How does campaign finance work

When a committee, group or individual pays for a communication that is coordinated with a campaign or a candidate, the communication is either an in-kind contribution or, in some limited cases, a coordinated party expenditure by a party committee. Earmarking may take the form of a designation, instruction or encumbrance and may be direct or indirect, express or implied, written or oral.

Earmarked contributions require additional disclosure. A bundled contribution is any contribution that is either:. Examples include titles, tracking identifiers, access to events or activities, and mementos such as photographs with the candidate, or autographed copies of books authored by the candidate.

A joint contribution is a contribution that is made by more than one person using a single check or other written instrument. When making a joint contribution, each contributor must sign the check or other written instrument or a statement that accompanies the contribution. Note that if the check or an accompanying statement of attribution is not signed by each contributor, the entire contribution will be attributed only to the party who signed the check.

However, under certain circumstances the committee may presumptively reattribute the excessive portion of a contribution. If the check or statement does not indicate how much should be attributed to each donor, the recipient committee must attribute the contribution in equal portions.

Joint fundraising is election-related fundraising conducted jointly by a political committee and one or more other political committees or unregistered organizations. Transfers of funds and assets between federal committees authorized or established by the same candidate are generally unlimited because the committees are considered affiliated committees.

However, an authorized committee of a federal candidate may not accept any transfers of funds or assets from a committee established by the same candidate for a nonfederal election. AO Use of merchant ID number to collect internet contributions submitted for matching payment. AO In-kind contributions designated for more than one election. AO Designation of post-election contributions. This information is not intended to replace the law or to change its meaning, nor does this information create or confer any rights for or on any person or bind the Federal Election Commission or the public.

Your web browser is not supported You're using Internet Explorer, some features might not work. Types of contributions Contributions are the most common source of campaign support. It is important to understand which receipts are considered contributions because: Contributions count toward the threshold that determines whether an individual has qualified as a candidate under the Federal Election Campaign Act the Act. A: Yes. Outside groups are on pace to spend more during this election than ever before.

A: Traditional PACs wield influence by either donating directly to candidates or spending independently by airing television advertisements, for example. By contrast, there are no limits on Super PAC donations. Remember that the Supreme Court previously upheld donor limits for direct contributions to campaigns and party committees because the Court believed that unlimited contributions could lead to corruption. But in Citizens United , the Court declared that independent political spending, because it was not coordinated with candidates, could not lead to corruption concerns.

After Citizens United , a federal appellate court in Washington, D. These political committees are what is commonly known as Super PACs. Is Citizens United responsible for the high levels of outside spending this year? A: At least in part: the extraordinary levels of outside spending this year would not be possible without Citizens United. At first glance, the rules are simple. Unfortunately, the FEC rarely provides clear guidance.

A majority vote is required for an advisory opinion. But since Citizens United , the Commission has repeatedly deadlocked on specific questions about coordination and independence. Under any common sense approach, such ads would be deemed coordinated. With no bright line rules about coordination, and with the FEC allowing conduct that would seem to most people to be coordination, Super PACs can work extremely closely with campaigns without fear of sanctions.

Q: Citizens United also made election spending by corporations legal. How much are corporations spending vs. What about unions? But the amount of corporate spending cannot be fully determined because of tax-exempt groups that do not disclose their donors.

By donating to non-profits, corporations can avoid shareholder criticism about using revenues for political purposes as well as consumer reaction to their political stance. A: In , conservative groups reported nearly twice the outside spending as liberal groups. So far in the election cycle, conservative groups have reported three times more spending than liberal groups.

Q: How much outside spending is disclosed vs. Initial indications suggest that secret spending by non-profits is playing an equally central role in the elections.

Non-profit groups have also dramatically escalated spending on express advocacy—ads urging voters to vote for or against specific candidates. For example, by not clearly defining what constitutes coordination with a campaign, the FEC has opened the door to all sorts of mischief between campaigns and allegedly independent groups, which, unlike campaigns, do not have donor limits. Politicians can also create political action committees, called leadership PACs.

Separate from a candidate's official campaign committee, leadership PACs are often used to contribute funds to political allies. To be eligible for these funds, candidates must agree to spending and fundraising restrictions. Notably, presidential nominees may receive public funds only if they agree not to use private donations.

Many major-party candidates decline public funding in favor of private fundraising. In the —20 election cycle, U. Campaigns for local and state offices typically involve much smaller total expenditures.

The primary legal guidance for political donations at the federal level is the Federal Election Campaign Act, initially passed by Congress in The act and its subsequent amendments set limits on campaign fundraising and spending , established disclosure requirements for campaign contributions, and created the FEC, the agency that enforces federal campaign finance law.