Federal Election Commission – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The Commission announces its disposition of a Petition for Rulemaking filed on July 13, 2023. The Petition asks the Commission to revise existing rules on the fraudulent misrepresentation of campaign authority to make clear that the related statutory prohibition applies to deliberately deceptive campaign ads using artificial intelligence ("AI"). For the reasons described below, the Commission is not initiating a rulemaking at this time.

Texas has scheduled a Special General Election on November 5, 2024, to fill the U.S. House of Representatives seat in the 18th Congressional District held by the late Representative Sheila Jackson Lee. There are two possible elections, but only one may be necessary. Under Texas law, all qualified candidates, regardless of party affiliation, will appear on the ballot. The majority winner of the Special General Election is declared elected. Should no candidate achieve a majority vote, the Governor will then set the date for a Special Runoff Election that will include only the top two vote- getters. Committees participating in the Texas special election are required to file pre- and post-election reports.

Since the inception of the Federal Election Commission's Administrative Fines Program in 2000, the Commission has been assessing civil monetary penalties for certain violations of the reporting requirements of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971, as amended. In 2013, Congress authorized the Commission to expand the Administrative Fines Program to include violations for reporting requirements not currently covered. Accordingly, the Commission proposes to extend its Administrative Fines Program to include violations in the timely filing of 24-Hour Reports of Independent Expenditures, 48-Hour Reports of Independent Expenditures, and 24-Hour Notices of Electioneering Communications. This proposal will allow more efficient and predictive adjudication of these filing violations. The Commission invites public comment on the proposed regulatory amendments.

The Commission announces its disposition of a Petition for Rulemaking ("Petition") filed on June 14, 2016, by the Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party and its Chair, Ken Martin. The Petition asked the Commission to amend several of its regulations applicable to state, district, or local committees of political parties. On June 26, 2024, the same petitioners submitted a new petition that incorporates the substance of this Petition while "revok[ing]" this Petition. Given the new petition, the Commission is not initiating a rulemaking in response to this Petition.

Congress enacted the FOIA Improvement Act of 2016, which amends the Freedom of Information Act, as relevant here, to require Federal agencies to change how certain records and documents are made available for public inspection. The Commission is amending its regulations to implement this statutory mandate. The Commission is accepting comments on these revisions to its regulations, and any comments received may be addressed in a subsequent rulemaking document.

The Commission announces its disposition of a Petition for Rulemaking filed on April 29, 2019. The Petition asked the Commission to amend the existing regulation defining "contribution" by adding a new section to include within the definition of contribution certain "valuable information." The Petition would further require the Commission to initiate investigations and report to a law enforcement agency "automatically" and without a vote whenever the Commission receives notice that any person has received certain "foreign information" or "compromising information." The Commission is not initiating a rulemaking at this time because it lacks the statutory authority to do so.

The Federal Election Commission proposes to amend its regulations regarding the use of campaign funds to pay for security measures for federal candidates and officeholders. The proposed rule would codify several Commission advisory opinions that authorized the use of campaign funds to pay for certain security measures and address additional issues raised in those advisory opinions. The Commission seeks comment on the proposed rule and has made no final decision on the issues presented in this rulemaking.

Colorado has scheduled a special election on June 25, 2024, to fill the U.S. House of Representatives seat in the 4th Congressional District vacated by Representative Ken Buck. Committees required to file reports in connection with the Special General Election on June 25, 2024, shall file a 12-day Pre-General and a 30-Day Post-General Report.