide evenly along partisan lines, and that the response time problem may be endemic to the system. To complete steps necessary to resolve a complaint - including time for defendants to respond to the complaint, time to investigate and engage in legal analysis, and finally, where warranted, prosecution - necessarily takes far longer than the comparatively brief period of a political campaign.

Additionally, some critics claim that the commissioners tend to act as an arm of the "regulated community" of parties, interest groups, and politicians when issuing rulings and writing regulations.

At the same time, however, other critics, such as former FEC Chairman Bradley A. Smith and Stephen M. Hoersting, Executive Director of the Center for Competitive Politics, criticize the FEC for pursuing overly aggressive enforcement theories, and for infringing on First Amendment rights of free speech.

Current

 * Cynthia L. Bauerly - June 2008 - confirmed June 24, 2008 for a term expiring on April 30, 2011
 * Caroline C. Hunter - June 2008 - confirmed June 24, 2008 for a term expiring on April 30, 2013
 * Donald F. McGahn II - June 2008 - confirmed June 24, 2008 for a term expired on April 30, 2009
 * Matthew S. Petersen - June 2008 - confirmed June 24, 2008 for a term expiring on April 30, 2011
 * Steven T. Walther - June 2008 - by recess appointment January 2006 to December 2007, confirmed June 24, 2008 to remainder of a term expired on April 30, 2009
 * Ellen L. Weintraub – December 2002 – by recess appointment on December 6, 2002, confirmed to full term 2003; Commissioner Weintraub's term expired in April 2007

For 2011, the Cynthia Bauerly is FEC Chair, and Caroline Hunter is FEC Vice Chair.

Former

 * Joan D. Aikens – April 1975 – September 1998 (reappointed May 1976, December 1981, August 1983 and October 1989).
 * Thomas B. Curtis – April 1975 – May 1976.
 * Thomas E. Harris – April 1975 – October 1986 (reappointed May 1976 and June 1979).
 * Neil O. Staebler – April 1975 – October 1978 (reappointed May 1976).
 * Vernon W. Thomson – April 1975 – June 1979; January 1981 – December 1981 (reappointed May 1976).
 * Robert O. Tiernan – April 1975 – December 1981 (reappointed May 1976).
 * William L. Springer – May 1976 – February 1979.
 * John Warren McGarry – October 1978 – August 1998 (reappointed July 1983 and October 1989).
 * Max L. Friedersdorf – March 1979 – December 1980.
 * Frank P. Reiche – July 1979 – August 1985.
 * Lee Ann Elliott – December 1981 – June 2000 (reappointed July 1987 and July 1994).
 * Danny L. McDonald – December 1981 – January 2006 (reappointed in July 1987, July 1994 and July 2000).
 * Thomas J. Josefiak – August 1985 – December 1991.
 * Scott E. Thomas – October 1986 – January 2006 (reappointed in November 1991 and July 1998).
 * Trevor Potter – November 1991 – October 1995.
 * Darryl R. Wold – July 1998 – April 2002.
 * Karl J. Sandstrom – July 1998 – December 2002.
 * David M. Mason - July 1998 - July 2008.
 * Bradley A. Smith – May 2000 – August 2005.
 * Michael E. Toner – March 2002 – March 2007. (by recess appointment on March 29, 2002, confirmed to full term 2003)
 * Robert D. Lenhard – January 2006 – December 31, 2007. (by recess appointment on January 4, 2006)
 * Hans A. von Spakovsky – January 2006 – December 31, 2007. (by recess appointment on January 4, 2006)