This is the Cato Daily Podcast for Thursday, November 17th, 2022.

I'm Caleb Brown. State election laws vary widely and the ability for average people to engage in effective speech on behalf of candidates

or propositions is often unclear.

The Institute for Free Speech has begun cataloging state laws governing speech in the political arena.

Scott Blackburn is the author of the free speech index.

In the heat of an election,

candidates say things. Candidates proxies say things. candidates independent expenditures, and they say things, all in an attempt to earn the votes of

voters on election day. So to what extent do states prevent people from making statements and to what extent do and how do they differ across states in terms of actually saying oh you can't say that we're close to an election you can't say it and it wasn't that long ago the federal government had laws on the books that would actively prevent that what happens at the state level?

So there are three major ways that states attempt to regulate what you can say in a political election.

The first and most direct is, as you said, some states continue to have laws that say we can prosecute you or someone can sue you for your false political speech. So if you run a political ad we think it's false

we can we can come after you for that speech. That has been ruled unconstitutional.

has been ruled on constitutional for almost 20 years now in a case called

SBA V. Dry House. Nonetheless, about half the states continue to have laws like

that on the books, including my home state of Ohio, where SBA v Dry House was played out.

What decisions like that do is it means that if you are looking up the law, if you're an amateur, if you're trying to figure out what you can and cannot do, it may seem like you could be sued for what's in your political ad.

You cannot be, that that case would not go forward

But it it affects your speech and chills what what you're willing to do

I a good friend of mine is a campaign finance attorney and has been for decades at very high levels and when he gets approached,

but he tells me that at least when he gets approached by mom and pop, you know, a bunch of guys together with a cigar box full of money

that want to spend it to influence local elections.

His honest advice to them is don't and that is because of the complicated nature of laws that

amateurs are trying to interpret and do not understand the complications of engaging in core political speech.

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