Campaign finance requirements in Idaho

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Idaho campaign finance requirements govern the following:

• how much money candidates may receive from individuals and organizations,
• how much and how often they must report those contributions, and
• how much individuals, organizations and political parties may contribute to campaigns.

In addition to direct campaign contributions, campaign finance laws also apply to third-party organizations and nonprofit organizations that seek to influence elections through independent expenditures or issue advocacy.

As of May 2015, individuals, corporations, and unions were all limited in their contributions to individual candidates. They could contribute no more than $5,000 to statewide candidates (including those for governor), $1,000 to State Senate candidates, and $1,000 to Assembly candidates. Any of these donors could make unlimited contributions to ballot measure campaigns.

Background

Seal of the United States Federal Election Commission

The Federal Election Commission (FEC) is the independent regulatory agency that administers and enforces federal campaign election laws. The FEC is responsible for disclosing campaign finance information, enforcing limits and prohibitions on contributions, and overseeing public funding of presidential elections. According to the FEC, an individual becomes a federal candidate and must begin reporting campaign finances once he or she has either raised or spent $5,000 in his or her campaign. Within fifteen days of this benchmark, the candidate must register with the FEC and designate an official campaign committee, which is responsible for the funds and expenditures of the campaign. This committee must have an official treasurer and cannot support any candidate but the one who registered it. Detailed financial reports are then made to the FEC every financial quarter after the individual is registered. Reports are also made before primaries and before the general election.

The rules governing federal election campaigns and contributions have evolved over the past generation as result of a number of Supreme Court decisions. In the 2010 Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission decision, the court held that corporate funding of independent political broadcasts in candidate elections cannot be limited. The court's decision also overturned the ban on for-profit and not-for-profit corporations and unions broadcasting electioneering communications in the 30 days before a presidential primary and in the 60 days before a general election. In the SpeechNOW.org v. Federal Election Commission decision, the first application of the Citizens United decision, the court held that contribution limits on what individuals could give to independent expenditure-only groups, and the amount these organizations could receive, were unconstitutional. Contribution limits on donations directly to candidates, however, remained unchanged. In 2014's McCutcheon v. Federal Election Commission decision, the court overturned biennial aggregate campaign contribution limits, and held that individuals may contribute to as many federal candidates as they want, but may only contribute up to the federal limit in each case.

While the FEC governs federal election campaigns and contribution limits, individual states enforce their own regulation and reporting requirements. Regulations vary by state, as do limits on campaign contributions and third-party activities to influence elections.

Contribution limits

The table below details contribution limits as they applied to various types of individuals and groups in Idaho as of May 2015. The uppermost row of the table indicates the contributor, while the leftmost column indicates the recipient.

Idaho contribution limits as of May 2015
	Individuals	Single candidates committees	PACs	Political party	Super PACs	Corporations	Unions
Statewide Candidate (incl. Governor)	$5,000	$5,000	$5,000	$10,000	$0	$5,000	$5,000
Senate	$1,000	$1,000	$1,000	$2,000	$0	$1,000	$1,000
Assembly	$1,000	$1,000	$1,000	$2,000	$0	$1,000	$1,000
PAC	unlimited	$0	unlimited	unlimited	$0	unlimited	unlimited
Party committees	unlimited	unlimited	unlimited	unlimited	$0	unlimited	unlimited
Ballot measures	unlimited	$0	unlimited	unlimited	$0	unlimited	unlimited
Sources: Idaho Secretary of State, "2014 Campaign Disclosure Manual for Candidates and Political Committees," accessed May 25, 2015 Idaho Secretary of State, "The Sunshine Law for Political Funds and Lobbyist Activity Disclosure," accessed May 25, 2015

Candidate requirements

Seal of Idaho

See statutes: Chapter 66 of the Idaho Code

An individual becomes a candidate when he or she receives contributions or makes expenditures, reserves space or facilities with the intent to promote his or her candidacy for office, announces publicly his or her intent to run for office, files to establish an Appointment of a Political Treasurer form, or files a Declaration of Candidacy form.

