52 U.S.C. § 30102 — Organization of political committees
submitted 54 years ago by Pub. L. 92-225 to r/title-52-VOTING-AND-ELECTIONS · 1,198 words · no verdicts yet
This section sets rules for political-committee treasurers, contributions, records, candidate committees, filings, campaign accounts, petty cash, and best efforts.
(a) Treasurer. — Every political committee must have a treasurer. It may not accept or make a contribution or expenditure while that office is vacant, and no expenditure may be made without the treasurer’s or designated agent’s authorization. (b) Contributions. — (1) A person receiving a contribution for an authorized committee must send it to the treasurer within 10 days and, if it exceeds $50, send the contributor’s name and address and receipt date. (2) For a nonauthorized committee, the person must send a contribution of $50 or less within 30 days; if it exceeds $50, the person must send it, the contributor’s name and address, and receipt date within 10 days. (3) Committee money must be kept separate from every individual’s personal money. (c) Records. — The treasurer must record (1) all contributions; (2) each contributor’s name, address, date, and amount for contributions over $50; (3) each contributor’s identification, date, and amount when that person’s yearly contributions exceed $200; (4) each political committee making a contribution, its date, and amount; and (5) each disbursement’s recipient name and address, date, amount, purpose, and, when applicable, the candidate and office sought, with a receipt, invoice, or canceled check for each disbursement over $200. (d) Preservation. — The treasurer must keep required records and copies of reports filed under this subchapter for 3 years after filing. An electronically filed report must be kept in machine-readable form. (e) Campaign committees. — (1) Each Federal candidate other than a Vice-Presidential nominee must designate in writing, within 15 days after becoming a candidate, a committee to be the principal campaign committee. The candidate may designate additional authorized committees in writing and file the designation with the principal committee under subsection (f)(1). (2) A candidate receiving campaign contributions or loans, or making campaign disbursements, is treated under the Act as doing so as an agent of the authorized committee or committees. (3) (A) A committee supporting or having supported more than one candidate may not be designated an authorized committee, except that (i) a Presidential party nominee may designate the party’s national committee as principal committee if it keeps separate accounts for that function, and (ii) candidates may designate a committee formed solely for their joint fundraising. (B) “Support” does not include an authorized committee’s contribution of $2,000 or less to another candidate’s authorized committee. (4) An authorized committee’s name must include its candidate’s name. A nonauthorized committee’s name may not include a candidate’s name. (5) A separate segregated fund’s name must include its connected organization’s name. (f) Principal committee filing. — (1) Each authorized committee designation, statement, and receipts-or-disbursements report must be filed with the candidate’s principal committee. (2) The principal committee must receive, compile, and file them under the Act. (g) Commission filing. — All designations, statements, and reports required under the Act must be filed with the Commission. (h) Depositories and petty cash. — (1) Each committee must designate one or more qualifying State banks, federally chartered depositories, or federally insured depositories as campaign depositories, keep at least one checking account and any other accounts it chooses there, deposit all receipts into them, and make disbursements only by checks on those accounts, except petty cash under paragraph (2). (2) A committee may keep petty cash for payments of no more than $100 to one person for one purchase or transaction, and must record every such payment under subsection (c)(5). (i) Best efforts. — If the treasurer shows that the committee used best efforts to obtain, keep, and submit required information, its reports and records are treated as complying with this Act and chapters 95 and 96 of title 26.
Every political committee shall have a treasurer. No contribution or expenditure shall be accepted or made by or on behalf of a political committee during any period in which the office of treasurer is vacant. No expenditure shall be made for or on behalf of a political committee without the authorization of the treasurer or his or her designated agent.
Every person who receives a contribution for an authorized political committee shall, no later than 10 days after receiving such contribution, forward to the treasurer such contribution, and if the amount of the contribution is in excess of $50 the name and address of the person making the contribution and the date of receipt.
Every person who receives a contribution for a political committee which is not an authorized committee shall—
if the amount of the contribution is $50 or less, forward to the treasurer such contribution no later than 30 days after receiving the contribution; and
if the amount of the contribution is in excess of $50, forward to the treasurer such contribution, the name and address of the person making the contribution, and the date of receipt of the contribution, no later than 10 days after receiving the contribution.
All funds of a political committee shall be segregated from, and may not be commingled with, the personal funds of any individual.
The treasurer of a political committee shall keep an account of—
all contributions received by or on behalf of such political committee;
the name and address of any person who makes any contribution in excess of $50, together with the date and amount of such contribution by any person;
the identification of any person who makes a contribution or contributions aggregating more than $200 during a calendar year, together with the date and amount of any such contribution;
the identification of any political committee which makes a contribution, together with the date and amount of any such contribution; and
the name and address of every person to whom any disbursement is made, the date, amount, and purpose of the disbursement, and the name of the candidate and the office sought by the candidate, if any, for whom the disbursement was made, including a receipt, invoice, or canceled check for each disbursement in excess of $200.
