California special election reporting: 50th district

The Special General Election to fill the U.S. House seat in California’s 50th Congressional District left vacant by Randy “Duke” Cunningham will be held on April 11, 2006. Under California law, a majority winner in a special election is declared elected. Should no candidate achieve a majority vote, a Special Runoff Election will be held on June 6, 2006, among the top vote-getters of each qualified political party, including qualified independent candidates.

Candidate committees involved in one or both of these elections must follow the reporting schedule on page 4. Please note that the reporting period for the Post-General election report spans two election cycles. For this report only, authorized committees must use the Post-Election Detailed Summary Page (FEC Form 3) rather than the normal Detailed Summary Page.

PACs and party committees that file on a quarterly schedule and participate in one or both of these elections must follow the same schedule on page 4, unless they file on a monthly schedule. PACs and party committees that file monthly should continue to file according to their regular filing schedule.

Method of filing

Reports filed electronically must be submitted before midnight on the filing date. A committee that is required to file electronically but instead files on paper reporting forms will be considered a nonfiler and may be subject to enforcement action, including administrative fines.

Reports filed on paper and sent by registered or certified mail must be postmarked by the mailing date. Please note that a certificate of mailing is not an acceptable method. Committees should keep the mailing receipt with its postmark as proof of filing. If using overnight mail, the delivery service must receive the report by the mailing date. “Overnight mail” includes Priority or Express Mail having a delivery confirmation, or an overnight delivery service with an on-line tracking system and scheduled for next business day delivery service. Reports filed by any other means must be received by the Commission’s close of business on the filing date.

48-Hour contribution notices

Note that 48-hour notices are required of authorized committees that receive contributions of $1,000 or more between March 23 and April 8, for the Special General Election; and between May 18 and June 3, for the Special Runoff Election, if that election is held.

24- and 48-Hour reports of independent expenditures

Political committees and other persons must file 24-hour reports of independent expenditures that aggregate at or above $1,000 between March 23 and April 9, for the Special General, and between May 18 and June 4, for the Special Runoff, if that election is held. This requirement is in addition to that of filing 48-hour reports of independent expenditures that aggregate $10,000 or more at other times during a calendar year.

Electioneering communications

The 60 day electioneering communications¹ period in connection with the Special General Election runs from February 10 through April 11, 2006. The electioneering communications period for the Special Runoff Election, if that election is held, runs from April 7 through June 6, 2006.

¹ Individuals and other groups not registered with the FEC who make electioneering communications costing more than $10,000 total during the calendar year must disclose this activity to the Commission within 24 hours of the distribution of the communication. See 11 CFR 100.29 and 104.20. For more information, see the December 2003 Record, page 5.