This page provides answers to frequently asked questions. If you don't find an answer to your question here, please contact the FEC's Information Division, toll free at 800-424-9530 or by e-mail at info@fec.gov.
The PDF files linked on this web page may be viewed or printed using the free Acrobat Reader available from Adobe.
National and state party committees must register with the FEC once they make contributions or expenditures in connection with federal elections that exceed $1,000 in a calendar year. Local party committees must register with the FEC once they:
As with other committees, parties must register by filing FEC Form 1 [PDF], Statement of Organization within 10 days after reaching the applicable threshold. Party committees should download the Campaign Guide for Political Party Committees [PDF] for more information about the laws that apply to them.
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Download our Party Registration Toolkit The complete package of forms and other information necessary to register a party committee with the FEC. |
The Commission determines whether committees meet the criteria for state or national party committee status through the advisory opinion process. For state committee status, the Commission has generally looked to see if the committee engages in activities that are commensurate with the day-to-day operations of a party at the state level, and if the committee has gained ballot access for its federal candidates.
For national committee status, the criteria include:
Consult our "Advisory Opinions" brochure for more information on how to obtain an opinion from the Commission.
Typically, yes. All FEC-registered local party committees within a state are presumed to be affiliated with the state party committee and, as a result, share the state committee's contribution limits. For that reason, the committees must keep in close contact to ensure that they stay within their shared limits. Local party committees wanting to establish their independence from the state committee should request an advisory opinion from the Commission. Our "Advisory Opinions" brochure describes that process.
A state, district or local party committee with reportable expenditures for Federal Election Activity (FEA) must file monthly. All other state, district and local party committees may choose to file monthly or quarterly, and may change their filing frequency as often as once per calendar year. National party committees must file monthly.
Each year, the Commission publishes the coordinated party expenditure limits on its website and in its monthly newsletter, the Record. Click here to view the 2008 coordinated party expenditure limits [HTML] [PDF].
Within 120 days before an election, voter registration, voter identification, get-out-the-vote and generic campaign activities conducted by state, district or local party committees are considered federal election activity (FEA) and must be financed using federal funds, Levin funds or a combination of the two. As states establish their election schedules, the Commission calculates the applicable FEA periods.
To access the state-by-state chart listing the FEA periods for the 2008 elections click here.