The treasurer shall preserve all records required to be kept by this section and copies of all reports required to be filed by this subchapter for 3 years after the report is filed. For any report filed in electronic format under section 30104(a)(11) of this title, the treasurer shall retain a machine-readable copy of the report as the copy preserved under the preceding sentence.
Each candidate for Federal office (other than the nominee for the office of Vice President) shall designate in writing a political committee in accordance with paragraph (3) to serve as the principal campaign committee of such candidate. Such designation shall be made no later than 15 days after becoming a candidate. A candidate may designate additional political committees in accordance with paragraph (3) to serve as authorized committees of such candidate. Such designation shall be in writing and filed with the principal campaign committee of such candidate in accordance with subsection (f)(1).
Any candidate described in paragraph (1) who receives a contribution, or any loan for use in connection with the campaign of such candidate for election, or makes a disbursement in connection with such campaign, shall be considered, for purposes of this Act, as having received the contribution or loan, or as having made the disbursement, as the case may be, as an agent of the authorized committee or committees of such candidate.
No political committee which supports or has supported more than one candidate may be designated as an authorized committee, except that—
the candidate for the office of President nominated by a political party may designate the national committee of such political party as a principal campaign committee, but only if that national committee maintains separate books of account with respect to its function as a principal campaign committee; and
candidates may designate a political committee established solely for the purpose of joint fundraising by such candidates as an authorized committee.
As used in this section, the term “support” does not include a contribution by any authorized committee in amounts of $2,000 or less to an authorized committee of any other candidate.
The name of each authorized committee shall include the name of the candidate who authorized such committee under paragraph (1). In the case of any political committee which is not an authorized committee, such political committee shall not include the name of any candidate in its name.
The name of any separate segregated fund established pursuant to section 30118(b) of this title shall include the name of its connected organization.
Notwithstanding any other provision of this Act, each designation, statement, or report of receipts or disbursements made by an authorized committee of a candidate shall be filed with the candidate’s principal campaign committee.
Each principal campaign committee shall receive all designations, statements, and reports required to be filed with it under paragraph (1) and shall compile and file such designations, statements, and reports in accordance with this Act.
All designations, statements, and reports required to be filed under this Act shall be filed with the Commission.
Each political committee shall designate one or more State banks, federally chartered depository institutions, or depository institutions the deposits or accounts of which are insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the Federal Savings and Loan Insurance Corporation, or the National Credit Union Administration, as its campaign depository or depositories. Each political committee shall maintain at least one checking account and such other accounts as the committee determines at a depository designated by such committee. All receipts received by such committee shall be deposited in such accounts. No disbursements may be made (other than petty cash disbursements under paragraph (2)) by such committee except by check drawn on such accounts in accordance with this section.
A political committee may maintain a petty cash fund for disbursements not in excess of $100 to any person in connection with a single purchase or transaction. A record of all petty cash disbursements shall be maintained in accordance with subsection (c)(5).
When the treasurer of a political committee shows that best efforts have been used to obtain, maintain, and submit the information required by this Act for the political committee, any report or any records of such committee shall be considered in compliance with this Act or chapter 95 or chapter 96 of title 26.
Source credit: (Pub. L. 92–225, title III, § 302, Feb. 7, 1972, 86 Stat. 12; Pub. L. 93–443, title II, §§ 202, 208(c)(2), Oct. 15, 1974, 88 Stat. 1275, 1286; Pub. L. 94–283, title I, § 103, May 11, 1976, 90 Stat. 480; Pub. L. 96–187, title I, § 102, Jan. 8, 1980, 93 Stat. 1345; Pub. L. 99–514, § 2, Oct. 22, 1986, 100 Stat. 2095; Pub. L. 104–79, §§ 1(b), 3(a), Dec. 28, 1995, 109 Stat. 791, 792; Pub. L. 105–61, title VI, § 637, Oct. 10, 1997, 111 Stat. 1316; Pub. L. 108–447, div. H, title V, § 525, Dec. 8, 2004, 118 Stat. 3271; Pub. L. 115–244, div. B, title I, § 102, Sept. 21, 2018, 132 Stat. 2926.)
- 1972Enacted · Pub. L. 92-225 · 86 Stat. 12
- 1974Amended · Pub. L. 93-443 · 88 Stat. 1275, 1286
- 1976Amended · Pub. L. 94-283 · 90 Stat. 480
- 1980Amended · Pub. L. 96-187 · 93 Stat. 1345
- 1986Amended · Pub. L. 99-514 · 100 Stat. 2095
- 1995Amended · Pub. L. 104-79 · 109 Stat. 791, 792
- 1997Amended · Pub. L. 105-61 · 111 Stat. 1316
- 2004Amended · Pub. L. 108-447 · 118 Stat. 3271
- 2018Amended · Pub. L. 115-244 · 132 Stat. 2926
A history note hasn’t been published yet. The record shows enactment by Pub. L. 92-225 on 1972-02-07.
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