Multistate independent expenditures

When persons, groups or organizations (not political committees) make independent expenditures, they must follow the guidelines for reporting them on quarterly, 24-hour and/or 48-hour reports using Form 5.

When an independent expenditure is made in support of or opposition to a presidential primary candidate and is publicly distributed or otherwise disseminated in six or more states but does not refer to any particular state, the reporting requirements for multistate independent expenditures apply. (For independent expenditures distributed in fewer than six states, each state’s presidential primary is considered a separate election for purposes of aggregating independent expenditures. Committees must aggregate costs for each state’s presidential primary election on a calendar year basis and list the states and amounts per state on Form 5.)

Learn more about filing quarterly reports, 24-hour reports and 48-hour reports using Form 5.

Disclosing multistate independent expenditures on Form 5

Persons and groups making multistate independent expenditures report them on Schedule 5-E of Form 5. The multistate independent expenditure must be disclosed as a single expenditure (i.e., without allocating it among states) and must indicate in the State field the state with the next upcoming presidential primary among those states where the independent expenditure is distributed. In addition, memo text must be used to indicate the states where the communication is distributed. If more than one state where the communication is publicly distributed or otherwise disseminated are holding primaries on the same date, any one of these states may be indicated in the State field, with the others listed in memo text.

To itemize the multistate independent expenditure, the filer must disclose:

• Name and address of the payee
• Date the expenditure was made
• The full amount of the expenditure
• Purpose of the independent expenditure
• Candidate supported or opposed, including the candidate’s name, office sought, election, and the state of the next upcoming presidential primary
• The total amount expended or obligated in the aggregate during the calendar year, per election, per office sought

2. SCHEDULE 5-E: MEMO TEXT

In addition to reporting on Schedule 5-E, filers must use memo text to indicate the specific states where the multistate independent expenditure is distributed.

Multistate independent expenditure, publicly distributed or disseminated in the following states: New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Maine, Rhode Island, Connecticut and New York.

Aggregating

Independent expenditures are aggregated toward the various reporting thresholds on a per-election basis, within the calendar year, per office sought (race). For multistate independent expenditures made in support of or opposition to a presidential primary candidate, the expenditures must be aggregated using the date of the next upcoming presidential primary election among the presidential primary elections to be held in the states in which the independent expenditure is publicly distributed or disseminated. That state’s election date will be used for purposes of determining whether 24 or 48-hour reports must be filed.

Reporting with FECFile

To enter contributions, go to the Summary tab and right click on “Line 6 Contributions.” Enter the independent expenditure information, following the above guidelines for selecting the state of the next upcoming presidential primary election. Include memo text by highlighting the transaction, right-clicking and choosing “Memo Text” from the available options. Use memo text to list the states where the multistate independent expenditure is distributed.