Illinois special election reporting: 2nd district (2013)
Illinois will hold special primary and general elections to fill the U.S. House seat in Illinois’ 2nd congressional district vacated by Representative Jesse Jackson, Jr. The Special Primary will be held on February 26, 2013, and the Special General will be held April 9, 2013.
Candidate committees involved in this election must follow the reporting schedule posted at https://transition.fec.gov/pages/report_notices/2013/il02.shtml. That schedule also applies to PACs and party committees that file on a semi-annual basis in 2013 and participate in this election. PACs and party committees that file monthly should continue to file according to their regular filing schedule. Please note that the FEC does not have authority to extend filing deadlines, even when they fall on weekends or holidays.
Filing electronically
Reports filed electronically must be received and validated by the Commission by 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time on the applicable filing deadline. Electronic filers who instead file on paper or submit an electronic report that does not pass the Commission’s validation program by the filing deadline will be considered nonfilers and may be subject to enforcement actions, including administrative fines.
Timely filing for paper filers
Registered and certified mail. Reports sent by registered or certified mail must be postmarked on or before the mailing deadline to be considered timely filed. A committee sending its reports by registered or certified mail should keep its mailing receipt with the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) postmark as proof of filing because the USPS does not keep complete records of items sent by certified mail. 2 U.S.C. § 434(a)(5) and 11 CFR 100.19 and 104.5(e).
Overnight mail. Reports filed via overnight mail [FN1] will be considered timely filed if the report is received by the delivery service on or before the mailing deadline. A committee sending its reports by Express or Priority Mail, or by an overnight delivery service, should keep its proof of mailing or other means of transmittal of its reports. 2 U.S.C. § 434(a)(5) and 11 CFR 100.19 and 104.5(e).
Other means of filing. Reports sent by other means—including first class mail and courier—must be received by the FEC before the Commission’s close of business on the filing deadline. 11 CFR 100.19 and 104.5(e).
Forms are available for downloading and printing at the FEC’s website and from FEC Faxline, the agency’s automated fax system (202/501-3413).
48-Hour contribution notices
A participating candidate’s principal campaign committee must file a 48-hour notice each time it receives a contribution of $1,000 or more between February 7, 2013, and February 23, 2013, for the Special Primary and between March 21, 2013, and April 6, 2013, for the Special General.
24- and 48-Hour reports of independent expenditures
Political committees and other persons who make independent expenditures may have to disclose this activity within 48- or 24-hours based upon the date and amount of the expenditure. Political committees and other persons must file 24-hour reports of independent expenditures that aggregate at or above $1,000 between February 7, 2013, and February 24, 2013 for the Special Primary and between March 21, 2013, and April 7, 2013, for the Special General. The 48-hour reporting requirement applies to independent expenditures that aggregate at or above $10,000 prior to February 7, 2013, for the Special Primary. For the Special General, the 48-hour reporting requirement applies to independent expenditures that aggregate at or above $10,000 prior to March 21, 2013.
Electioneering communications
The 30-day electioneering communications period in connection with the Special Primary Election runs from January 27, 2013 through February 26, 2013. The 60-day electioneering communications period in connection with the Special General Election runs from February 8, 2013, through April 9, 2013.
Disclosure of lobbyist bundling activity
Campaign committees, party committees and leadership PACs that are otherwise required to file reports in connection with the special election must simultaneously file FEC Form 3L if they receive two or more bundled contributions from any lobbyist/registrant or lobbyist/registrant PAC that aggregate in excess of $16,700 during the special election reporting period. 11 CFR 104.22(a)(5)(v). For more information on these requirements, see the March 2009 Record.
NOTE: The lobbyist bundling disclosure threshold for calendar year 2012 was $16,700. This threshold amount may increase in 2013 based upon the annual cost of living adjustment (COLA). As soon as the adjusted threshold amount is available, the Commission will publish it in the Federal Register and post it on its website. See 11 CFR 110.17(e)(2).
1 “Overnight mail” includes Priority or Express Mail having a delivery confirmation, or an overnight service with which the report is scheduled for next business day delivery and is recorded in the service’s on-line tracking system.
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