FEC Publishes Final Rules for Electronic Filing of Reports By Presidential Campaign Committees

FEC PUBLISHES FINAL RULES FOR ELECTRONIC FILING OF REPORTS

BY PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN COMMITTEES

WASHINGTON – The Federal Election Commission (FEC) has approved new regulations concerning the electronic filing of reports by publicly financed Presidential primary and general election candidates.

The FEC published a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) seeking comments on the proposed changes in the Federal Register on June 17, 1998. The FEC received only two comments in response to the NPRM.

The final regulations specify that if Presidential candidates and their authorized committees have computerized their campaign finance records, they must agree to participate in the Commission’s recently established electronic filing program as a condition of accepting federal funding.

The goals of the new system include the enhancement of on-line access to reports on file with the Commission, the reduction of paper filing and manual processing , and the promotion of more efficient and more cost-effective methods of operation for filers and for the Commission. Electronic filing of Presidential committees’ reports is intended to save a substantial amount of time and Commission resources that would otherwise be devoted to inputting these reports into the FEC’s database.

These regulations implement the provisions of the Presidential Election Campaign Fund Act and the Presidential Matching Payment Account Act, which establish eligibility requirements for Presidential candidates seeking public financing, as well as Public Law 104-79, which amended the reporting provisions of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971.

The FEC sent the proposed final rules to Congress on August 21. The announcement of effective date will be published after these regulations have been before Congress for 30 legislative days.

The full text of the final rules governing electronic filing of reports by Presidential campaign committees appears in the August 27 Federal Register, pages 45679 and 45680. Also, it may be obtained from the FEC’s Website, www.fec.gov, and the FEC Faxline, (202) 501-3413.