Campaign Finance Activity & Reporting
This is a first of a five-part summary of campaign activity and
reporting requirements in West Virginia. Use the bar above to view the
pages on contributions, loans, expenditures, and closing a campaign. Use
the links below for topics on this page.
General
Instructions
Who
Files Where | When to File
| How to File |
What
to File (Forms)
Candidate & Committee Information
| After the Campaign
| Summary
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Who Files Where?
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With the Secretary of State
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With the County Clerk
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With the
Municipal Recorder
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- All candidates for statewide office, the Legislature, or any
multi-county district.
- Candidates for Delegate to National
Convention are not
exempt, and even if no money is spent to campaign, at least the filing
fee must be listed on the report.
- Candidates for state party executive committees in
non-presidential election years are not required
to file.
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-
All candidates for offices on the
ballot in a single county (except for the Legislature), including county
offices and single-county judicial circuits.
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Candidates for county and district party
executive committees in non-presidential years are not required to file.
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- All candidates for
municipal office on the ballot.
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- All financial agents for candidates, treasurers for candidates'
committees, political party committees, and political action committees
who support any candidates in statewide, legislative or other
multi-county races.
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- All financial agents for candidates, treasurers for candidates'
committees, and political action committees
who support candidates or issues only within one county (other than for
the Legislature).
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- All financial agents
for candidates, treasurers for candidates' committees, and political
action committees who support candidates or issues only within the
municipality.
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- All persons who spend personal funds independently and without a
candidate or committee's knowledge to advocate or oppose the nomination,
election or defeat of any candidate for statewide or multi-county office, or the passage or defeat of any issue
to be voted on in more than one county. (Form
F-7B)
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- All persons who spend personal funds independently and without a
candidate or committee's knowledge to advocate or oppose the nomination,
election or defeat of any candidate, or the passage or defeat of any issue
to be voted on in only one county. (Form
F-7B)
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- Any candidate,
committee or person making an independent expenditure in conjunction
with a municipal election must file with the municipal recorder.
(Form F-7B)
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When to File
Candidates, their
agents or committees must file all reports in the election year in which
they are on the ballot, and annual reports until they repay all loans
and/or disburse excess funds and file a final report. Candidates who
lose the primary election must file financial reports for the general
election if they have outstanding loans or bills, or have money left in
their campaign.
Political action
committees and party executive committees must file reports at each filing
period from the date they begin activity until they formally dissolve the
committee by filing a final report and a Statement of Dissolution (Form
F-6).
Consultants,
advertising agents and persons who disburse money for candidates or
committees, and persons who make independent expenditures must file for
any reporting period in which they have received or spent money.
Reports for 2008 must
be filed during the range of dates shown below-- the report due
dates. The second date in each period is the deadline date, and any
report received after that date is overdue. The reports will cover all transactions occurring during the
reporting periods.
|
Report |
Reporting
Period
2008 if not
specified |
Reports
Due
2008 if not
specified |
Primary - First
or Annual |
March 31, 2007 -
March 28, 2008 |
March 29, 2008 -
April 4, 2008 |
|
Pre-Primary |
March 29, 2008 -
April 27, 2008 |
April 28, 2008 -
May 2, 2008 |
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Post-Primary |
April 28, 2008 -
May 25, 2008 |
May 26, 2008 -
May 30, 2008 |
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General-First |
May 26, 2008 -
September 21, 2008 |
September 22, 2008 -
September 26, 2008 |
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Pre-General |
September 22, 2008 - October
19, 2008 |
October 20, 2008 -
October 24, 2008 |
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Post-General |
October 20, 2008 -
November 16, 2008 |
November 17, 2008 -
November 21, 2008 |
|
2009
Annual for 2008
candidates & committees |
November 17, 2008 -
March 17, 2009 |
March 28, 2009 -
April 3, 2009 |
|
2009
Annual for
candidates in past elections with open accounts |
March 29, 2008 -
March 27, 2009 |
March 28, 2009 -
April 3, 2009 |
Annual reports are mandatory filings if the total of all receipts and
expenditures (added together) exceed $500. Even if the total amount
is less than the threshold, it's wise to either file a report or file a
waiver (Form F-12) so the public knows the campaign is reporting
properly.
How to File
Candidates
and political action committee have several options on how to file campaign
finance reports. They may be submitted to the proper filing officer in a
variety of formats.
US Mail
Campaign finance reporting forms may be mailed to the appropriate filing officer
during the reporting period. The
forms may be received no earlier than the first day of the filing period and
post marked no later than the last day of the filing period.
Fax
Campaign finance reports may be faxed to the appropriate filing officer during
the filing period. If the report is
sent by fax it must be followed by an original form with the appropriate
signatures. The original form must
be post marked or received by the filing official within 24 hours of the fax
being sent. Campaign finance reports may not be accepted by email at this time.
Online
Online reporting is currently available only to candidates or committees filing
with the Secretary of State’s Office. Campaign
Finance Reporting System (CFRS) is a new program which allows candidates and
committees to keep online campaign finance files which may be submitted
electronically through the Secretary of State’s website.
Candidate and Committee
Information
On the filing information
page, complete all details.
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Be sure to enter the
candidate name as it will appear on the ballot.
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Enter the committee name and
treasurer's name and address information as it was listed on the
committee organization statement.
-
If the treasurer or financial
agent resigns, the new treasurer appointment or changes must be filed
in writing on form F-5 (Notice of Change of Treasurer). Until this
is done, the former treasurer is still responsible for filing
financial reports and can be held accountable if reports are not filed
or if reports have errors.
After the Campaign
To end your filing
responsibilities, you must complete these steps:
1. Repay all loans,
outstanding bills and/or disburse any excess funds (see WV Legislative
Rule §146-3-7). Candidates: if you must use personal funds
to pay off these debts, be sure to list that amount as a
contribution. No report can end with a negative balance!
2. When your campaign account
has a zero balance, and all loans and bills are paid, you can file a
final report.
3. To file a final report,
complete the report for the current reporting period and check FINAL. List any contributions or
expenditures since your last report. Report the repayment of any
loans. Make sure the Summary shows a zero balance. Mark the
report as final in the box in the check if applicable section of the
form. When
closing a campaign or committee account, it is all right to file a
report before the deadline.
4. For political action
committees, file Form F-6, the Statement of Dissolution of a Committee,
at the same time the final campaign finance report is
filed.
Summary
Receipts: Enter the totals for each type of
receipt (itemized contributions, fundraisers and other receipts) to the
summary page. On your first report for the current campaign or
election year, enter the same amount in the year-to-date column. On
all later reports, the year-to-date column is the total of the previous
year-to-date and the current period.
Expenditures:
Enter the total expenditures, and complete the year-to-date column.
Loans &
Unpaid Bills: Receipts of new loans and repayment of old
loans and total unpaid bills are not included in the balance summary
because they would inflate your total campaign activity. However,
the status of loans must be shown in this section by carrying forward the
amounts from your loan schedule and unpaid bills.
Balance: The
beginning balance is zero on the first report. On all other reports
it must equal the ending balance on the last report.
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