ECIElection Campaign-Finance Index

Delaware explicitly codifies contribution limits in statute rather than delegating them to administrative discretion. Section 8012(a) sets a specific $50 cash-contribution limit; subsection (e) establishes a $100 aggregate threshold for entity contributions triggering disclosure obligations; and subsection (b) prohibits party contributions to PACs entirely. All limits are enumerated directly in the statutory text with defined applicability. The dual-scholar test is satisfied: both left and right would recognize this as clear statutory procedure regardless of policy views on the limits' stringency.

“No person shall make, and no candidate, treasurer or any other person acting on behalf of a political committee shall accept, any contribution in excess of $50 in cash to a political committee during an election period.”

The statute codifies independent-expenditure rules with statutory force by defining the threshold ($500 aggregate), the triggering event (third-party advertisement expenditure), the reporting obligation, the filing deadline (24–48 hours depending on proximity to election), required disclosures (contributor identity, amounts, dates, purposes, candidate beneficiary), and penalties (perjury). The rules distinguish third-party expenditures from candidate-committee and party spending, establishing a clear procedural framework.

“Any person other than a candidate committee or political party who makes an expenditure for any third-party advertisement that causes the aggregate amount of expenditures for third-party advertisements made by such person to exceed $500 during an election period shall file a third-party advertisement report with the Commissioner.”

No matching sections in corpus.

§ 8030(d)(2) explicitly defines the disclosure threshold of $100 in statute for contributions from individuals. The section also specifies additional thresholds ($50 for debts and certain receipts, $100 for expenditures and in-kind contributions), all codified without delegation to regulation. This satisfies the criterion's requirement that the threshold be statutorily grounded.

“each person who has made contributions to such political committee (including the purchase of tickets for events such as dinners, luncheons, rallies and similar fund-raising events, whether or not the tickets were used by the person who paid for them) during the election period in an aggregate amount or value in excess of $100”

No matching sections in corpus.

The statute explicitly requires name and address disclosure for all contributions, satisfying the foundational identity requirement. However, it does not mandate disclosure of occupation or employer information, which are components of 'full identity' under the criterion's scoring rubric.

No section in the FTS-surfaced candidates satisfies this criterion. Best signal: Section § 8044 addresses penalties and enforcement procedures for tardy campaign-finance reports, including citation issuance, administrative penalties, and appeal processes. It does not contain any statutory requirement that campaign-finance filings be made publicly accessible online or within a defined timeframe. The section focuses entirely on procedural enforcement mechanisms for late filing, not on public-access obligations.

The section provides a comprehensive penalty schedule codified in statute, including both criminal grades (class B misdemeanor, class A misdemeanor, class G felony) for various campaign-finance violations and a specified civil penalty ($500 or 25% of advertisement cost) for advertising-disclosure violations. This satisfies the requirement for dual civil and criminal penalty codification.

No section in the FTS-surfaced candidates satisfies this criterion. Best signal: Section 8044 describes the procedural mechanics of tardy-report penalties and appeals but does not establish or describe the appointment process, qualifications, or political protections of the Commissioner or the Reports Appeals Subcommittee. The statute grants enforcement authority to the Commissioner and Subcommittee but is silent on whether they are appointed by a multi-branch process or protected from in-cycle political control. Procedural clarity on enforcement structure and independence is absent from this section.

No section in the FTS-surfaced candidates satisfies this criterion. Best signal: Section 4709 addresses employment protection for election officers and does not relate to campaign finance. The criterion ENF.3 concerns private rights of action for campaign-finance violations; this section governs employment law and protection from employer retaliation. There is no campaign-finance content in this provision.

No matching sections in corpus.

No section in the FTS-surfaced candidates satisfies this criterion. Best signal: Section 308 addresses political activity restrictions on state election officials, not foreign-source contribution channels. It contains no statutory definition, enumeration, or procedure regarding indirect foreign-source contributions, pass-through entities, corporate-ownership tracing, or verification mechanisms. The section is wholly outside the scope of FOR.2.

No section in the FTS-surfaced candidates satisfies this criterion. Best signal: Section 7557 addresses election-day conduct, voting machines, challenger procedures, and electioneering rules—topics entirely separate from campaign-finance contribution verification. The section contains no provisions requiring campaign committees to verify that contributors are not foreign-source, nor does it establish any statutory verification procedure. This section deals with operational election administration, not campaign finance compliance.

Section 8003(c) explicitly imposes a statutory duty on candidates to retain complete records of contributions and expenditures for a defined period—3 full years following the election. The statute specifies both the scope of records (contributions and expenditures) and the retention duration, satisfying the core procedural requirement without reliance on administrative discretion.

No section in the FTS-surfaced candidates satisfies this criterion. Best signal: This section addresses voting machines, election officer procedures, challenger access, and polling-place administration—topics entirely unrelated to campaign-committee recordkeeping or audit procedures. There is no reference to campaign-finance records, mandatory audits, post-election review of campaign expenditures, or any audit-access framework applicable to campaign committees. The section deals with election conduct, not campaign-finance oversight.