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U.S. Code as of:
01/3/05
Section 432. Organization of political committees
(a) Treasurer; vacancy; official authorizations
Every political committee shall have a treasurer. No contribution
or expenditure shall be accepted or made by or on behalf of a
political committee during any period in which the office of
treasurer is vacant. No expenditure shall be made for or on behalf
of a political committee without the authorization of the treasurer
or his or her designated agent.
(b) Account of contributions; segregated funds
(1) Every person who receives a contribution for an authorized
political committee shall, no later than 10 days after receiving
such contribution, forward to the treasurer such contribution, and
if the amount of the contribution is in excess of $50 the name and
address of the person making the contribution and the date of
receipt.
(2) Every person who receives a contribution for a political
committee which is not an authorized committee shall -
(A) if the amount of the contribution is $50 or less, forward
to the treasurer such contribution no later than 30 days after
receiving the contribution; and
(B) if the amount of the contribution is in excess of $50,
forward to the treasurer such contribution, the name and address
of the person making the contribution, and the date of receipt of
the contribution, no later than 10 days after receiving the
contribution.
(3) All funds of a political committee shall be segregated from,
and may not be commingled with, the personal funds of any
individual.
(c) Recordkeeping
The treasurer of a political committee shall keep an account of -
(1) all contributions received by or on behalf of such
political committee;
(2) the name and address of any person who makes any
contribution in excess of $50, together with the date and amount
of such contribution by any person;
(3) the identification of any person who makes a contribution
or contributions aggregating more than $200 during a calendar
year, together with the date and amount of any such contribution;
(4) the identification of any political committee which makes a
contribution, together with the date and amount of any such
contribution; and
(5) the name and address of every person to whom any
disbursement is made, the date, amount, and purpose of the
disbursement, and the name of the candidate and the office sought
by the candidate, if any, for whom the disbursement was made,
including a receipt, invoice, or canceled check for each
disbursement in excess of $200.
(d) Preservation of records and copies of reports
The treasurer shall preserve all records required to be kept by
this section and copies of all reports required to be filed by this
subchapter for 3 years after the report is filed. For any report
filed in electronic format under section 434(a)(11) of this title,
the treasurer shall retain a machine-readable copy of the report as
the copy preserved under the preceding sentence.
(e) Principal and additional campaign committees; designations,
status of candidate, authorized committees, etc.
(1) Each candidate for Federal office (other than the nominee for
the office of Vice President) shall designate in writing a
political committee in accordance with paragraph (3) to serve as
the principal campaign committee of such candidate. Such
designation shall be made no later than 15 days after becoming a
candidate. A candidate may designate additional political
committees in accordance with paragraph (3) to serve as authorized
committees of such candidate. Such designation shall be in writing
and filed with the principal campaign committee of such candidate
in accordance with subsection (f)(1) of this section.
(2) Any candidate described in paragraph (1) who receives a
contribution, or any loan for use in connection with the campaign
of such candidate for election, or makes a disbursement in
connection with such campaign, shall be considered, for purposes of
this Act, as having received the contribution or loan, or as having
made the disbursement, as the case may be, as an agent of the
authorized committee or committees of such candidate.
(3)(A) No political committee which supports or has supported
more than one candidate may be designated as an authorized
committee, except that -
(i) the candidate for the office of President nominated by a
political party may designate the national committee of such
political party as a principal campaign committee, but only if
that national committee maintains separate books of account with
respect to its function as a principal campaign committee; and
(ii) candidates may designate a political committee established
solely for the purpose of joint fundraising by such candidates as
an authorized committee.
(B) As used in this section, the term "support" does not include
a contribution by any authorized committee in amounts of $2,000 or
less to an authorized committee of any other candidate.
(4) The name of each authorized committee shall include the name
of the candidate who authorized such committee under paragraph (1).
In the case of any political committee which is not an authorized
committee, such political committee shall not include the name of
any candidate in its name.
(5) The name of any separate segregated fund established pursuant
to section 441b(b) of this title shall include the name of its
connected organization.
(f) Filing with and receipt of designations, statements, and
reports by principal campaign committee
(1) Notwithstanding any other provision of this Act, each
designation, statement, or report of receipts or disbursements made
by an authorized committee of a candidate shall be filed with the
candidate's principal campaign committee.
(2) Each principal campaign committee shall receive all
designations, statements, and reports required to be filed with it
under paragraph (1) and shall compile and file such designations,
statements, and reports in accordance with this Act.
(g) Filing with and receipt of designations, statements, and
reports by Secretary of Senate; forwarding to Commission; filing
requirements with Commission; public inspection and preservation
of designations, etc.
(1) Designations, statements, and reports required to be filed
under this Act by a candidate for the office of Senator, by the
principal campaign committee of such candidate, and by the
Republican and Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committees shall be
filed with the Secretary of the Senate, who shall receive such
designations, statements, and reports, as custodian for the
Commission.
(2) The Secretary of the Senate shall forward a copy of any
designation, statement, or report filed with the Secretary under
this subsection to the Commission as soon as possible (but no later
than 2 working days) after receiving such designation, statement,
or report.
(3) All designations, statements, and reports required to be
filed under this Act, except designations, statements, and reports
filed in accordance with paragraph (1), shall be filed with the
Commission.
(4) The Secretary of the Senate shall make the designations,
statements, and reports received under this subsection available
for public inspection and copying in the same manner as the
Commission under section 438(a)(4) of this title, and shall
preserve such designations, statements, and reports in the same
manner as the Commission under section 438(a)(5) of this title.
(h) Campaign depositories; designations, maintenance of accounts,
etc.; petty cash fund for disbursements; record of disbursements
(1) Each political committee shall designate one or more State
banks, federally chartered depository institutions, or depository
institutions the deposits or accounts of which are insured by the
Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the Federal Savings and Loan
Insurance Corporation, or the National Credit Union Administration,
as its campaign depository or depositories. Each political
committee shall maintain at least one checking account and such
other accounts as the committee determines at a depository
designated by such committee. All receipts received by such
committee shall be deposited in such accounts. No disbursements may
be made (other than petty cash disbursements under paragraph (2))
by such committee except by check drawn on such accounts in
accordance with this section.
(2) A political committee may maintain a petty cash fund for
disbursements not in excess of $100 to any person in connection
with a single purchase or transaction. A record of all petty cash
disbursements shall be maintained in accordance with subsection
(c)(5) of this section.
(i) Reports and records, compliance with requirements based on best
efforts
When the treasurer of a political committee shows that best
efforts have been used to obtain, maintain, and submit the
information required by this Act for the political committee, any
report or any records of such committee shall be considered in
compliance with this Act or chapter 95 or chapter 96 of title 26.
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