[Code of Federal Regulations]
[Title 11, Volume 1]
[Revised as of January 1, 2004]
From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access
[CITE: 11CFR2.5]

[Page 11-12]
 
                       TITLE 11--FEDERAL ELECTIONS
 
                 CHAPTER I--FEDERAL ELECTION COMMISSION
 
PART 2_SUNSHINE REGULATIONS; MEETINGS--Table of Contents
 
Sec.  2.5  Procedures for closing meetings.

    (a) General. No meeting or portion of a meeting may be closed to the 
public observation under this section unless a majority of the 
Commissioners votes to take such action. The closing of one portion of a 
meeting shall not justify closing any other portion of a meeting.
    (b) Certification. Each time the Commission votes to close a 
meeting, the General Counsel shall publicly certify that, in his or her 
opinion, each item on the agenda may properly be closed to public 
observation. The certification shall state each relevant exemption 
provision. The original copy of the certification shall be attached to, 
and preserved with, the statement required by 11 CFR 2.5(d).
    (c) Voting procedures. (1) No meeting need be held to consider 
closing a meeting. The Commission may vote to close a meeting or any 
portion thereof by using its notation vote procedures.
    (i) A separate vote shall be taken with respect to each item on an 
agenda proposed to be closed in whole or in part pursuant to 11 CFR 2.4, 
or with respect to any information proposed to be withheld under 11 CFR 
2.4.
    (ii) A single vote may be taken with respect to a particular matter 
to be discussed in a series of closed meetings, or with respect to any 
information concerning such series of meetings, so long as each meeting 
in the series is scheduled to be held no more than 30 days after the 
initial meeting.
    (iii) This section shall not affect the Commission's practice of 
setting dates for closed meetings more than 30 days in advance of such 
meetings.
    (2) The Commission Secretary shall record the vote of each 
Commissioner participating in the vote. No proxies, written or 
otherwise, shall be counted.
    (3)(i) A Commissioner may object to a recommendation to close the 
discussion of a particular matter or may assert a claim of exemption for 
a matter scheduled to be discussed in an open meeting. Such objection or 
assertion will be discussed by the Commission at the next scheduled 
closed meeting, to determine whether the matter in question should be 
discussed in a closed meeting.
    (ii) An objection for the record only will not cause the objection 
to be placed on any agenda.
    (d) Public statement of vote. (1) If the Commission votes to close a 
meeting, or any portion thereof, under this section, it shall make 
publicly available within 24 hours a written statement of the vote. The 
written statement shall contain:
    (i) A citation to the provision(s) of 11 CFR 2.4 under which the 
meeting was closed to public observation and an explanation of why the 
specific discussion comes within the cited exemption(s);
    (ii) The vote of each Commissioner participating in the vote;
    (iii) A list of the names of all persons expected to attend the 
closed meeting and their affiliation. For purposes of this section, 
affiliation means title or position, and name of employer, and in the 
case of a representative, the name of the person represented. In the 
case of Commission employees, the statement will reflect, through the 
use of titles rather than individual names, that the Commissioners, 
specified division heads and their staff will attend; and
    (iv) The signature of the Commission Secretary.
    (2) The original copy of the statement shall be maintained by the 
Commission Secretary. A copy shall be posted on a public bulletin board 
located in the Commission's Public Records Office.
    (e) Public request to close a meeting. A person whose interests may 
be directly

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affected by a portion of a meeting may request that the Commission close 
that portion to the public for any of the reasons referred to in 11 CFR 
2.4. The following procedures shall apply to such requests:
    (1) The request must be made in writing and shall be directed to the 
Chairman of the Commission.
    (2) The request shall identify the provisions of 11 CFR 2.4 under 
which the requestor seeks to close all or a portion of the meeting.
    (3) A recorded vote to close the meeting or a portion thereof shall 
be taken.
    (4) Requests made under this section shall become part of the 
official record of the underlying matter and shall be disclosed in 
accordance with 11 CFR 2.6 on completion of the matter.
    (5) If the Commission decides to approve a request to close, the 
Commission will then follow the procedures for closing a meeting set 
forth in 11 CFR 2.5 (a) through (d).

[50 FR 39972, Oct. 1, 1985, as amended at 65 FR 9206, Feb. 24, 2000]