FAQs for the Presidential Primary Season

With the first Presidential primaries and caucuses less than a month away, the Commission has begun to receive questions about the filing requirements associated with these elections:

1. Where can I find a list of the primary election dates? The complete list is available on our web site at https://transition.fec.gov/pubrec/fe2012/2012pdates.pdf.

2. What are the election year filing requirements for Presidential campaigns? Presidential campaigns that raise or spend $100,000 or more, or expect to do so, must file monthly reports during 2012. If the campaign is below this financial threshold, it must file reports on a quarterly schedule. All Presidential campaigns must file a year end report on January 31, 2012. See https://transition.fec.gov/pages/report_notices/2011/ye_prez_11.shtml for your complete filing schedule.

3. Do PACs or parties have to file pre-election reports if they participate in the primaries or caucuses? If the committee is a monthly filer, no. If the committee is a quarterly filer and makes contributions or expenditures (including independent expenditures) in connection with a Presidential primary election, it must also file a Pre-Election Report, if the activity was not previously reported. Note, however, that the Commission has not required pre-election reports for caucuses (See AO 1979-71). The FEC encourages quarterly filing PACs and party committees that make multiple contributions in different primaries to consider switching to monthly filing in order to simplify their reporting schedule. Committees who wish to change their reporting schedule must notify the Commission in writing when filing a report under the committee's current schedule.