MUR 5611: Missouri Democratic Party

The Missouri Democratic State Committee has agreed to pay a $110,000 civil penalty for violations of the Federal Election Campaign Act (FECA) during the 1999-2000 election cycle.

Background

Having noted irregularities in the committee’s financial reports, the Commission audited the Missouri Democratic State Committee after each election cycle from 1996 through 2002. Those audits uncovered multiple FECA violations during the 1999-2000 election cycle, leading to this enforcement action.

According to the conciliation agreement, the Missouri Democratic State Central Committee violated the law during the 2000 election cycle by:

• Failing to report the receipt and transfer to the party’s nonfederal account of $176,125 in excessive contributions, $159,500 in prohibited corporate and labor contributions and an otherwise permissible $5,000 contribution;
• Accepting $69,500 in prohibited contributions;
• Misreporting its receipts, disbursements and cash-on-hand; and
• Failing to disclose outstanding debts totaling over $620,000.

The reporting failures regarding excessive contributions stemmed from the committee’s practice of depositing excessive contributions to its federal account, transferring the excessive portions to its nonfederal account, and reporting only the allowable portion that remained in the federal account. The committee treated some of the prohibited contributions it received in similar fashion. This practice caused the committee to misreport receipts, disbursements, and cash-on-hand.

Conciliation agreement

Under terms of the conciliation agreement, the committee will not only pay a $110,000 civil penalty, but also retain outside consultants to review the party’s compliance procedures and train committee staff and volunteers. Additionally, within 90 days of the agreement, the committee will file amendments to its 2004 election cycle reports, and maintain and submit to the FEC, upon request, detailed documentation supporting those amendments. The committee also agreed to retain an independent firm to audit its compliance with federal campaign finance laws in 2005 and 2006. The committee agreed to maintain documentation for all future transfers of excessive or prohibited contributions and to develop procedures for handling contributions by check where the payor is not an individual.

Additional information

For additional information on this case, please visit the Commission’s Public Records Office or consult the Enforcement Query System on the FEC’s website and enter case number 5611.