Court upholds disclosures in issue ads

WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court has upheld a requirement that groups say who is paying for issue advertising directed at candidates in an approaching election.

On Monday, the justices affirmed a lower court decision in a case involving ads that mention candidates but don’t call for the election or defeat of one.

The case involved a conservative Colorado think tank called the Independence Institute and ads that it wanted to run in 2014 that mentioned U.S. Sens. Mark Udall and Michael Bennet, both Colorado Democrats. Udall lost his 2014 re-election bid, while Bennet won a second term in 2016. The Independence Institute said it wanted to run a similar spot in 2016.

The group objected to revealing the names of its largest contributors, saying they had a First Amendment right to anonymous political speech.