New York special election reporting: 20th district

New York will hold a Special Election to fill the U.S. House seat in New York’s 20th Congressional District vacated by Senator Kirsten Gillibrand. The Special General election will be held on March 31, 2009.

Candidate committees involved in this election must follow the reporting schedule on page 10. Please note that the reporting period for the Post-General election report spans two election cycles. For this report only, authorized committees must use the Post-Election Detailed Summary Page rather than the normal Detailed Summary Page.

PACs and party committees that file on a semiannual schedule and participate in this election must also follow this schedule. PACs and party committees that file monthly should continue to file according to their regular filing schedule.

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 104.5(e).

Overnight mail

Reports filed via overnight mail¹ 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 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 web site and from FEC Faxline, the agency’s automated fax system (202/501-3413). 48-Hour Contribution Notices Note that 48-hour notices are required of the participating candidate’s principal campaign committee if it receives any contribution of $1,000 or more per source between March 12 and March 28, 2009, for the Special General Election.

24- and 48-Hour reports of independent expenditures

Political committees and other persons must file 24-hour reports of independent expenditures that aggregate at or above $1,000 between March 12 and March 29, 2009, for the Special General Election. This requirement is in addition to that of filing 48-hour reports of independent expenditures that aggregate $10,000 or more during a calendar year.

Electioneering Communications

The 60-day electioneering communications period in connection with the Special General Election runs from January 30 through March 31, 2009.

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.