Earlier this week the Federal Election Commission (FEC) approved text-to-donate for political campaigns. Politico reports:
The Federal Election Commission on Monday night unanimously voted to allow Americans to make political donations via text message, making Androids, iPhones and BlackBerrys the newest weapon in the battle to raise unprecedented amounts of money.
The decision will take effect immediately, although it may be days or weeks before the system is fully functional. Individual phone numbers will be capped at $50 worth of donations per billing cycle per political candidate or committee.
Texting a political donation will be akin to what many charities already do in asking people to text a short message to a five-digit number in support of a cause.
Upon doing so, a donor has a fixed amount of money — often $10, sometimes more — charged to his or her account. The process takes a matter of seconds in contrast to comparatively clunkier methods, such as writing a paper check or using a credit card after filling out an online donation form.
The result? A win for democracy:
Both parties, as well as campaign finance reform advocates, say the move will allow Americans of modest means to play a greater role in a democratic process dominated this election cycle by billionaires and multimillionaires and political organizations such as super PACs that may raise and spend money without restriction.
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