H. B. 4540
(By Delegates McGraw and Fragale)
[Introduced February 24, 1998; referred to the
Committee on the Judiciary.]
A BILL to amend and reenact sections five-a and nine, article
eight, chapter three of the code of West Virginia, one
thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, relating to
the regulation and control of elections; prohibiting the
intermingling of campaign contributions; and providing
criminal penalties.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That sections five-a and nine, article eight, chapter three
of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty- one, as amended, be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 8. REGULATION AND CONTROL OF ELECTIONS.
§3-8-5a. Information required in financial statement.
(a) Each financial statement required by the provisions of
this article shall contain the following information:
(1) The first name, middle initial, if any, and last name, residence and mailing address and telephone number of each
candidate, financial agent, treasurer or person, and the full
name, address and telephone number of each association,
organization or committee filing a financial statement.
(2) The balance of cash and any other sum of money on hand
at the beginning and the end of the period covered by the
financial statement.
(3) The first name, middle initial, if any, and the last
name in the case of an individual, and the full name of each
firm, association or committee, and the amount of such the
contribution of such the individual, firm, association or
committee, and, if the aggregate of the sum or sums contributed
by any one such individual, firm, association or committee
exceeds two hundred fifty dollars, there shall also be reported
the residence and mailing address and, in the case of an
individual, the major business affiliation and occupation. A
contribution totaling more than fifty dollars of currency of the
United States or currency of any foreign country by any one
contributor is prohibited and a violation of this provision is
subject to section five-d of this article.
(4) The total amount of contributions received during the
period covered by the financial statement.
(5) The first name, middle initial, if any, and the last
name, residence and mailing address of any individual or the full name and mailing address of each firm, association or committee
making or cosigning a loan and the amount of any loan received,
the date and terms of the loan, including interest and repayment
schedule, along with a copy of the loan agreement.
(6) The first name, middle initial, if any, and the last
name, residence and mailing address of any individual or the full
name and mailing address of each firm, association or committee
having previously made or cosigned a loan for which payment is
made or a balance is outstanding at the end of the period,
together with the amount of repayment on the loan made during the
period and the balance at the end of the period.
(7) The total outstanding balance of all loans at the end of
the period.
(8) The first name, middle initial, if any, and the last
name, residence and mailing address of any individual, or the
full name and mailing address of each firm, association or
committee to whom each expenditure was made or liability
incurred, together with the amount and purpose of each
expenditure or liability incurred and the date of each
transaction.
(9) The total expenditure for the nomination, election or
defeat of a candidate or any person or organization advocating
or opposing the nomination, election or defeat of any candidate,
or the passage or defeat of any issue, thing or item to be voted upon, in whose behalf an expenditure was made or a contribution
was given for the primary or other election.
(10) The total amount of expenditures made during the period
covered by the financial statement.
(b) Any unexpended balance at the time of making the
financial statements herein provided for shall be properly
accounted for in that financial statement and shall appear as a
balance in the next following financial statement.
(c) Each financial statement required by this section shall
contain a separate section setting forth the following
information for each fund-raising event held during the period
covered by the financial statement:
(1) The type of event, date held, and address and name, if
any, of the place where the event was held.
(2) All of the information required by subdivision (3),
subsection (a) of this section.
(3) The total of all moneys received at the fund-raising
event.
(4) The expenditures incident to the fund-raising event.
(5) The net receipts of the fund-raising event.
(d) When any lump sum payment is made to any advertising
agency or other disbursing person who does not file a report of
detailed accounts and verified financial statements as required
in this section, such the lump sum expenditures shall be accounted for in the same manner as provided for herein.
(e) Any No contribution or expenditure may be made by or on
behalf of a committee for a candidate for public office, to any
other candidate, or committee for a candidate for any public
office in the same election, shall be accounted for in accordance
with the provisions of this section nine of this article.
(f) No person, firm, association or committee may make any
contribution except from their own funds, unless such the person,
firm, association or committee discloses in writing to the person
required to report under this section the first name, middle
initial, if any, and the last name in the case of an individual,
or the full name in case of a firm, association or committee,
residence and mailing address and the major business affiliation
and occupation of the person, firm, association or committee
which furnished the funds to such the contributor. All such the
disclosures shall be included in the statement required by this
section.
