Campaign finance requirements in North Dakota

in North Dakota

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Campaign finance
Federal campaign finance laws and regulations
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History of campaign finance reform
State by state comparison of campaign finance reporting requirements
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North Dakota 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 fifteen 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 Supreme Court of the United States has issued a number of rulings pertaining to federal election campaign finance regulations. 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, remained 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 North Dakota as of May 2015. The uppermost row of the table indicates the contributor, while the leftmost column indicates the recipient.

Candidate requirements

See statutes: Chapter 16.1-08.1 of the North Dakota Century Code

For campaign finance disclosure purposes, North Dakota considers a candidate and his or her candidate committee to be one and the same. All candidates and candidate committees for statewide executive or state legislative office must register with the North Dakota Secretary of State. A committee must file registrations within 15 days of first receiving a contribution or making an expenditure. The registration must include the following information:^[7][8]

• committee information, including committee name, acronym (if applicable), telephone number, and address
• candidate information, including the name of candidate, party affiliation, office being sought, and the type of office (e.g., statewide or legislative)
• additional information, including the full name of the committee's agent, agent's title, telephone number, and mailing address

Registrations must be signed by the candidate or an agent acting on behalf of the candidate or committee. Registrations must be renewed each year.^[8][9]

Candidates and their committees are required to submit regular disclosure reports that include the following information:^[10]

• Section A: candidate and committee information
  • the name of candidate or committee; office being sought; party affiliation; candidate or candidate committee address, and name and telephone number of person filing the statement
• Section B: Type of report being filed
  • pre-primary election, pre-general election, pre-special election, year-end, 48-hour; or amended
• Section C: Cash on hand and contributions
  • cash on hand at the beginning of the reporting period
  • cash on hand at the end of the reporting period
  • total of all contributions received in excess of $200
    • for contributions greater than $200 but less than $5,000, the contributor's name and address must be included, as well as the total amount of contributions made and the date of the most recent contribution
    • for contributions of $5,000 or more, the contributor's name, address, occupation and employer must be included, as well as the total amount of contributions and date of the most recent contribution
  • total of all contributions received of $200 or less
• Section D: Signature of the person completing the statement

A candidate or committee who receives contributions of greater than $500 in the aggregate from any individual in the 39-day period leading up to an election must file a supplemental statement noting the name and address of the contributor and the total amount of the contribution within 48 hours of receiving it.^[11]

Campaign finance legislation

The following is a list of recent campaign finance bills that have been introduced in or passed by the North Dakota 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

See also: Elections and campaigns on the ballot and List of North Dakota ballot measures

Ballotpedia has tracked 36 statewide ballot measures relating to elections and campaigns.

1. North Dakota Partisan Elections Initiative (1921)
2. North Dakota Non-partisan Election Initiative (1921)
3. North Dakota Tax Commissioner Election Initiative (1938)
4. North Dakota Secret Primary Ballot, Initiative 3 (1962)
5. North Dakota Election of County Officers, Constitutional Measure 1 (2002)
6. North Dakota Election of County Officials, Measure 2 (1998)
7. North Dakota Legislative Assembly Vacancy Filling, Measure 4 (2000)
8. North Dakota Filling of Judicial Vacancies, Measure 1 (1998)
9. North Dakota Rules for Appointing Supreme Court Justices, Measure 2 (1990)
10. North Dakota Federal Funds for Political Purposes Initiative (1936)
11. North Dakota State and County Official Term Lengths, Initiative 5 (1964)
12. North Dakota Residence Requirements of Electors Referendum (1920)
13. North Dakota Electors Residence Requirements Referendum (1922)
14. North Dakota Nonpartisan Elections Referendum (1924)
15. North Dakota Date of Presidential Primary Election Referendum (1924)
16. North Dakota Party Central Committees Referendum (1924)
17. North Dakota County Officers to be Elected Referendum, Amendment 1 (1952)
18. North Dakota County Official Term Lengths, Initiative 2 (1962)
19. North Dakota Repeal Limits on Legislator Elections and Appointments, Referendum 3 (1962)
20. North Dakota Repeal Limits on Legislator Elections and Appointments, Referendum 2 (1964)
21. North Dakota Voter Pamphlet, Referendum 1 (1964)
22. North Dakota New Residents Presidential Voting Referendum, Number 2 (1966)
23. North Dakota Judicial Reform Referendum, Number 5 (1968)
24. North Dakota Joint Governor and Lieutenant Ballot Referendum, Amendment 1 (1974)
25. North Dakota Legislator Qualifications Referendum, Amendment 1 (1976)
26. North Dakota Elective Franchise Referendum, Amendment 2 (1978)
27. North Dakota Judicial Officers Referendum, Amendment 5 (1980)
28. North Dakota Presidential Preference and June Primary Referendum, Measure 7 (1980)
29. North Dakota Election Law Revision Referendum, Measure 8 (1980)
30. North Dakota Future Governor and Lieutenant Governor Elections Referendum, Measure 4 (1982)
31. North Dakota Tax Commissioner on Party Ballot Referendum, Measure 2 (1986)
32. North Dakota State Legislative Term Limits and Ballot Instruction Measure, Measure 5 (1996)
33. North Dakota Executive Branch Officer Election, Measure 2 (2000)
34. North Dakota State Treasurer Not Elected, Measure 3 (2000)
35. North Dakota Measure 1, Ethics Commission, Foreign Political Contribution Ban, and Conflicts of Interest Initiative (2018)
36. North Dakota Initiated Measure 1, Congressional Age Limits Initiative (June 2024)

See also: Campaign finance agencies in North Dakota and State election agencies

Candidates running for office may require some form of interaction with the following agencies:

• North Dakota Secretary of State, Elections Division
  

Why: This agency provides and processes candidate filing paperwork for statewide executive offices and congressional seats.

600 E. Boulevard Ave., Dept. 108, 1st Floor

Bismarck, ND 58505-0500

Telephone: 701.328.4146

Toll-free: 1.800.352.0867

TTY: 1.800.366.6888

Fax: 701.328.2992

Email: soselect@nd.gov

Website: http://www.nd.gov/sos/electvote/

Recent news

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See also

• Campaign finance regulation
• Ballot access requirements for political candidates in North Dakota
• North Dakota

Footnotes

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