Week of November 20 - 24, 2023

Commission meetings and hearings

No open meetings or executive sessions were scheduled this week.

Advisory Opinions

Request Received

Advisory Opinion Request 2023-12 (Democratic Party of the Northern Mariana Islands) On November 20, the Commission made public Advisory Opinion Request 2023-12. The Democratic Party of the Northern Mariana Islands asks to be recognized as a state committee of a national political party, namely the Democratic Party. The Commission will accept written comments on the request during the 10-day period following publication of the request (no later than December 7, 2023) and must issue a response no later than 60 days after the receipt of the complete request, that is, by January 8, 2024.

Supplemental Information Received

Advisory Opinion Request 2023-09 (Senator Catherine Cortez Masto) On November 21, the Commission received supplemental information from the requestor.

Enforcement

The Commission made public one closed case, as follows. For more information, see the case documents in the Enforcement Query System.

MUR 8165

COMPLAINANT: Self-Reported
RESPONDENTS: National Potato Council Potato Political Action Committee and W. Kam Quarles, in his official capacity as treasurer (the Committee)
SUBJECT: The Committee filed a sua sponte submission notifying the Commission that it had (1) failed to accurately report receipts, disbursements, and cash on hand, (2) knowingly accepted excessive contributions from Idaho Potato PAC that included funds not subject to the limitations and prohibitions of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971, as amended (the Act), and (3) knowingly accepted contributions from corporations.
DISPOSITION: The Commission entered into a conciliation agreement providing for the Committee to pay a civil penalty of $5,900.

Alternative Dispute Resolution

The Commission made public one closed case, as follows. For more information, see the case documents in the Enforcement Query System.

ADR 1121

COMPLAINANT: FEC-Initiated
RESPONDENT: GOA Victory Fund and John Velleco, in official capacity of treasurer (the Committee)
SUBJECT: In the normal course of exercising its supervisory responsibilities, the Commission initiated proceedings to determine whether there was reason to believe the Committee failed to timely file a 24-Hour Report to support an independent expenditure totaling $50,000.
DISPOSITION: The Committee agreed to complete internal training with Committee staff regarding independent expenditure reporting procedures and pay a civil penalty of $3,750.

Administrative Fines

The Commission made public 21 closed cases, as follows. For more information, see the case documents in the Administrative Fine Search System.

AF 4526 Abiomed Inc Political Action Committee (Abiomed PAC) and Justin Limoli, in official capacity as treasurer. The Commission made a final determination and assessed a civil penalty of $173.

AF 4527 Academy of Rail Labor Attorneys Political Action Committee and Michael Charles Gilliland, in official capacity as treasurer. The Commission made a final determination and assessed a civil penalty of $806.

AF 4528 America Great PAC and Jason Pallante, in official capacity as treasurer. The Commission made a final determination and assessed a civil penalty of $603.

AF 4529 American Association of Neurological Surgeons Political Action Committee (NeurosurgeryPAC) and Sepideh Amin-Hanjani, in official capacity as treasurer. The Commission made a final determination and assessed a civil penalty of $806.

AF 4530 American Dental Association Political Action Committee and Terry Barnfield, in official capacity as treasurer. The Commission made a final determination and assessed a civil penalty of $10,436.

AF 4532 Bipartisan Climate Fund and Ian Harrison, in official capacity as treasurer. The Commission made a final determination and assessed a civil penalty of $402.

AF 4533 Braun Solutions Committee and Thomas C. Datwyler, in official capacity as treasurer. The Commission made a final determination and assessed a civil penalty of $4,624.

AF 4535 Cadence Bank PAC and Marty Rowe, in official capacity as treasurer. The Commission made a final determination and assessed a civil penalty of $950.

AF 4536 Citizens Alliance Political Action Committee Inc. and Robert Phillips III in official capacity as treasurer. The Commission made a final determination and assessed a civil penalty of $5,213.

AF 4537 Clark PAC and George Parker Clark, in official capacity as treasurer. The Commission made a final determination and assessed a civil penalty of $483.

AF 4538 DFC Committee and Jef A. Green, in official capacity as treasurer. The Commission made a final determination and assessed a civil penalty of $1,014.

