Nearly 100 current and former staff members with the United Kingdom’s Labour Party are expected to travel to the United States to campaign for Vice President Kamala Harris ahead of Election Day, sparking backlash from members of the Republican Party, who warn that the foreign activists could break U.S. electoral law.
In a LinkedIn post that has since been deleted, Sofia Patel, the head of the Labour Party’s Operations, announced, “I have nearly 100 Labour Party staff (current and former) going to the US in the next few weeks heading to North Carolina, Nevada, Pennsylvania and Virginia. I have 10 spots available for anyone available to head to the battleground state of North Carolina – we will sort your housing.”
— Politics UK (@PolitlcsUK) October 17, 2024
NEW: Nearly 100 current and former Labour Party staff are going to battleground states in the US election to campaign for Kamala Harris, with the party offering to ‘sort your housing’ pic.twitter.com/12EBTkuNL5
The Telegraph reported that the Labour Party activists planning to campaign on behalf of Harris could face fines and criminal prosecution due to U.S. electoral law, which is intended to prevent foreign interference in U.S. elections.
The Federal Election Commission website states, “Although foreign nationals may not make contributions or expenditures (including advances of personal funds) in connection with any federal, state or local election, an individual who is a foreign national may participate in campaign activities as an uncompensated volunteer.”
The Federal Election Commission warns, “If volunteers are, in fact, paid by any person for their services, then the activity is no longer considered volunteer activity.”
According to The Telegraph, volunteer travel expenses would be considered a campaign donation if they exceed $1,000 in a single election.
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Lawrence Otter, an electoral law expert, told The Telegraph that both the Harris campaign and any Labour Party activist who spends over $1,000 on the campaign trip could face a “substantial” Federal Elections Commission fine.
“The Harris campaign certainly has to know there is a cost of getting here from England, but once you get beyond $1,000, it becomes an issue,” Otter told The Telegraph. “I think the campaign could be sanctioned, probably through a fine, which could be substantial.”
According to The Telegraph, while Democrat volunteers are expected to provide accommodations for the Labour Party activists, the Labour Party staff members have reportedly received instructions to pay for their own flights and car hire.
News of the U.K. Labour Party’s plans to campaign for Harris has been met with backlash by Republican leaders. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) tweeted, “Foreign nationals are not allowed to be involved in any way in US elections.”
Meanwhile, Sebastian Gorka, a former Trump administration aide, described the Labour Party’s plans as “bloody outrageous” and told The Telegraph that they represented “complete interference in American politics and an incredible show of desperation by the Kamala campaign.”
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