Campaign finance requirements in New Jersey
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New Jersey campaign finance requirements govern the following:
- how much money candidates may receive from individuals and organizations,
- how much and how often they must report those contributions, and
- how much individuals, organizations and political parties may contribute to campaigns.
In addition to direct campaign contributions, campaign finance laws also apply to third-party organizations and nonprofit organizations that seek to influence elections through independent expenditures or issue advocacy.
Background
The Federal Election Commission (FEC) is the independent regulatory agency that administers and enforces federal campaign election laws. The FEC is responsible for disclosing campaign finance information, enforcing limits and prohibitions on contributions, and overseeing public funding of presidential elections.[1] According to the FEC, an individual becomes a federal candidate and must begin reporting campaign finances once he or she has either raised or spent $5,000 in his or her campaign. Within 15 days of this benchmark, the candidate must register with the FEC and designate an official campaign committee, which is responsible for the funds and expenditures of the campaign. This committee must have an official treasurer and cannot support any candidate but the one who registered it. Detailed financial reports are then made to the FEC every financial quarter after the individual is registered. Reports are also made before primaries and before the general election.[2]
The rules governing federal election campaigns and contributions have evolved over the past generation as result of a number of Supreme Court decisions. In the 2010 Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission decision, the court held that corporate funding of independent political broadcasts in candidate elections cannot be limited. The court's decision also overturned the ban on for-profit and not-for-profit corporations and unions broadcasting electioneering communications in the 30 days before a presidential primary and in the 60 days before a general election.[3] In the SpeechNOW.org v. Federal Election Commission decision, the first application of the Citizens United decision, the court held that contribution limits on what individuals could give to independent expenditure-only groups, and the amount these organizations could receive, were unconstitutional. Contribution limits on donations directly to candidates, however, reNew Jerseyd unchanged.[4][5] In 2014's McCutcheon v. Federal Election Commission decision, the court overturned biennial aggregate campaign contribution limits, and held that individuals may contribute to as many federal candidates as they want, but may only contribute up to the federal limit in each case.[6]
While the FEC governs federal election campaigns and contribution limits, individual states enforce their own regulation and reporting requirements. Regulations vary by state, as do limits on campaign contributions and third-party activities to influence elections.
Contribution limits
The table below details contribution limits as they applied to various types of individuals and groups in New Jersey as of May 2015. The uppermost row of the table indicates the contributor, while the leftmost column indicates the recipient.
| New Jersey contribution limits as of May 2015 | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Individuals | Single candidates committees | PACs | Political committee | Legislative leadership committee | Political Party | Super PACs | Corporations | Unions | |
| Governor | $3,800 | $8,200 | $8,200 | $8,200 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $2,600 | $2,600 |
| Statewide Candidate | $2,600 | $8,200 | $8,200 | $8,200 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $2,600 | $2,600 |
| Senate candidate | $2,600 | $8,200 | $8,200 | $8,200 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $2,600 | $2,600 |
| Assembly | $2,600 | $8,200 | $8,200 | $8,200 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $7,200 | $7,200 |
| PAC | $7,200 | $7,200 | $7,200 | $7,200 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $25,000 | $25,000 |
| Party committees | $25,000 | $25,000 | $25,000 | $25,000 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $7,200 | $7,200 |
| Political Committee | $7,200 | $7,200 | $7,200 | $7,200 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $25,000 | $25,000 |
| Legislative Leadership Committee | $25,000 | $25,000 | $25,000 | $25,000 | unlimited | unlimited | $0 | unlimited | unlimited |
| Ballot measures | unlimited | unlimited | unlimited | unlimited | unlimited | unlimited | $0 | unlimited | unlimited |
| Sources: New Jersey Election Law Enforcement Commission, “New Jersey Campaign Financing and Lobbying Disclosure,” accessed May 26, 2015 |
Candidate requirements
See statutes: Title 19, Article 44 of the New Jersey Permanent Statutes
Candidates for all elected public offices in New Jersey must file reports of their campaign financial activity with the New Jersey Election Law Enforcement Commission. Candidates for federal office are not required to file with the commission.
Each candidate is required to appoint a treasurer (a candidate may serve as his or her own treasurer) and create a campaign depository (a bank account) and file this information with the commission. Candidates must establish a reporting committee, which has the sole name under which a candidate receives contributions, makes expenditures, labels its political identification statements, or otherwise does business. It is recommended that the name of the campaign depository should also be the same as the name of the committee. No later than 10 days after establishing a candidate committee, the candidate must file the "Single Candidate Committee Certificate of Organization and Designation of Campaign Treasurer and Depository" with the Commission.[7][8]
An organizational or campaign treasurer or deputy organizational or campaign treasurer of a candidate committee or joint candidates committee must keep a written record of all funds received as contributions. This must include the following:
- the name and mailing address of the contributor
- the amount and date of the contribution
- if the contributor is an individual, the occupation of the individual and the name and mailing address of the individual's employer[9]
Reporting requirements
A candidate committee must begin filing reports with the commission on a date that depends upon when the committee's financial activity commences. If a candidate committee is begun within five months or less of the due date of the 29-day pre-election report, the committee must file a 29-day pre-election report as the initial election fund report. If the committee is established more than five months prior to the due date of the 29-day pre-election report, the committee must file a quarterly report as its initial election fund report.[10]
The forms that a candidate must file depend upon the committee type (single or joint) and the amount of money that will be spent in the election. See the tables below for further details.
