Current through Reg. 49, No. 38; September 20, 2024
(a) A technical, clerical, or de minimis
violation for purposes of §
RSA
571.0631 of the Government Code may include a
first-time allegation against a respondent for:
(1) Typographical or incomplete information
on a campaign finance report that is not misleading and does not substantially
affect disclosure;
(2) Failure to
include a disclosure statement on political advertising;
(3) Failure of a non-incumbent to use the
word "for" in a campaign communication that is not otherwise
misleading;
(4) Failure to include
the highway right-of-way notice on political advertising;
(5) Using a representation of the state seal
by a person who is not an officeholder in political advertising that is not
otherwise misleading;
(6) Filing a
late campaign finance report that is not a report due 30 or 8 days before an
election or a special pre-election report, and the alleged violations do not
substantially affect disclosure;
(7) Filing an incomplete or corrected
campaign finance report that is not a report due 30 or 8 days before an
election or a special pre-election report if:
(A) the total amount of incomplete or
incorrectly reported political contributions does not exceed the lesser of 10%
of the total amount of political contributions on the corrected report, or
$5,000;
(B) the total amount of
incomplete or incorrectly reported political expenditures does not exceed the
lesser of 10% of the total amount of political expenditures on the corrected
report, or $5,000; or
(C) the total
amount of incomplete or incorrectly reported political contributions or
political expenditures does not exceed the amount of the filing fee for a place
on the ballot for the office sought or held by the respondent during the period
covered by the report at issue, or, if there is not a set filing fee,
$500;
(8) Filing an
incomplete or corrected campaign finance report if the incomplete or corrected
information is not misleading and does not substantially affect disclosure,
including:
(A) the filer's full name, address,
office sought, or office held;
(B)
the identity and date of the election for which the report is filed;
(C) the campaign treasurer's full name,
address, or telephone number;
(D)
the full name of each identified candidate or measure or classification by
party of candidates supported or opposed by a political committee;
(E) the full name of each identified
officeholder or classification by party of officeholders assisted by a
political committee;
(F) the amount
of total political contributions maintained as of the last day of the reporting
period, if the error is a de minimis error as defined by §
RSA
20.50 of this title;
(G) the purpose of a political expenditure;
or
(H) the period covered by the
report;
(9) Failure to
timely file a campaign treasurer appointment if, before filing the campaign
treasurer appointment, the total amount of political contributions accepted
does not exceed $2,500 and the total amount of political expenditures made or
authorized does not exceed $2,500;
(10) Failure to disclose information related
to an out-of-state political committee required by §
RSA
20.29 or §
RSA
22.7 of this title if the total amount of
political contributions accepted from the committee does not exceed $10,000 and
the contributions are otherwise properly disclosed;
(11) Failure to disclose the principal
occupation, job title, or employer of a contributor if the total amount of
political contributions accepted from the contributor does not exceed $15,000
and the contributions are otherwise properly disclosed;
(12) As a general-purpose committee, making a
political contribution to another general-purpose committee without including
in its campaign treasurer appointment the name of the recipient committee
before making the contribution, if the contributing committee properly
disclosed the contribution;
(13)
Failure to file a termination report required by §
RSA 20.317 or
§
RSA 20.417 of
this title if the period covered by the termination report is included in a
subsequently filed report;
(14)
Filing a campaign finance report without using the form prescribed by the
commission if the report:
(A) discloses all
the information required by chapter 254 of the Election Code and this
title;
(B) is substantially similar
in size and format to the form prescribed by the commission; and
(C) is not misleading and does not
substantially affect disclosure;
(15) Making a political contribution
prohibited by §
RSA
253.1611, Election Code, if the contribution
does not exceed the limits by more than $1,000 and the amount in excess is
returned to the contributor; or
(16) Failure to timely respond to a sworn
complaint if the response is no more than 30 days late and the respondent shows
good cause for the late response.
(b) A technical, clerical, or de minimis
violation for purposes of §
RSA
571.0631 of the Government Code may include
allegations against a respondent for:
(1)
Typographical or incomplete information on a campaign finance report that is
not misleading or does not substantially affect disclosure;
(2) Filing an incomplete or corrected
campaign finance report if:
(A) the total
amount of incomplete or incorrectly reported political contributions does not
exceed the lesser of 5% of the total amount of political contributions on the
corrected report, or $2,500; or
(B)
the total amount of incomplete or incorrectly reported political expenditures
does not exceed the lesser of 5% of the total amount of political expenditures
on the corrected report, or $2,500; or
(3) Filing an incomplete or inaccurate
campaign finance report by a general-purpose committee if, during the period
covered by the report and during each of the two reporting periods preceding
the period covered by the report, the committee did not:
(A) accept political contributions totaling
$3,000 or more;
(B) accept
political contributions from a single person totaling $1,000 or more;
or
(C) make political expenditures
totaling $3,000 or more.
(c) During the review of a sworn complaint
under Chapter 571, Subchapter E of the Government Code, if the executive
director determines that all the alleged violations are technical, clerical, or
de minimis under subsection (a) of this section, the executive director may
enter into an assurance of voluntary compliance with the respondent. Before
entering into an assurance of voluntary compliance, the executive director may
require a respondent to correct the violations.
(d) During the review of a sworn complaint
under Chapter 571, Subchapter E of the Government Code, if the executive
director determines that all the alleged violations are technical, clerical, or
de minimis under subsection (b) of this section, the executive director may
enter into an agreed resolution with the respondent. Before entering into an
agreed resolution, the executive director may require a respondent to correct
the violations.
(e) An assurance of
voluntary compliance or an agreed resolution entered into under this section is
confidential under §
RSA
571.140 of the Government Code.
(f) An assurance of voluntary compliance or
an agreed resolution entered into under this section may include a penalty not
to exceed $500.
