Week of October 9 – 13, 2023

Commission meetings and hearings

No open meetings or executive sessions were scheduled this week.

Advisory Opinions

Request Received

Advisory Opinion Request 2023-07 (Upshur County Republican Executive Committee) On October 10, the Commission made public an advisory opinion request by the Upshur County Republican Executive Committee. The requestor, a county party committee, asks whether it is independent from the state party committee for the purposes of aggregate contribution limits. The Commission will accept written comments on the request during the 10-day period following publication of the request (no later than October 20, 2023) and must issue a response no later than 60 days after the receipt of the complete advisory opinion request, that is, by November 27, 2023.

Alternative Dispute Resolution

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

ADR 1110

COMPLAINANT: FEC-Initiated
RESPONDENT: Nehls for Congress and Thomas Charles Datwyler, in official capacity as treasurer (the Committee)
SUBJECT: In the normal course of exercising its supervisory responsibilities, the Commission initiated proceedings to determine whether there was reason to believe that the Committee made a series of reporting errors and committed other potential violations including excessive, prohibited, and other impermissible contributions/transfers; failure to provide supporting schedules; failure to properly itemize contributions and transfers to political committees.
DISPOSITION: The Committee agreed to 1) certify annually that the Committee continued to retain the services of a compliance team, 2) participate in an FEC training program, and 3) pay a civil penalty of $4,000.

ADR 1112

COMPLAINANT: FEC-Initiated
RESPONDENT: Andy Ogles for Congress and Thomas Datwyler, in official capacity as treasurer (the Committee)
SUBJECT: In the normal course of exercising its supervisory responsibilities, the Commission initiated proceedings to determine whether there was reason to believe that the Committee made a series of reporting errors and committed other violations including the failure to file and late filing of reports, excessive, prohibited, and other impermissible contributions/transfers, and failure to provide supporting schedules. Additionally , the Committee amended its 2022 October Quarterly Report to disclose additional receipts, totaling $89,877.25, and failed to timely file 48-Hour Notices for the 2022 primary election, totaling $15,800, and for the 2022 general election, totaling $13,700.
DISPOSITION: The Committee agreed to 1) develop and certify implementation of a process to track receipt of, and response to, communications with the Commission, 2) participate in an FEC training program, and 3) pay a civil penalty of $5,750.

ADR 1122

COMPAINANT: FEC-Initiated
RESPONDENT: Farm PAC and Scott Piggott, in official capacity as treasurer (the Committee)
SUBJECT: In the normal course of exercising its supervisory responsibilities, the Commission initiated proceedings to determine whether there was reason to believe that the Committee failed to disclose all financial activity on its 2022 30-Day Post-General Report.
DISPOSITION: The Committee agreed to participate in an FEC training program and pay a civil penalty of $4,250.

Regulations and agency procedures

Proposed Directive Regarding Investigations Conducted by the Office of General Counsel. On October 10, the Commission made public a comment on the proposed directive that it received from Corrine Dodge. Comments received previously are also available in the Policy and Other Guidance section of the FEC website. On October 12, the Commission made public a revised draft directive.

Litigation

FEC v. Rivera (Case No. 22-11437) On October 10, Appellant David Rivera filed a Reply Brief in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit.

Upcoming Commission meetings and hearings

October 17, 2023: The Commission is scheduled to meet in executive session.

October 19, 2023: The Commission is scheduled to hold an open meeting.

November 1, 2023: The Commission is scheduled to meet in executive session.

November 2, 2023: The Commission is scheduled to hold an open meeting.

Upcoming educational programs

October 25, 2023: The Commission is scheduled to host a full-day Seminar for Candidate and Political Party Committees at its headquarters in Washington, D.C. In-person attendance is limited, but virtual attendance is also available.

November 15, 2023: The Commission is scheduled to host webinars on Independent Expenditures and Reporting Independent Expenditures using FECFile.

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

Upcoming reporting due dates

October 15: October Quarterly Reports are due. For more information, see the 2023 Quarterly Reporting schedule. The Reports Analysis Division and Electronic Filing Office will be available until 8 p.m. EDT on Friday, October 13, for assistance in filing reports.

October 20: October Monthly Reports are due. For more information, see the 2023 Monthly Reporting schedule.

The Commission has posted the reporting dates for the California Senate Special Election. For more information, see the Reporting Notice.

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.