Campaign Cited for Failure to File Pre-Primary Report

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CAMPAIGN CITED FOR FAILURE TO FILE PRE-PRIMARY REPORT

WASHINGTON – South Carolina will be holding a special primary election on October 30, 2001, to select candidates for the U.S. House of Representatives in the 2nd Congressional district.

Provisions of the Federal Election Campaign Act require committees supporting candidates involved in a primary, run-off or general election to file reports of their financial activity 12 days before the election.

As of 5 p.m. October 25, 2001, a disclosure report from the following committees had not been filed:[*]

SC/02...JOE GRIMAUD FOR CONGRESS COMMITTEE...PETER J. CANNON, TREAS...JOSEPH A. GRIMAUD, JR...REP

The reports were due by close-of-business October 18, and were to include financial activity from July 1 through October 10. If sent by certified or registered mail, the reports should have been postmarked by October 15.

Some individuals and their committees have no obligation to file reports under federal election law, even though their names may appear on state ballots. If an individual raises or spends less than $5,000, he or she is not considered a "candidate" subject to reporting under the FECA.

The FEC notified committees involved in the primary and run-off elections of their potential filing requirements on September 24. Those committees which did not file on the due date were notified on October 19 that reports had not been received and that their names would be published if they did not respond within four business days.

Mandatory electronic filing requirements became effective as of January 1, 2001. Any committee that receives contributions or makes expenditures in excess of $50,000 in the current calendar year, or that reasonably expects to do so, must submit its reports electronically. These rules became effective for reporting periods beginning on or after January 1, 2001. A Mandatory Electronic Filing Notice was sent on October 19 notifying the committee that their paper filing was not a valid filing, and that they must file their report electronically.

Other political committees supporting Senate and House candidates in elections (those which are not authorized units of a candidate’s campaign) also are required to file pre-primary reports, unless they report monthly. Those committee names are not published by the FEC.

Further Commission action against non-filers and late filers is decided on a case-by-case basis. Federal law gives the FEC broad authority to initiate enforcement actions, including the imposition of civil penalties ($5,500 for "any violation" and $11,000 for any "knowing and willful" violation).

The next regularly scheduled disclosure reports for candidate committees that are participating in the general election will be the pre-general election reports, due December 6. They will cover activity from October 11 through November 28.

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[*]A paper copy of the Pre-Run-off Report has been filed. However, the committee was required to file the report electronically.