ECIElection Campaign-Finance Index

The section explicitly codifies contribution limits in statute, specifying dollar amounts ($1,000 for candidates, $5,000 for party committees, $500 for other committees, $200 for gaming licensees and legislative/executive agents) with no delegation to administrative discretion. The framework is wholly grounded in statutory text.

“(a)(1) An individual may make campaign contributions to candidates or candidates' committees. The aggregate of all such contributions for the benefit of any 1 candidate and that candidate's committee shall not exceed the sum of $1,000 in a calendar year”

The statute exhaustively codifies independent-expenditure rules in statutory language, defining the $250 threshold, the 7-business-day filing window (or 24-hour preliminary report for late spending), required disclosure fields (filer identity, candidate name, recipient, amount, purpose, date), filing location (director or local clerk), and penalty schedule ($5,000 fine or up to 1 year imprisonment). All core procedural elements—statutory grounding, enumeration, enforcement, and penalty—are present.

“Every individual, group, association, corporation, labor union, political committee or other entity that makes independent expenditures in an aggregate amount exceeding $250 during any calendar year for the express purpose of promoting the election or defeat of a candidate shall file with the director, except as provided in subsection (b), within 7 business days after the goods or services for which the independent expenditure was made are utilized to advocate for the election or defeat of a clearly identified candidate, on a form prescribed by the director, a report stating: (i) the name and address of the individual, group, association, corporation, labor union, political committee or other entity making the expenditure; (ii) the name of the candidate whose election or defeat the expenditure promoted; (iii) the name and address of any person to whom the expenditure was made; (iv) the total amount or value; and (v) the purpose and the date of the expenditure.”

No matching sections in corpus.

The statute explicitly defines disclosure thresholds in statutory language: $50 per contribution triggers reporting of contributor identity and contribution details; contributions under $50 are reported only if the aggregate from that contributor exceeds $50 in the reporting period. Additionally, the statute sets a $200 annual threshold for occupation and employer reporting. These thresholds are codified directly in statute rather than delegated to regulation or administrative discretion.

“the full name and residential address of each person who has made a contribution, in an amount or value in excess of fifty dollars in a reporting period, and such information for each contribution of less than or equal to the sum of fifty dollars, if the aggregate of all contributions received from such contributor within said reporting period is in excess of fifty dollars”

The statute explicitly enumerates filing deadlines with specific dates: monthly by the fifth day for most candidates and treasurers, with additional specified dates (January 20, April 20, July 20, October 20, and election-related deadlines) for state senate and house candidates. The statute further itemizes what information must be included in each filing, including contribution thresholds ($50, $200) and required fields (names, addresses, occupations, employers).

“shall file with the director, by the fifth day of each month, the following information: (i) a list of all contributions of more than $50 deposited as of the last day of the preceding month and since the last statement, including an alphabetical list of names and addresses of each person making a contribution; (ii) for a person who has made a contribution in an amount of or with a value of $200 or more in any calendar year, the occupation and employer of the contributor and the information for each contribution of less than $200 if the aggregate of all contributions received from the contributor within any calendar year is $200 or more; and (iii) a summary of all contributions of $50 or less deposited that are not itemized on the report”

The statute explicitly requires that authorization cards for electronic contributions above $200 must include name, residential address, occupation, and employer. This satisfies the full identity disclosure requirement at the statutory level for contributions meeting the threshold, with no reliance on administrative discretion.

“Said authorization card shall include (1) the name and residential address of the contributor, (2) the occupation and employer or employers of any contributor whose authorization card authorizes a contribution of two hundred dollars or more or periodic contributions which in the aggregate exceed or may exceed two hundred dollars or more within any one calendar year”

The statute explicitly requires online posting of campaign finance reports within 30 days of the filing deadline, establishing a defined timeline for public access. The requirement is statutory, enumerated, and applies to reports meeting the specified threshold ($1,000 in contributions, expenditures, liabilities, or asset changes), satisfying the procedural-clarity requirement for online accessibility.

“Within 30 days after the filing deadline, all campaign finance reports required to be filed with the city or town clerk under section 18 shall be made available for viewing on the internet website of the municipality if such municipality has such a website, if the report discloses that a candidate or committee filing a report has received contributions or made expenditures in excess of $1,000 during a reporting period or incurred liabilities or acquired or disposed of assets in excess of $1,000 during a reporting period.”

The section codifies both criminal penalty (imprisonment up to one year) and financial penalty (fine up to $100) directly in statute with specified amounts and limits. This satisfies the criterion for a dual-penalty schedule.

“Whoever violates this section shall be punished by imprisonment for not more than one year in a house of correction or by a fine of not more than one hundred dollars.”

The section establishes a multi-branch appointment process (political parties, executive, judiciary/academy) for selecting the director, and provides a six-year term insulating the director from in-cycle political control. However, the statute does not explicitly protect the director from removal on political grounds in-cycle beyond requiring unanimous commission vote for removal, leaving some discretionary power with politically-aligned actors.

“The state chairman of each of the two leading political parties, the state secretary, and a dean of a law school located in the commonwealth, to be appointed by the governor as provided hereinafter, shall serve as a commission for the purposes of selecting the director of campaign and political finance.”

No section in the FTS-surfaced candidates satisfies this criterion. Best signal: Section 60 addresses enforcement of election administration procedures by the state secretary and attorney general but contains no provision for private citizens or parties to bring suit for campaign-finance violations. The section explicitly reserves 'judicial remedies to any person, official, commission or board' but does not affirmatively grant a private right of action; it merely preserves existing remedies without establishing a new statutory private-suit mechanism for campaign-finance breaches.

No matching sections in corpus.

No section in the FTS-surfaced candidates satisfies this criterion. Best signal: This section addresses voter bribery, a criminal offense under general election law, and contains no provisions regarding foreign-source contributions, indirect foreign funding channels, corporate-ownership tracing, or campaign-finance disclosure of any kind. It is entirely unrelated to the criterion's subject matter of foreign-source campaign financing.

No matching sections in corpus.

No matching sections in corpus.

No matching sections in corpus.