Week of December 25 – 29, 2023

Commission meetings and hearings

No open meetings or executive sessions were scheduled this week.

Enforcement

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

MUR 8176

COMPLAINANT: Self-Reported
RESPONDENTS: Salazar for Congress and Les Williamson, in his official capacity as treasurer; Freedom Force PAC and Les Williamson, in his official capacity as treasurer; and Salazar Victory Committee and Les Williamson, in his official capacity as treasurer
SUBJECT: This matter arose from a sua sponte submission filed by the three respondent committees, describing numerous reporting errors that occurred during the first half of 2021. The submission described hundreds of individual errors in the Committees’ reporting of receipts, disbursements, transfers, joint fundraising, and cash on hand. They also included the mistaken depositing of checks made payable to Salazar Victory Committee or Freedom Force PAC into Salazar for Congress’s depository account. In total, the submission disclosed over $2,000,000 in reporting errors. Salazar for Congress is the authorized campaign committee of Representative Maria E. Salazar, a 2022 candidate for Florida’s 27th District. Freedom Force PAC is Salazar’s leadership PAC and Salazar Victory Committee is her joint fundraising committee.
DISPOSITION: The Commission entered into a conciliation agreement providing for a total civil penalty of $22,800 to be paid in the following amounts: $10,450 by Salazar for Congress; $4,750 by Freedom Force PAC; and $7,600 by Salazar Victory Committee.

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 1128

COMPLAINANT: FEC-Initiated
RESPONDENT: International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Political Action Committee and Paul Noble, in official capacity as treasurer (the Committee)
SUBJECT: In the normal course of carrying out its supervisory responsibilities, the Commission initiated proceedings to determine whether there was reason to believe the Committee failed to disclose all financial activity in its initially filed 2022 Year-End Report.
DISPOSITION: The Committee agreed to participate in an FEC training program and pay a civil penalty of $3,900.

Litigation

Campaign Legal Center, et al. v. FEC (Case No. 23-3163) On December 22, the Commission filed an Answer to Plaintiffs’ complaint in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.

Upcoming Commission meetings and hearings

January 9, 2024: The Commission is scheduled to meet in executive session.

January 11, 2024: The Commission is scheduled to hold an open meeting.

January 23, 2024: The Commission is scheduled to meet in executive session.

January 25, 2024: The Commission is scheduled to hold an open meeting.

Upcoming educational opportunities

January 17, 2024: The Commission will host reporting and FECFile webinars for political action committees and party committees.

January 24, 2024: The Commission will host reporting and FECFile webinars for candidate committees.

For more information on upcoming training opportunities, see the Commission’s Trainings page.

Upcoming reporting due dates

January 31: Year-End Reports are due. For more information, see the 2023 Semi-Annual, Quarterly and Monthly Reporting schedules.

Additional research materials

Election Dates: The Commission has posted Preliminary 2024 Presidential and Congressional Primary Dates, which are subject to change.

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 2020: Election Results for the U.S. President, the U.S. Senate and the U.S. House of Representatives is now 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.

The 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 Presidential Election Campaign Fund Tax Checkoff Chart provides information on balance of the Fund, monthly deposits into the Fund reported by the Department of the Treasury, payments from the Fund as certified by the FEC, and participation rates of taxpayers as reported by the Internal Revenue Service. For more information on the Presidential Public Funding Program, see the Public Funding of Presidential Elections page.

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. The use of the agency’s logo, name, and likeness on other media has not been authorized by the FEC.