§ 104.20 - Reporting electioneering communications (52 U.S.C. 30104 (f)).

§ 104.20 Reporting electioneering communications (52 U.S.C. 30104 (f)).

Cross Reference

Link to an amendment published at 83 FR 66595, Dec. 27, 2018.

(a) Definitions -

(1) Disclosure date means:

(i) The first date on which an electioneering communication is publicly distributed provided that the person making the electioneering communication has made one or more disbursements, or has executed one or more contracts to make disbursements, for the direct costs of producing or airing one or more electioneering communications aggregating in excess of $10,000; or

(ii) Any other date during the same calendar year on which an electioneering communication is publicly distributed provided that the person making the electioneering communication has made one or more disbursements, or has executed one or more contracts to make disbursements, for the direct costs of producing or airing one or more electioneering communications aggregating in excess of $10,000 since the most recent disclosure date during such calendar year.

(2) Direct costs of producing or airing electioneering communications means the following:

(i) Costs charged by a vendor, such as studio rental time, staff salaries, costs of video or audio recording media, and talent; or

(ii) The cost of airtime on broadcast, cable or satellite radio and television stations, studio time, material costs, and the charges for a broker to purchase the airtime.

(3) Persons sharing or exercising direction or control means officers, directors, executive directors or their equivalent, partners, and in the case of unincorporated organizations, owners, of the entity or person making the disbursement for the electioneering communication.

(4) Identification has the same meaning as in 11 CFR 100.12.

(5) Publicly distributed has the same meaning as in 11 CFR 100.29(b)(3).

(b) Who must report and when. Every person who has made an electioneering communication, as defined in 11 CFR 100.29, aggregating in excess of $10,000 during any calendar year shall file a statement with the Commission by 11:59 p.m. Eastern Standard/Daylight Time on the day following the disclosure date. The statement shall be filed under penalty of perjury, shall contain the information set forth in paragraph (c) of this section, and shall be filed on FEC Form 9. Political committees that make communications that are described in 11 CFR 100.29(a) must report such communications as expenditures or independent expenditures under 11 CFR 104.3 and 104.4, and not under this section.

(c) Contents of statement. Statements of electioneering communications filed under paragraph (b) of this section shall disclose the following information:

(1) The identification of the person who made the disbursement, or who executed a contract to make a disbursement, and, if the person is not an individual, the person's principal place of business;

(2) The identification of any person sharing or exercising direction or control over the activities of the person who made the disbursement or who executed a contract to make a disbursement;

(3) The identification of the custodian of the books and accounts from which the disbursements were made;

(4) The amount of each disbursement, or amount obligated, of more than $200 during the period covered by the statement, the date the disbursement was made, or the contract was executed, and the identification of the person to whom that disbursement was made;

(5) All clearly identified candidates referred to in the electioneering communication and the elections in which they are candidates; and

(6) The disclosure date, as defined in paragraph (a) of this section; .

(7) If the election identified pursuant to paragraph (c)(5) of this section is a presidential primary election and the electioneering communication is publicly distributed or otherwise disseminated in six or more states but does not refer to any particular state, the electioneering communication shall be reported as a single communication, indicating the state with the next upcoming presidential primary among those states where the electioneering communication is distributed, and the states in which it constitutes an electioneering communication (as defined in 11 CFR 100.29(a)) shall be indicated in memo text.

(8) If the disbursements were paid exclusively from a segregated bank account consisting of funds provided solely by persons other than national banks, corporations organized by authority of any law of Congress, or foreign nationals as defined in 11 CFR 110.20(a)(3), the name and address of each donor who donated an amount aggregating $1,000 or more to the segregated bank account, aggregating since the first day of the preceding calendar year.

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9) If the disbursements were not paid exclusively from a segregated bank account described in paragraph (c)(7) of this section and were not made by a corporation or labor organization, the name and address of each donor who donated an amount aggregating $1,000 or more to the person making the disbursement, aggregating since the first day of the preceding calendar year.

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10) If the disbursements were made by a corporation or labor organization and were not paid exclusively from a segregated bank account described in paragraph (c)(7) of this section, the name and address of each person who made a donation aggregating $1,000 or more to the corporation or labor organization, aggregating since the first day of the preceding calendar year, which was made for the purpose of furthering electioneering communications.

(d) Recordkeeping. All persons who make electioneering communications or who accept donations for the purpose of making electioneering communications must maintain records in accordance with 11 CFR 104.14.

(e) State waivers. Statements of electioneering communications that must be filed with the Commission must also be filed with the Secretary of State of the appropriate State if the State has not obtained a waiver under 11 CFR 108.1(b).

[68 FR 419, Jan. 3, 2003; 68 FR 5075, Jan. 31, 2003, as amended at 72 FR 72913, Dec. 26, 2007; 80 FR 62816, Oct. 21, 2014; 83 FR 66595, Dec. 27, 2018]