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Campaign finance requirements in Minnesota

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Minnesota 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 could contribute up to $4,000 to candidates for Governor, $2,500 to statewide candidates, and $1,000 each to State Senate candidates and State House of Representatives candidates. Corporations and unions could not directly contribute to candidates for office, but these groups 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.[1] 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.[2]

The Supreme Court of the United States has issued a number of rulings pertaining to federal election campaign finance regulations. 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.[3] 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.[4][5] 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.[6]

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 Minnesota as of May 2015. The uppermost row of the table indicates the contributor, while the leftmost column indicates the recipient.

Minnesota contribution limits as of May 2015
Individuals Single candidates committees PACs Special sources Political party Super PACs Corporations Unions
Governor $4,000 $0 $4,000 $313,000 $40,000 $0 $0 $4,000
Statewide Candidate $2,500 $0 $2,500 $41,700 $25,000 $0 $0 $2,500
Senate $1,000 $0 $1,000 $18,000 $10,000 $0 $0 $1,000
House $1,000 $0 $1,000 $12,500 $10,000 $0 $0 $1,000
PAC unlimited unlimited unlimited unlimited unlimited $0 $0 unlimited
Party committees unlimited unlimited unlimited unlimited unlimited $0 $0 unlimited
Ballot measures unlimited unlimited unlimited unlimited unlimited 0 unlimited unlimited
Sources: Minnesota Campaign Finance and Public Disclosure Board, "2015-2016 Election Cycle Segment Contribution and Campaign Expenditure Limits," accessed May 25, 2015
Minnesota Campaign Finance and Public Disclosure Board, "Contribution Issues," accessed May 25, 2015
Minnesota Campaign Finance and Public Disclosure Board, "Political Committee and Political Fund Handbook," accessed May 25, 2015
Minnesota Office of the Revisor of Statutes, "211B.14 Corporate Political Contributions," accessed May 25, 2015

Candidate requirements

Seal of Minnesota

DocumentIcon.jpg See statutes: 2013 Minnesota Statutes, "Chapter 10A. Campaign Finance and Public Disclosure"

Campaign finance requirements

If a candidate anticipates receiving more than $750 from supporters or intends to receive public money, he or she must form a campaign committee. All campaign financial transactions must be made through the committee. The candidate can neither accept contributions nor make expenditures for the campaign outside of the committee.[7]

The committee must have a chair and a treasurer, each of whom is chosen by the candidate. The candidate may, at his or her discretion, serve as the committee chair and/or treasurer. The treasurer is the key financial agent in the committee and is responsible for keeping records, reconciling the campaign's books, and meeting reporting requirements. The committee must keep a separate bank account, over which the treasurer must have signing authority. Any contributions must be deposited into this account within 10 business days of receipt.[7]

The campaign committee must register with the Minnesota Campaign Finance and Public Disclosure Board. This registration includes basic information, such as the names and addresses of the candidate, the committee, the committee's officers, and the committee's bank account. The registration must be signed by the candidate or the treasurer and submitted (in person, or by mail, fax or email) to the board within 14 days after receiving more than $750 in contributions or making more than $750 in expenditures.[7]

Reporting requirements

Campaign committees are required to file regular campaign finance disclosure reports with the Campaign Finance and Disclosure Board. Each report covers the time period from the beginning of the year to the date of the report. The beginning balance on every report is always the ending balance from the last report. Reports must be filed every year until the committee closes, even if the committee does not collect or spend any money during the year. Reports must be filed electronically (the board can make exceptions if the committee demonstrates that it has a good reason for not filing electronically). The board offers free software for record keeping and reporting purposes, which can be downloaded here. Using the provided software, committees can automatically generate their reports based on the receipts and expenditures they enter.[7]

For reporting purposes, contribution and expenditure amounts are the total of all contributions received from the same donor or expenditures made to the same vendor or supplier. Contributions from donors who each give $200 or less (including both cash and in-kind contributions) do not need to be itemized, but should be reported as aggregate totals. Contributions from one donor of more than $200 must be reported individually. The donor's name, address, and employer or occupation must be noted, as well as the date and amount of the contribution. For vendors or suppliers to whom expenditures of $200 or less are made, the total amount should be reported (itemization is not necessary). For vendors or suppliers to whom expenditures of more than $200 are made, the vendor's name and address must be noted along with expenditure details (date and amount of payment, and a description of the item or service purchased).[7]

