Week of March 30-April 3, 2020

Commission meetings and hearings

No open meetings or executive sessions were scheduled this week.

Litigation

Doe, et al. v. FEC (Case No. 18-5099) On March 30, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit issued a Mandate.

Outreach

On March 30, Commissioner Ellen L. Weintraub spoke via Zoom teleconference with a class at Yale Law School.

On April 1, Commissioner Weintraub participated in a webinar on "Safeguarding Digital Democracy" sponsored by the German Marshall Fund of the United States.

On April 1, the Commission hosted FECFile webinars.

On April 2, Commissioner Weintraub participated in a webinar on "Technology and Elections During a Pandemic" hosted by Prof. Ed Felten of Princeton University and discussed social-media political-advertising microtargeting and protecting elections with Prof. Sam Wang of Princeton University in a virtual town hall meeting.

On April 3, Commissioner Weintraub participated in an expert workshop on comparative US/EU approaches to disinformation sponsored by Prof. Andrea Matwyshyn of Penn State Law/Engineering/PILOT lab.

On April 3, the Commission issued the Statistical Summary of 12-Month Campaign Activity of the 2019-2020 Election Cycle.

Upcoming reporting due dates

April 15: April Quarterly reports are due. For more information on quarterly reporting dates, refer to the 2020 Quarterly Reporting page of the Commission website.

April 20: April Monthly reports are due. For more information on monthly reporting dates, refer to the 2020 Monthly Reporting page of the Commission website.

Upcoming educational programs

April 22, 2020: The Commission will host a webinar for political party committees.

Updated election dates

As states postpone congressional and presidential primary elections to limit possible COVID-19 exposure, the Commission is updating the reporting dates and deadlines associated with those elections. These postponements affect pre-election reports (including 48-Hour Notices for candidate committees), as well as the coordinated communications, electioneering communications, Federal Election Activity and independent expenditure periods for primary elections. Additionally, affected campaigns may continue to accept primary contributions until the date of their rescheduled elections. For the latest reporting updates, please visit the Commission’s Dates and deadlines web page.

Status of agency operations

The Commission has posted a statement on the status of agency operations, outlining the impact of the staff’s current telework environment on agency services, addressing submission of documents including enforcement complaints, and highlighting procedures for presidential and vice presidential candidates to submit public financial disclosure reports. While most agency operations are unaffected at this time, including the public website and electronic filing systems, the Commission has closed its offices to visitors and suspended mail operations. As a result, the Commission will not process any documents submitted on paper, including non-electronically filed reports, advisory opinion requests, enforcement complaints, and court-case documents until further notice.

Additional research materials

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. To order a printed copy, please contact the FEC’s Public Records Office at 800/424-9530 (option 2) or 202/694-1120, or send an email to pubrec@fec.gov.

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.

Printed copies of the 2019 edition of Title 11 of the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) are available. Contact the Commission's Information Division at (202) 694-1100 or (800) 424-9530 (press 6, when prompted) to order printed copies of the CFR at no charge. You may also email the Information Division to place an order at info@fec.gov.

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. To order a printed copy, please contact the FEC’s Public Records Office at 800/424-9530 (option 2) or 202/694-1120, or send an email to pubrec@fec.gov.

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.