(g) Any firm, association, committee or fund permitted by
section eight of this article to be a political committee shall
disclose on the financial statement its corporate or other
affiliation.
(h) No contribution may be made, directly or indirectly, in
a fictitious name, anonymously or by one person through an agent,
relative or other person so as to conceal the identity of the source of the contribution or in any other manner so as to effect
concealment of the contributor's identity.
(i) No person, firm, association or committee may accept any
contribution for the purpose of influencing the nomination,
election or defeat of a candidate or for the passage or defeat of
any issue or thing to be voted upon unless the identity of the
donor and the amount of the contribution is known and reported.
(j) When any candidate, organization, committee or person
receives any anonymous contribution which cannot be returned
because the donor cannot be identified, that contribution shall
be donated to the general revenue fund of the state. Any
anonymous contribution shall be recorded as such on the
candidate's financial statement, but may not be expended for
election expenses. At the time of filing, the financial
statement shall include a statement of distribution of anonymous
contributions, which total amount shall equal the total of all
anonymous contributions received during the period.
(k) Any membership organization which raises funds for
political purposes by payroll deduction assessing them as part of
its membership dues or as a separate assessment may report the
amount raised as follows:
(1) If the portion of dues or assessments designated for
political purposes equals twenty-five dollars or less per member
over the course of a calendar year, the total amount raised for political purposes through membership dues or assessments during
the period is reported by showing the amount required to be paid
by each member and the number of members.
(2) If the total payroll deduction for political purposes of
each participating member equals twenty-five dollars or less over
the course of a calendar or fiscal year, as specified by the
organization, the organization shall report the total amount
received for political purposes through such payroll deductions
during the reporting period, and to the maximum extent possible,
the amount of each yearly payroll deduction contribution level
and the number of members contributing at each such specified
level. The membership organization shall maintain records of the
name and yearly payroll deduction amounts of each participating
member.
(3) If any member contributes to the membership organization
through individual voluntary contributions by means other than
payroll deduction, membership dues, or assessments as provided in
this subsection, the reporting requirements of subdivision (3),
subsection (a) of this section shall apply applies. Funds raised
for political purposes must shall be segregated from the funds
for other purposes and listed in its report.
(l) For purposes of this section:
(1) "Political purposes" means advocating or opposing the
nomination, election or defeat of one or more candidates, supporting the retirement of the debt of a candidate or
activities of an established political party or an organization
which has declared itself a political party, supporting the
administration or activities of a political committee or
advocating or opposing the passage of a ballot issue.
(2) "Membership organization" means a group that grants bona
fide rights and privileges, such as the right to vote, to elect
officers or directors, and the ability to hold office, to its
members, and which uses a majority of its membership dues for
purposes other than political purposes. This term shall does not
include organizations that grant membership upon receiving a
contribution.
(3) "Fund-raising event" means an event such as a dinner,
reception, testimonial, cocktail party, auction or similar affair
through which contributions are solicited or received by such
means as the purchase of a ticket, payment of an attendance fee
or by the purchase of goods or services.
(m) Notwithstanding the provisions of section five of this
article or of the provisions of this section to the contrary, an
alternative reporting procedure may be followed by a political
party executive committee or a political action committee
representing a political party in filing financial reports for
fund-raising events if the total profit does not exceed five
thousand dollars per year. A political party executive committee or a political action committee representing a political party
may report gross receipts for the sale of food, beverages,
services, novelty items, raffle tickets or memorabilia, except
that any receipt of more than fifty dollars from an individual or
organization shall be reported as a contribution. A political
party executive committee or a political action committee
representing a political party using this alternative method of
reporting shall report: (i) The name of the committee; (ii) the
type of fund-raising activity undertaken; (iii) the location
where the activity occurred; (iv) the date of the fund raiser;
(v) the name of any individual who contributed more than fifty
dollars worth of items to be sold; (vi) the name and amount
received from any person or organization purchasing more than
fifty dollars worth of food, beverages, services, novelty items,
raffle tickets or memorabilia; (vii) the gross receipts of the
fund raiser; and (viii) the date, amount, purpose and name and
address of each person or organization from whom items with a
fair market value of more than fifty dollars were purchased for
resale.
