Campaign finance requirements in Wyoming

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Wyoming 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 no more than $2,500 to statewide candidates for office (including those for Governor), and $1,500 each to candidates for the State Senate and State House of Representatives. 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. 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 15 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 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. 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 Wyoming as of May 2015. The uppermost row of the table indicates the contributor, while the leftmost column indicates the recipient.

Wyoming contribution limits as of May 2015
	Individuals	Single candidates committees	PACs	Political party	Super PACs	Corporations	Unions
Statewide Candidate (incl. Governor)	$2,500	unlimited	$7,500	unlimited	$0	$0	$0
Senate	$1,500	unlimited	$3,000	unlimited	$0	$0	$0
House	$1,500	unlimited	$3,000	unlimited	$0	$0	$0
PAC	unlimited	unlimited	unlimited	unlimited	$0	$0	$0
Party committees	unlimited	unlimited	unlimited	unlimited	$0	$0	$0
Ballot measures	unlimited	unlimited	unlimited	unlimited	$0	unlimited	unlimited
Sources: Wyoming State Legislature, "HB0187," accessed May 26, 2015 Wyoming Secretary of State, "2012 Wyoming Campaign Guide," accessed May 26, 2015

Candidate requirements

Seal of Wyoming

See statutes: Title 22-25 of the Wyoming Election Code

A candidate seeking to collect contributions and make expenditures for the purpose of an election must form a candidate campaign committee. The candidate must file a statement of formation within 10 days of filing for office. This statement is required when any candidate's campaign committee is formed, whether before an election to aid in the campaign, or formed after an election to defray campaign debts incurred. The committee must also include a chairman and treasurer, who must be separate individuals. Campaign finance reports must be filed electronically through the Wyoming Campaign Finance Information System.

For candidates seeking state office, the statement of formation must be filed with the Wyoming Secretary of State and contain the following:

1. the name and mailing address of the committee
2. the name and address of the committee chairman and treasurer
3. the date the committee was formed
4. the purpose of the committee

Statutory filing dates

After formation of a campaign committee, the candidate is required to file campaign finance reports throughout the election year.

• Every candidate must file a fully itemized statement of receipts at least seven days before any primary, general or special election.
• Every candidate, whether successful or not, must file a fully itemized statement of receipts and expenditures within 10 days after any general or special election.
• Every candidate in any primary election must file a fully itemized statement of receipts and expenditures within 10 days after the primary election

Statutory campaign finance statement schedule
Report type	Closing date of statement	Due date
Pre-primary report	14 days before the primary election	7 days before the primary election
Primary report	Within 10 days of the primary election	10 days after the primary election
Pre-general report	14 days before the general election	7 days before the general election
General report	Within 14 days of the general election	10 days after the general election

Campaign finance reports

Campaign finance statements must set forth the full and complete record of receipts, including cash, goods or services. A statement must also include a fully itemized statement of receipts, including actual and promised expenditures. Receipts that exceed the $25.00 threshold must be itemized.

A candidate or committee must continue to make the reports until the campaign committee terminates and the candidate or committee files a statement of termination with the Wyoming Secretary of State. A statement of termination may be filed upon retirement of all debts.

Campaign finance legislation

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

Ballotpedia has tracked 5 statewide ballot measures relating to elections and campaigns.

1. Wyoming Special Session, Constitutional Amendment B (2002)
2. Wyoming Suffrage Not Based on Mental Status, Amendment B (1996)
3. Wyoming Legislature Appointments and Elections, Amendment 3 (1972)
4. Wyoming Qualifications of Electors, Amendment 2 (1970)
5. Wyoming Initiative and Referendum, Amendment 2 (1968)

Election-related agencies

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

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

Wyoming Secretary of State

Why: This agency provides and processes applications for nomination forms. This agency also processes campaign finance reports.

Elections Division

State Capitol Building

200 West 24th Street

Cheyenne, WY 82002-0020

Phone: 307-777-7186

Fax: 307-777-7640

Email: [email protected]

website: http://soswy.state.wy.us/Elections/Elections.aspx

Recent news

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

Campaign finance requirements in Wyoming - Google News

See also

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