A committee cannot stop operating until it has $100 or less in cash and property and has submitted a termination report to the board. A committee can terminate its registration with the board even if it has unpaid debts, though the committee, candidate, or officers will remain liable for the unpaid debts.[7]

In an election year, candidates for state legislative office are required to file three separate reports with the board.[8]

In an election year, candidates for constitutional office (e.g., governor, secretary of state, etc.) must file six separate reports with the board.[9]

In a non-election year, a candidate is only required to file one report for the entire year, due on January 31 of the following year.[7]

For certain transactions that occur between the last pre-primary or pre-general report and the date of the election, special notice must be made to the board. The notice is due within 24 hours if the committee files electronically or by the next business day if the committee files in person.[7]

Campaign finance legislation

The following is a list of recent campaign finance bills that have been introduced in or passed by the Minnesota 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 Minnesota ballot measures

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

  1. Minnesota Amendment 2, Require Photo Voter Identification Measure (2012)
  2. Minnesota State Canvassing Board, Amendment 3 (1873)
  3. Minnesota State Canvassing Board, Amendment 3 (1877)
  4. Minnesota System for Biennial Elections, Amendment 2 (1883)
  5. Minnesota Clarify Voting Requirements, Amendment 3 (1952)
  6. Minnesota Voting Location and Indian Voting Rights, Amendment 4 (1960)
  7. Minnesota Age Requirements for Voting and Holding Office, Amendment 1 (1970)
  8. Minnesota Campaign Spending Limits, Amendment 1 (1980)

Election-related agencies

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

Candidates running for office may require some form of interaction with the following agencies:

  • Minnesota Secretary of State
Why: This agency provides and processes the requisite paperwork for federal, state and judicial offices.
180 State Office Building
100 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.
Saint Paul, MN 55155-1299
Telephone: 651.215.1440
Toll-free: 1.877.600.VOTE (8683)
Fax: 651.296.9073
Email: [email protected]
http://www.sos.state.mn.us/
  • Minnesota Campaign Finance and Public Disclosure Board
Why: This agency provides and processes campaign finance reports.
190 Centennial Office Building
658 Cedar Street
St. Paul, Minnesota 55155-1603
Telephone: 651-539-1180
Toll-free: (651) 539-1188
Fax: (651) 539-1196
Email: [email protected]
http://www.cfboard.state.mn.us/

Counties

See also: Counties in Minnesota

A candidate may file a number of documents with the county elections office in his or her home county. Individual county contact information can be found below. In the table below, if a piece of information does not exist, it is because it could not be found for this municipality. To provide information for the table below, please email us.

Recent news

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

Campaign finance requirements in Minnesota - Google News

See also

Footnotes

  1. ↑ Federal Election Commission, "About the FEC," accessed June 27, 2012
  2. ↑ Federal Election Commission, "Candidate Registration Brochure," accessed December 7, 2012
  3. ↑ New York Times, "Justices, 5-4, Reject Corporate Spending Limit," January 21, 2010
  4. ↑ Federal Election Commission, "Speechnow.org v. FEC," April 7, 2014
  5. ↑ OpenSecrets, "Two Federal Court Rulings Could Change Campaign Finance Landscape," March 26, 2010
  6. ↑ Federal Election Commission, "Ongoing Litigation," accessed March 18, 2015
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 7.4 7.5 7.6 7.7 Minnesota Campaign Finance and Public Disclosure Board, "Legislative and Constitutional Office Candidate Handbook," accessed March 4, 2014
  8. ↑ Minnesota Campaign Finance and Public Disclosure Board, "2014 Disclosure Calendar - House of Representatives Candidates and District Court Judicial Candidates," accessed March 4, 2014
  9. ↑ Minnesota Campaign Finance and Public Disclosure Board, "2014 Disclosure Calendar - Constitutional Officer Candidates and Appellate Court Judicial Candidates," accessed March 4, 2014
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