What is Dark Money?
Dark Money refers to political spending meant to influence
the decision of a voter, where the donor is not disclosed and the source
of the money is unknown. Depending upon the circumstances, Dark Money
can refer to funds spent by a political nonprofit or a super PAC. Here’s
how:
Political nonprofits are under no legal obligation to
disclose their donors. When they choose not to, they are considered Dark
Money groups.
Super PACs can also be considered Dark Money groups in
certain situations. While these organizations are legally required to
disclose their donors, they can accept unlimited contributions from
political non-profits and “shell” corporations who may not have
disclosed their donors, in these cases they are considered Dark Money
groups.
Dark Money groups account for staggering gaps in
understanding exactly how each funding dollar is being spent during
political elections. These gaps are becoming wider with every election
cycle. Political organizations working to influence the 2016 elections
outside party or official campaign structures spent more than $15
million in 2015, and only reported about $5 million of that to the
Federal Election Commission (FEC). For comparison, that $5 million alone
is more than ten times more than what had been reported at this point
in 2011, before the last presidential election cycle.
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