Multicandidate status
A qualified multicandidate committee may give a candidate up to $5,000 per election. A party committee generally qualifies as a multicandidate committee once it has:
- Received contributions from at least 51 persons,
- Been registered with the FEC for at least six months and
- Made contributions to at least five federal candidates.
A state party committee becomes a multicandidate committee when it satisfies the first two criteria.
A party committee that is affiliated with a qualified multicandidate committee automatically shares that committee’s $5,000 per candidate, per election contribution limit (since affiliated committees share the same limits on contributions received and made).
Reporting on party forms
Party committees that qualify for multicandidate status file the “Notification of Multicandidate Status” onForm 1M. The Form 1M must be filed within 10 days of the date that the committee meets the criteria for multicandidate status.
MULTICANDIDATE STATUS BY AFFILIATION
When filing the Form 1M to disclose multicandidate status by affiliation, the filer must disclose:
- the date the filing committee submitted its Statement of Organization
- the name of the affiliated committee
- the FEC Identification number of the affiliated committee
MULTICANDIDATE STATUS BY QUALIFICATION
Local Freedom Party qualified as a multicandidate committee and reports giving contributions to 5 candidates, which office the candidate is running for, the state and congressional district (if applicable) and the date the contribution was given. The party also includes the date it received its 51st contribution, the date it registered with the FEC, and the date it met the qualification requirements.
Mark multicandidate status on reports
The treasurer must also indicate that the committee has qualified as a multicandidate committee on the Summary Page of each report (Form 3X).
Now that Local Freedom Party is a multicandidate committee, it will check the multicandidate box when it files reports on the Form 3X. Now that Local Freedom Party is a multicandidate committee, it will check the multicandidate box when it files reports on the Form 3X.
Reporting with FECFile
To create a Notification of Multicandidate Status (Form 1M), go to the Reports tab, go to “Edit” and select “New.” Select the report type “Form 1M (Notification of Multicandidate Status).”
To update the data file so that the multicandidate box is checked on reports submitted by the committee, go to the Individuals/Organizations tab, double click on the committee’s info on the first line, and check the “Multi-Candidate” box in the top right.
