Louisiana special election reporting: 5th district (2013)
On October 19, 2013, Louisiana will hold a Special General Election to fill the U.S. House seat being vacated by Representative Rodney Alexander in Louisiana’s 5th Congressional District. [FN1] If no candidate receives a majority of votes, the top two vote-getters will participate in a Special Runoff Election on November 16, 2013.
Candidate committees involved in this election must follow the reporting schedule posted at http://www.fec.gov/pages/report_notices/2013/la05.shtml. That schedule also applies to PACs and party committees that file on a semi-annual basis in 2013 and participate in this election. PACs and party committees that file monthly should continue to file according to their regular filing schedule. Please note that the FEC does not have authority to extend filing deadlines, even when they fall on weekends or holidays.
Filing electronically
Reports filed electronically must be received and validated by the Commission by 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time on the applicable filing deadline. Electronic filers who instead file on paper or submit an electronic
report that does not pass the Commission’s validation program by the filing deadline will be considered nonfilers and may be subject to enforcement actions, including administrative fines.
Timely filing for paper filers
Registered and certified mail. Reports sent by registered or certified mail must be postmarked on or before the mailing deadline to be considered timely filed. A committee sending its reports by certified mail should keep its certified mailing receipt with the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) postmark as proof of filing because the USPS does not keep complete records of items sent by certified mail. A committee sending its report by registered mail should keep its proof of mailing. Note that a certificate of mailing from the USPS is not sufficient to prove that a report is timely filed using registered, certified or overnight mail. 2 U.S.C. § 434(a)(5) and 11 CFR 100.19 and 104.5(e) and (i).
Overnight mail. Reports filed via overnight mail [FN2] will be considered timely filed if the report is received by the delivery service on or before the mailing deadline. A committee sending its reports by Express or Priority Mail, or by an overnight delivery service, should keep its proof of mailing or other means of transmittal of its reports. 2 U.S.C. § 434(a)(5) and 11 CFR 100.19 and 104.5(e).
Other means of filing. Reports sent by other means—including first class mail and courier—must be received by the FEC before the Commission’s close of business on the last business day before the filing deadline. 11 CFR 100.19 and 104.5(e).
Forms are available for downloading and printing at the FEC’s website and from FEC Faxline, the agency’s automated fax system (202/501-3413).
48-Hour contribution notices
A participating candidate’s principal campaign committee must file a 48-hour notice each time it receives a contribution of $1,000 or more between September 30 and October 16 for the Special
General and between October 28 and November 13 for the Special Runoff.
24- and 48-Hour reports of independent expenditures
Political committees and other persons must file 24-hour reports of independent expenditures that aggregate $1,000 between September 30 and October 17 for the Special
General and between October 28 and November 14 for the Special Runoff. This requirement is in addition to that of filing 48-hour reports of independent expenditures that aggregate $10,000 or more during the calendar year up to and including the 20th
day before an election. The 48-hour reporting requirement applies to independent expenditures that aggregate at or above $10,000 prior to September 30 for the Special General. For the Special Runoff, the 48-hour reporting requirement applies to independent
expenditures that aggregate at or above $10,000 prior to October 28.
Electioneering communications
The 60-day electioneering communications period in connection with the Special General runs from August 20 through October 19. The 60-day electioneering communications period in connection
with the Special Runoff runs from September 17 through November 16.
Disclosure of lobbyist bundling activity
Campaign committees, party committees and leadership PACs that are otherwise required to file reports in connection with the special election must simultaneously file FEC Form 3L
if they receive two or more bundled contributions from any lobbyist/registrant or lobbyist/registrant PAC that aggregate in excess of $17,100 during the special election reporting period. 11 CFR 104.22(a)(5)(v) and (b). For more information on these
requirements, see the March 2009 Record.
1 In AO 2000-29 [PDF], the Commission determined that the last day to qualify for a position on the general election ballot in Louisiana--in this case 08/21/13--must be considered the primary election date for Louisiana candidates. See 11 CFR 100.2(c)(4)(i).
2 “Overnight mail” includes Priority or Express Mail having a delivery confirmation, or an overnight service with which the report is scheduled for next business day delivery and is recorded in the service’s on-line tracking system.
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