AF 4539 Fulton Financial Corporation PAC and Jose R. Cabezas, in official capacity as treasurer. The Commission made a final determination and assessed a civil penalty of $694.

AF 4540 Haitian American Votes PAC and Benson Charles, in official capacity as treasurer. The Commission made a final determination and assessed a civil penalty of $7,708.

AF 4541 Hindus of Georgia PAC and Suresh Krishnamoorthy, in official capacity as treasurer. The Commission made a final determination and assessed a civil penalty of $1,142.

AF 4543 Lakeville Road Political Action Committee and Robert M. Werner, in official capacity as treasurer. The Commission made a final determination and assessed a civil penalty of $806.

AF 4544 Local 1814 ILA Political Action and Education Fund and Frank Agosta, in official capacity as treasurer. The Commission made a final determination and assessed a civil penalty of $806.

AF 4545 Manchin Leadership Fund and Jack Rossi, in official capacity as treasurer. The Commission made a final determination and assessed a civil penalty of $214.

AF 4546 Michigan Liberation Action Fund and Raiada Lanier, in official capacity as treasurer. The Commission made a final determination and assessed a civil penalty of $2,748.

AF 4547 Freedom for America (FFA PAC) and Toni Dian Nunes, in official capacity as treasurer. The Commission made a final determination and assessed a civil penalty of $4,624.

AF 4548 New South Leadership PAC and Scott R. Falmlen, in official capacity as treasurer. The Commission made a final determination and assessed a civil penalty of $170.

AF 4549 Our Black Party and Betty Crichlow-Eberhardt, in official capacity as treasurer. The Commission made a final determination and assessed a civil penalty of $603.

Public Disclosure

On November 14, the Office of the Inspector General released an Independent Auditor’s report on the FEC’s FY 2023 Financial Statements.

Upcoming Commission meetings and hearings

December 12, 2023: The Commission is scheduled to meet in executive session.

December 14, 2023: The Commission is scheduled to hold an open meeting.

For more information on upcoming training opportunities, see the Commission’s Trainings page.

Upcoming reporting due dates

December 20: December Monthly Reports are due. For more information, see the 2023 Monthly Reporting schedule.

Additional research materials

Election Dates: The Commission has posted Preliminary 2024 Presidential and Congressional Primary Dates, which are subject to change.

Contribution Limits. In addition to the current limits, the Commission has posted an archive of contribution limits that were in effect going back to the 1975-1976 election cycles.

Federal Elections 2020: Election Results for the U.S. President, the U.S. Senate and the U.S. House of Representatives is now available. The data was compiled from the official vote totals published by state election offices.

FEC Notify: Want to be notified by email when campaign finance reports are received by the agency? Sign up here.

The Combined Federal State Disclosure and Election Directory is available. This publication identifies the federal and state agencies responsible for the disclosure of campaign finances, lobbying, personal finances, public financing, candidates on the ballot, election results, spending on state initiatives and other financial filings.

The Presidential Election Campaign Fund Tax Checkoff Chart provides information on balance of the Fund, monthly deposits into the Fund reported by the Department of the Treasury, payments from the Fund as certified by the FEC, and participation rates of taxpayers as reported by the Internal Revenue Service. For more information on the Presidential Public Funding Program, see the Public Funding of Presidential Elections page.

The FEC Record is available as a continuously updated online news source.

Other election-related resources

Videos on protecting U.S. elections. The FBI’s Protected Voices initiative provides videos designed to help political campaigns protect themselves from foreign influence. The 2019 videos offer guidance on ransomware, business email compromise, supply chain, social media literacy, and foreign influence operations. Other videos, released in 2018, include cyber hygiene topics such as social engineering, patching, router hardening, and app and browser safety.

Join the FEC on Twitter and YouTube

Follow @FEC on Twitter to receive the latest information on agency updates, news releases, and weekly activity. Subscribe to our YouTube channel, FECTube: FECConnect on Demand, to watch instructional videos that have been designed to help candidates and committees comply with federal campaign finance laws. Note that the FEC is not currently available through other social media platforms. The use of the agency’s logo, name, and likeness on other media has not been authorized by the FEC.