Federal Election Commission January 2006 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

The Federal Election Commission is publishing a revised Explanation and Justification for its definitions of ``agent'' in its regulations on coordinated and independent expenditures, and non- Federal funds, which are commonly referred to as ``soft money.'' The regulations, which are being retained, implement the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002 by defining ``agent'' as ``any person who has actual authority, either express or implied'' to perform certain actions. These definitions do not include persons acting only with apparent authority. These revisions to the Explanation and Justification are in response to the decision of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia in Shays v. FEC. Further information is provided in the supplementary information that follows.

California has scheduled a special general election on April 11, 2006, to fill the U.S. House of Representatives seat in the Fiftieth Congressional District vacated by Representative Randy ``Duke'' Cunningham. Under California law, a majority winner in a special election is declared elected. Should no candidate achieve a majority vote, a special runoff election will be held on June 6, 2006, among the top vote-getters of each qualified political party, including qualified independent candidates. Committees participating in the California special elections are required to file pre- and post-election reports. Filing dates for these reports are affected by whether one or two elections are held.