The candidate is required to file an Appointment of a Political Treasurer form with the Idaho Secretary of State prior to announcing a candidacy, accepting donations or spending money on a campaign.

The political treasurer for each candidate must file with the Idaho Secretary of State a series of reports throughout the election period. These financial statements must record all contributions received and all expenditures or encumbrances made by or on behalf of the candidate. The first report filed must cover the period beginning with the first contribution, expenditure, or encumbrance.

• Each contribution must be designated to identify whether the contribution is to be used toward the upcoming primary or general election for the determination of contribution limits.
• An expenditure includes "any payment, contribution, subscription, distribution, loan, advance, deposit, or gift of money or anything of value, and includes a contract, promise, or agreement, whether or not legally enforceable, to make an expenditure."

The candidate must file C-2: Campaign Financial Disclosure Report forms according to the established reporting schedule. The office of the Idaho Secretary of State must inspect each statement and notify the candidate if the statement does not conform to the statutory requirements.

Duties of the political treasurer

The candidate's political treasurer must do the following:

• Keep detailed accounts, current within not more than seven days after the date of receiving a contribution or making an expenditure.
• Keep a detailed record of accounts for at least one year after the date of the election or filing of the last Campaign Financial Disclosure Report, whichever is later.
• File the required Campaign Financial Disclosure Reports on time while reporting all required information.
• Obtain the full name and complete address of any individual or organization which has made a contribution.
  • Only those individuals or organizations contributing more than $50 during a calendar year must be itemized on the Campaign Financial Disclosure Report.
• Transmit any anonymous contribution of more than $50 to the state controller for deposit in the public school fund.
• Obtain a receipt, canceled check or an accurate copy thereof for an expenditure of $25 or more.
• Clearly indicate on all public political advertising the person responsible for such communications.

Campaign finance legislation

The following is a list of recent campaign finance bills that have been introduced in or passed by the Idaho state legislature. To learn more about each of these bills, click the bill title. This information is provided by BillTrack50 and LegiScan.

Note: Due to the nature of the sorting process used to generate this list, some results may not be relevant to the topic. If no bills are displayed below, no legislation pertaining to this topic has been introduced in the legislature recently.

Election and campaign ballot measures

See also: Elections and campaigns on the ballot and List of Idaho ballot measures

Ballotpedia has tracked 8 statewide ballot measures relating to elections and campaigns.

1. Idaho Ballot Access Restrictions, HB 644 (1998)
2. Idaho Municipal Officer Election Removal, HJR 10 (1896)
3. Idaho Remove Disqualification of County Assessors, SJR 6(b) (1910)
4. Idaho Remove Disqualification of Sheriffs, SJR 6(c) (1910)
5. Idaho Increase Supreme Court Membership, HJR 6 (1920)
6. Idaho Election of County Officers, SJR 5 (1948)
7. Idaho Voting Residence Requirement, SJR 6 (1962)
8. Idaho Proposition 1, Top-Four Ranked-Choice Voting Initiative (2024)

Election-related agencies

See also: Campaign finance agencies in Idaho and State election agencies

Candidates running for office will require some form of interaction with the following agency:

• Idaho Secretary of State Election Division
  

Why: This agency provides and processes declaration of intent forms and campaign finance disclosure forms.

Physical address: 700 West Jefferson, Room E205, (State Capitol, East Wing, Second Floor), Boise, ID 83720

Mailing address: PO Box 83720, Boise ID 83720-0080

Telephone: (208) 334-2852

Fax: (208) 334-2282

Email: [email protected]

http://sos.idaho.gov/

Recent news

The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms Idaho campaign finance. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.

Campaign finance requirements in Idaho - Google News

See also

• Campaign finance regulation
• Ballot access requirements for political candidates in Idaho
• Idaho