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.
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In an effort to reduce the role of large private contributions in Presidential elections, Congress created a public funding program that uses tax dollars to:
For additional information on the public funding program, consult our "Public Funding of Presidential Elections" brochure and our 1993 report entitled The Presidential Public Funding Program.
To be eligible for public funds, a Presidential candidate or a party convention committee must first submit a letter of agreement and a written certification in which the candidate or committee agrees to:
Primary candidates must additionally certify that they have met the "threshold requirement" for eligibility by raising more than $5,000 in each of 20 states. Presidential campaigns seeking public funding should consult the Guideline for Presentation in Good Order (2008) [Word] [PDF] [Appendices] for detailed guidance.
For additional information, consult our "Public Funding of Presidential Elections" brochure.
During the primaries, eligible candidates receive matching payments for the first $250 of each individual contribution the raise, but their total receipts of public funds cannot exceed half of the national spending limit for the primary campaign.
The grants for the major parties' conventions and general election nominees are adjusted each Presidential election year to account for increases in the cost of living. The major parties are each entitled to $4 million (plus cost-of-living adjustments) to finance their national Presidential nominating conventions. The major party nominees may each be eligible for a public grant of $20 million (plus a cost-of-living adjustment) for campaigning in the general election.
In 2008, each major party received $16.3 million in public funds for their conventions, and the parties' general election nominees were eligible to receive $84.1 million in public funds.
For additional information on primary matching fund certifications, consult our news releases.
The public funding of Presidential elections is not financed by a standard Congressional appropriation. Instead, the program is funded by the three dollar checkoff that appears on federal income tax forms.
For more information, consult our brochure, " The $3 Tax Checkoff."
When a shortfall occurs in the Presidential Fund, the Secretary of the Treasury allocates the remaining funds among the eligible candidates and committees. The law requires that priority be given first to party nominating conventions, then to general election nominees and last to primary election candidates. If there are insufficient funds for the primary election candidates, the Treasury provides only partial matching funds.
Candidates who accept public funds must agree to abide by certain spending limits. During the primaries, these candidates are subject to an overall expenditure limit and separate limits for each state. During the general election campaign, the spending limit is equal to the amount of the public funding grant the major party nominees may receive.
In accordance with the Commission's guidelines, matching fund submissions (and resubmissions of funds previously denied) must be submitted on the designated submission dates. The Commission has published matching fund submission dates for publicly funded 2008 presidential primary candidates. In addition, the notice also published the dates on which publicly funded 2008 presidential primary candidates must submit their statements of net outstanding campaign obligations (‘‘NOCO statements’’) after their dates of ineligibility (‘‘DOI’’).
Click here to access the notice as published in the Federal Register on December 21, 2007.