§3-8-9. Lawful and unlawful election expenses; public opinion
polls and limiting their purposes; limitation upon
expenses; use of advertising agencies and reporting
requirements; delegation of expenditures.
(a) No candidate, financial agent or treasurer of a political party committee shall may pay, give or lend, either
directly or indirectly, any money or other thing of value for any
election expenses, except for the following purposes:
(1) For rent, maintenance and furnishing of offices to be
used as political headquarters and for the payment of necessary
clerks, stenographers, typists, janitors and messengers actually
employed therein;
(2) In the case of a candidate who does not maintain a
headquarters, for reasonable office expenses, including, but not
limited to, filing cabinets and other office equipment and
furnishings, computers, computer hardware and software, scanners,
typewriters, calculators, audio visual equipment, or the rental
of the use of the same, and for the payment of necessary clerks,
stenographers and typists, actually employed;
(3) For printing and distributing books, pamphlets,
circulars and other printed matter and radio and television
broadcasting and painting, printing and posting signs, banners
and other advertisements, all relating to political issues and
candidates;
(4) For renting and decorating halls for public meetings and
political conventions, for advertising public meetings, and for
the payment of traveling expenses of speakers and musicians at
such meetings;
(5) For the necessary traveling and hotel expenses of candidates, political agents and committees, and for stationery,
postage, telegrams, telephone, express, freight and public
messenger service;
(6) For preparing, circulating and filing petitions for
nomination of candidates;
(7) For examining the lists of registered voters, securing
copies thereof, investigating the right to vote of the persons
listed therein and conducting proceedings to prevent unlawful
registration or voting;
(8) For conveying voters to and from the polls;
(9) For securing publication in newspapers and by radio and
television broadcasting of documents, articles, speeches,
arguments and any information relating to any political issue,
candidate or question or proposition submitted to a vote;
(10) For conducting public opinion poll or polls. For the
purpose of this section, the phrase "conducting of public opinion
poll or polls" shall mean and be means and is limited to the
gathering, collection, collation and evaluation of information
reflecting public opinion, needs and preferences as to any
candidate, group of candidates, party, issue or issues. No such
poll shall may be deceptively designed or intentionally conducted
in a manner calculated to advocate the election or defeat of any
candidate or group of candidates or calculated to influence any
person or persons so polled to vote for or against any candidate, group of candidates, proposition or other matter to be voted on
by the public at any election: Provided, That nothing herein
shall prevent prevents the use of the results of any such a poll
or polls to further, promote or enhance the election of any
candidate or group of candidates or the approval or defeat of any
proposition or other matter to be voted on by the public at any
election;
(11) For legitimate advertising agency services, including
commissions, in connection with any campaign activity for which
payment is authorized by subdivisions (3), (4), (5), (6), (7),
(9) and (10) of this subsection;
(12) For the purchase of memorials, flowers or citations by
political party executive committees or political action
committees representing a political party; and
(13) For the purchase of nominal noncash expressions of
appreciation following the close of the polls of an election or
within thirty days thereafter.
(b) Every liability incurred and payment made shall be at a
rate and for a total amount which is proper and reasonable and
fairly commensurate with the services rendered.
(c) Every advertising agency subject to the provisions of
this article shall file, in the manner and form required by
section five-a of this article, the financial statements required
by section five of this article at the times required therein and include therein, in itemized detail, all receipts from and
expenditures made on behalf of a candidate, financial agent or
treasurer of a political party committee.
(d) Any candidate may designate a financial agent by a
writing duly subscribed by him or her which shall be in such form
and filed in accordance with the provisions of section four of
this article.
(e) No money or other thing of value may be contributed by
a committee for a candidate for public office, to any other
candidate, or committee for a candidate for any public office.
(f) Any person violating any provision of this section is
guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction, shall be fined not
more than five thousand dollars or confined in a county or
regional jail for not more than one year, or in the discretion of
the jury, be both fined and confined. Any person holding a
public office at the time he or she is convicted of a violation
of this section forfeits his or her office for the remaining term
of the office.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to prohibit the
intermingling of campaign contributions.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken
from the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would be added.