Multistate electioneering communications
When persons, groups or organizations (not political committees) make electioneering communications, they must follow the guidelines for reporting them on a 24-hour reports using the Form 9.
When an electioneering communication 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 electioneering communications apply. For electioneering communications distributed in fewer than six states, there is no change in reporting requirements.
Learn more about filing 24-hour reports using Form 9.
Disclosing multistate electioneering communications on Form 9
Persons and groups making multistate electioneering communications report them on Form 9. The multistate electioneering communication must be disclosed as a single communication (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 communication 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 electioneering communication, the filer must disclose:
- Name and address of the payee
- Date the disbursement was made
- Full amount of the disbursement
- Communication date
- Purpose of the disbursement (including the title(s) of the communications)
- Each federal candidate identified in the communication, including the candidate’s name, office sought, and election, and the state of the next upcoming presidential primary
SCHEDULE 9-B: ITEMIZED ELECTIONEERING COMMUNICATIONS
ABC Corporation publicly distributes a TV ad in connection with the upcoming presidential primaries in seven states: New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Maine, Rhode Island, Connecticut and New York.
ABC Corporation discloses this multistate electioneering communication by filling out Schedule 9-B with the reqiured itemization information for the payment to Media Dollars and Cents, Inc. for “Television Advertisement – Health Bill Ad.” In addition to indicating that the expenditure clearly identifies Martha Washington in the presidential primary election, the filer discloses New Hampshire (“NH”) in the state field, as New Hampshire is the state with the next upcoming presidential primary election among the states where the TV ad is distributed.
Filers must use memo text to indicate the specific states where the multistate independent expenditure is distributed.
SCHEDULE 9-B: MEMO TEXT
Multistate electioneering communication, publicly distributed or disseminated in the following states: New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Maine, Rhode Island, Connecticut and New York.
Reporting with FECFile
To enter multistate electioneering communication disbursements, go to the Summary tab and right click on “Line 10 Disbursements made or Obligations.” Select “new,” and enter the information about the disbursement following the above guidelines for selecting the state of the next upcoming presidential primary election. Include memo text by going to the Disbursements tab, right-clicking on the transaction and choosing “Memo Text” from the available options. Use memo text to list the states where the multistate eletioneering communication is distributed.