What does this mean? Essentially, foreign nationals, other than lawful permanent residents, are totally prohibited from donating to candidates or parties, or making independent expenditures in federal, state or local elections. In order for political committees and treasurers to be able to comply with the often complicated complex state and federal campaign disclosure reporting requirements, Aristotle International, a non-partisan political data and compliance technology provider, has developed a data mining application to this end. The application, which is pending a patent, utilizes a combination of sophisticated software and algorithms, as well as an up to the minute database of voters. About two years ago, Aristotle began anticipating the ruling, and in so doing, filed for a patent to address the technology, which covers both the combined use of voter and contribution records for compliance and fundraising purposes. The patent application, prepared by DLA Piper, is entitled: Integration of Voter and Contributor Data into Political Software and Compliance Systems for Purposes of Solicitation, Compliance, Vetting and Calls to Action. Aristotle's application works like this: contributions that are made, either online or in person, are checked, against a nationwide registered voter list to verify the donor is a U.S. citizen and has not gone over personal contribution limits. Real time communication enables campaign treasurers to be aware of suspicious activity, contact donors, if necessary, return or reject the contribution, per Federal Election Commission guidelines. Former FEC Chairman and Aristotle Senior Vice President of Compliance Services David Mason was quoted as saying in a recent press release: At a time when election rules are in flux, the Supreme Court has reaffirmed that the ban on foreign money in federal, state and local elections remains in place. This makes it even more important than ever for campaigns and political committees to screen for non-citizen donors.” Congress created the Federal Election Commission (FEC) in 1975 to administer and enforce the Federal Election Campaign Act (FECA). This is the law governing the financing of federal elections. An independent regulatory agency which consists of six members appointed by the President and confirmed by the Senate, the duties of the FEC are to disclose campaign finance information, enforce provisions of the law, and oversee public funding of Presidential elections. For over twenty five years, every Democrat and Republican who's served as President, as well as many U.S. Senators, members of the U.S. House of Representatives, and Democratic and Republican state party organizations, have utilized Aristotle products and services.

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