Week of December 7-11, 2020

Commission meetings and hearings

On December 8, the Commission met in executive session.

Alternative Dispute Resolution

The Commission made public one closed case, as follows. For more information, see the case documents in the Enforcement Query System.

ADR 960

COMPLAINANT: FEC-Initiated
RESPONDENTS: Tom Campbell for North Dakota and Tom Campbell, in his official capacity as treasurer (the Committee)
SUBJECT: In the normal course of carrying out its supervisory responsibilities, the Commission initiated proceedings to determine whether the Committee failed to timely refund or redesignate 2018 general election contributions totaling $27,200 within the permissible timeframe after Tom Campbell, a candidate for North Dakota’s At-Large Congressional District in 2018, withdrew from the primary election.
DISPOSITION: The Committee agreed 1) to pay a civil penalty of $2,250, and 2) to certify closure of the Committee’s federal account and file a termination report with the Commission within 90 days.

Outreach

On December 8, Chair James E. “Trey” Trainor III gave an interview to Newsmax.

On December 9, Commissioner Ellen L. Weintraub issued a Statement, “On the Senate’s Votes to Restore the Federal Election Commission to Full Strength.”

Upcoming Commission meetings

January 12, 2021: The Commission is scheduled to meet in executive session.

Upcoming reporting due dates

December 24, 2020: Pre-Runoff Reports are due for participating candidates and certain other committees that make contributions or expenditures in connection with either Georgia Senate runoff election. Consult the FEC’s informational article, “Reporting guidance for Georgia runoff elections (2020)” for more information or contact your FEC campaign finance analyst at 800-424-9530 (menu option 5).

January 31, 2021: Year-End Reports are due.

Upcoming educational programs

January 13-14, 2021: The Commission will host reporting and FECFile webinars for campaigns, PACs, and party committees.

Status of agency operations

See the Commission’s statement on the status of agency operations, updated on August 10, 2020. At this stage, most agency staff remain in telework status and the Commission’s office remains closed to visitors.

Additional research materials

Contribution Limits. In addition to the current limits, the Commission has posted an archive of contribution limits that were in effect going back to the 1975-1976 election cycles.

Federal Elections 2018: Election Results for the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives is available. The data was compiled from the official vote totals published by state election offices.

FEC Notify: Want to be notified by email when campaign finance reports are received by the agency? Sign up here.

Additional research materials about the agency, campaign finance information, and election results are available through the Library section of the Commission website.

The 2019 Combined Federal State Disclosure and Election Directory is available. This publication identifies the federal and state agencies responsible for the disclosure of campaign finances, lobbying, personal finances, public financing, candidates on the ballot, election results, spending on state initiatives and other financial filings.

The FEC Record is available as a continuously updated online news source.

Other election-related resources

Videos on protecting U.S. elections. The FBI’s Protected Voices initiative provides videos designed to help political campaigns protect themselves from foreign influence. The 2019 videos offer guidance on ransomware, business email compromise, supply chain, social media literacy, and foreign influence operations. Other videos, released in 2018, include cyber hygiene topics such as social engineering, patching, router hardening, and app and browser safety.

Join the FEC on Twitter and YouTube

Follow @FEC on Twitter to receive the latest information on agency updates, news releases, and weekly activity. Subscribe to our YouTube channel, FECTube: FECConnect on Demand, to watch instructional videos that have been designed to help candidates and committees comply with federal campaign finance laws. Note that the FEC is not currently available through other social media platforms at this time. The use of the agency’s logo, name, and likeness on other media has not been authorized by the FEC.