Cite as: 558 U. S. ____ (2010)
51
Opinion of the Court
must be made in a “clearly spoken manner,” and displayed
on the screen in a “clearly readable manner” for at least
four seconds. Ibid. It must state that the communication
“is not authorized by any candidate or candidate’s commit
tee”; it must also display the name and address (or Web
site address) of the person or group that funded the adver
tisement. §441d(a)(3). Under BCRA §201, any person
who spends more than $10,000 on electioneering commu
nications within a calendar year must file a disclosure
statement with the FEC. 2 U. S. C. §434(f)(1). That
statement must identify the person making the expendi
ture, the amount of the expenditure, the election to which
the communication was directed, and the names of certain
contributors. §434(f)(2).
Disclaimer and disclosure requirements may burden the
ability to speak, but they “impose no ceiling on campaign
related activities,” Buckley, 424 U. S., at 64, and “do not
prevent anyone from speaking,” McConnell, supra, at 201
(internal quotation marks and brackets omitted). The
Court has subjected these requirements to “exacting scru
tiny,” which requires a “substantial relation” between the
disclosure requirement and a “sufficiently important”
governmental interest. Buckley, supra, at 64, 66 (internal
quotation marks omitted); see McConnell, supra, at 231–
232.
In Buckley, the Court explained that disclosure could be
justified based on a governmental interest in “provid[ing]
the electorate with information” about the sources of
election-related spending. 424 U. S., at 66. The McCon
nell Court applied this interest in rejecting facial chal
lenges to BCRA §§201 and 311. 540 U. S., at 196. There
was evidence in the record that independent groups were
running election-related advertisements “ ‘while hiding
behind dubious and misleading names.’ ” Id., at 197 (quot
ing McConnell I, 251 F. Supp. 2d, at 237). The Court
therefore upheld BCRA §§201 and 311 on the ground that