Colbert could run afoul of FEC

NEW YORK, Oct. 19 (UPI) -- Election law experts say Stephen Colbert, star of Comedy Central's "The Colbert Report," could run afoul of U.S. law with his satirical presidential run.

The experts said Colbert -- who announced this week on his parody news show that he plans to compete as both a Democrat and a Republican in the South Carolina primary -- and Comedy Central could face action from the Federal Election Commission if the comedian continues to promote the run on the cable network, due to laws barring corporate campaign contributions, Politico.com reported Friday.

“You don’t get a different set of rules because you’re running as a joke,” said Marc Elias, a Washington election lawyer who commonly represents Democratic candidates. “You may get a different set of rules because it’s a joke and you’re not really running. But if it isn’t a joke, then there may be any number of issues.”

Colbert signed the needed paperwork during his show this week to get on the Democratic ballot, but not before crossing out part of a paragraph pledging not to “knowingly violate any election law.”