For single candidate committee
| Spending nothing | Spending $4,500 or less | Spending $4,500 or more |
|---|---|---|
| Form A-1 | Form A-1 and Form D-1 | Form D-1 and Form R-1 |
For joint candidate committee
| Spending nothing | Spending $8,500 or less | Spending $8,500 or more |
|---|---|---|
| Form A-2 | Form D-2 and Form A-2 | Form D-2 and Form R-1 |
Reporting schedule
During the period between the appointment of the campaign treasurer and the election, the campaign treasurer must file a cumulative campaign report on three separate dates:
- the 29th day preceding the election
- the 11th day preceding the election
- the 20th day after the election
Concurrent with the report filed on the 20th day following an election, or at any time thereafter, the treasurer may certify to the commission that the election fund of the committee has settled its business and been dissolved, or that business regarding the election has been settled up but the committee will continue for the deposit and use of contributions.[11]
Campaign finance legislation
The following is a list of recent campaign finance bills that have been introduced in or passed by the New Jersey state legislature. To learn more about each of these bills, click the bill title. This information is provided by BillTrack50 and LegiScan.
Note: Due to the nature of the sorting process used to generate this list, some results may not be relevant to the topic. If no bills are displayed below, no legislation pertaining to this topic has been introduced in the legislature recently.
Election and campaign ballot measures
Ballotpedia has tracked 7 statewide ballot measures relating to elections and campaigns.
- New Jersey Supreme Court Elections and Tenure Amendment (2014)
- New Jersey Election of Comptroller and Elimination of Auditor Amendment (2014)
- New Jersey Public Question No. 2 (1974)
- New Jersey Public Question No. 1 (1970)
- New Jersey Public Question No. 2 (1969)
- New Jersey Public Question No. 4 (1963)
- New Jersey Public Question No. 1 (1957)
Candidates running for office may require some form of interaction with the following agencies:
- New Jersey Secretary of State
- Why: This agency provides and processes petitions and paperwork for state and federal offices.
- Physical address: 225 West State Street, 5th Floor, Trenton, NJ 08608
- Mailing address: P.O. Box 304, Trenton, NJ 08625-0304
- Telephone: 609-292-3760
- Toll-free: 1-877-NJVOTER
- Fax: 609-777-1280
- Email: njelections@sos.state.nj.us
- http://www.state.nj.us/
- Physical address: 225 West State Street, 5th Floor, Trenton, NJ 08608
- New Jersey Election Law Enforcement Commission
- Why: This agency provides and processes campaign finance reports.
- Physical address: 28 West State Street, 13th Floor, Trenton, New Jersey 08608-1602
- Mailing address: P.O. Box 185P.O. Box 185, Trenton, NJ 08625-0185
- Telephone: 609-292-8700
- Fax: 609-777-1448
- http://www.elec.state.nj.us/
- Physical address: 28 West State Street, 13th Floor, Trenton, New Jersey 08608-1602
Recent news
The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms New Jersey finance. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.
See also
- Campaign finance regulation
- Ballot access requirements for political candidates in New Jersey
- New Jersey
Footnotes
- ↑ Federal Election Commission, "About the FEC," accessed June 27, 2012
- ↑ Federal Election Commission, "Candidate Registration Brochure," accessed December 7, 2012
- ↑ New York Times, "Justices, 5-4, Reject Corporate Spending Limit," January 21, 2010
- ↑ Federal Election Commission, "Speechnow.org v. FEC," April 7, 2014
- ↑ OpenSecrets, "Two Federal Court Rulings Could Change Campaign Finance Landscape," March 26, 2010
- ↑ Federal Election Commission, "Ongoing Litigation," accessed March 18, 2015
- ↑ New Jersey Permanent Statutes, "Title 19:44A-11," accessed January 9, 2014
- ↑ New Jersey Permanent Statutes, "Title 19:44A-10," accessed January 9, 2014
- ↑ New Jersey Permanent Statutes, "Title 19:44A-12," accessed January 14, 2014
- ↑ New Jersey Election Law Enforcement Commission, "Compliance Manual for Candidates," accessed January 9, 2014
- ↑ New Jersey Permanent Statutes, "Title 19:44A-16," accessed January 14, 2014
