[Code of Federal Regulations] [Title 11, Volume 1] [Revised as of January 1, 2002] From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access [CITE: 11CFR104.18] [Page 103-104] TITLE 11--FEDERAL ELECTIONS CHAPTER I--FEDERAL ELECTION COMMISSION PART 104--REPORTS BY POLITICAL COMMITTEES (2 U.S.C. 434)--Table of Contents Sec. 104.18 Electronic filing of reports (2 U.S.C. 432(d) and 434(a)(11)). (a) Mandatory. (1) Political committees and other persons required to file reports with the Commission, as provided in 11 CFR Parts 105 and 107, must file reports in an electronic format that meets the requirements of this section if -- (i) The political committee or other person has received contributions or has reason to expect to receive contributions aggregating in excess of $50,000 in any calendar year; or (ii) The political committee or other person has made expenditures or has reason to expect to make expenditures aggregating in excess of $50,000 in any calendar year. (2) Once any political committee or other person described in paragraph (a)(1) of this section exceeds or has reason to expect to exceed the appropriate threshold, the political committee or person must file electronically all subsequent reports covering financial activity for the remainder of the calendar year. All electronically filed reports must pass the Commission's validation program in accordance with paragraph (e) of this section. Reports filed on paper do not satisfy a political committee's or other person's filing obligations. (3) Have Reason to Expect to Exceed. (i) A political committee or other person shall have reason to expect to exceed the threshold stated in paragraph (a)(1) of this section for two calendar years following the calendar year in which the political committee or other person exceeds the threshold unless-- (A) The committee is an authorized committee, and has $50,000 or less in nets debts outstanding on January 1 of the year following the general election, and anticipates terminating prior to January 1 of the next election year; and (B) The candidate has not qualified as a candidate for the next election and does not intend to become a candidate for federal office in the next election. (ii) New political committees or other persons with no history of campaign finance activity shall have reason to expect to exceed the threshold stated in paragraph (a)(1) of this section within the calendar year if-- (A) It receives contributions or makes expenditures that exceed one quarter of the threshold amount in the first calendar quarter of the calendar year; or (B) It receives contributions or makes expenditures that exceed one- half of the threshold amount in the first half of the calendar year. (b) Voluntary. A political committee or other person who files reports with the Commission, as provided in 11 CFR part 105, and who is not required to file electronically under paragraph (a) of this section, may choose to file its reports in an electronic format that meets the requirements of this section. If a political committee or other person chooses to file its reports electronically, all electronically filed reports must pass the Commission's validation program in accordance with paragraph (e) of this section. The committee or other person must continue to file in an electronic format all reports covering financial activity for that calendar year, unless the Commission determines that extraordinary and unforeseeable circumstances have made it impracticable for the political committee or other person to continue filing electronically. (c) Definition of report. For purposes of this section, report means any statement, designation or report required by the Act to be filed with the Commission. (d) Format specifications. Reports filed electronically shall conform to the technical specifications described in the Federal Election Commission's Electronic Filing Specifications Requirements. The data contained in the computerized magnetic media provided to the Commission shall be organized in the order specified by the Electronic Filing Specifications Requirements. (e) Acceptance of reports filed in electronic format; validation program. (1) Each political committee or other person who submits an electronic report [[Page 104]] shall check the report against the Commission's validation program before it is submitted, to ensure that the files submitted meet the Commission's format specifications and can be read by the Commission's computer system. Each report submitted in an electronic format under this section shall also be checked upon receipt against the Commission's validation program. The Commission's validation program and the Electronic Filing Specification Requirement are available on request and at no charge. (2) A report that does not pass the validation program will not be accepted by the Commission and will not be considered filed. If a political committee or other person submits a report that does not pass the validation program, the Commission will notify the political committee or other person that the report has not been accepted. (f) Amended reports. If a political committee or other person files an amendment to a report that was filed electronically, the political committee or other person shall also submit the amendment in an electronic format. The political committee or other person shall submit a complete version of the report as amended, rather than just those portions of the report that are being amended. In addition, amendments must be filed in accordance with the Electronic Filing Specification Requirements. (g) Signature requirements. The political committee's treasurer, or any other person having the responsibility to file a designation, report or statement under this subchapter, shall verify the report in one of the following ways: by submitting a signed certification on paper that is submitted with the computerized media; or by submitting a digitized copy of the signed certification as a separate file in the electronic submission. Each verification submitted under this section shall certify that the treasurer or other signatory has examined the report or statement and, to the best of the signatory's knowledge and belief, it is true, correct and complete. Any verification under this section shall be treated for all purposes (including penalties for perjury) in the same manner as a verification by signature on a report submitted in a paper format. (h) Schedules and forms with special requirements. The following list of schedules, materials, and forms have special signature and other requirements and reports containing these documents shall include, in addition to providing the required data within the electronic report, either a paper copy submitted with the political committee's or other person's electronic report or a digitized version submitted as a separate file in the electronic submission: Schedule C-1 (Loans and Lines of Credit From Lending Institutions), including copies of loan agreements required to be filed with that Schedule, Schedule E (Itemized Independent Expenditures), Form 5 (Report of Independent Expenditures Made and Contributions Received), and Form 8 (Debt Settlement Plan). The political committee or other person shall submit any paper materials together with the electronic media containing the report. (i) Preservation of reports. For any report filed in electronic format under this section, the treasurer or other person required to file any report under the Act shall retain a machine-readable copy of the report as the copy preserved under 11 CFR 104.14(b)(2). In addition, the treasurer or other person required to file any report under the Act shall retain the original signed version of any documents submitted in a digitized format under paragraphs (g) and (h) of this section. [65 FR 38423, June 21, 2000]