ECIElection Campaign-Finance Index

North Carolina statute explicitly codifies a contribution limit of $5,600 per election. The limit is set directly in statute, not delegated to administrative discretion. While the statute does authorize the State Board of Elections to adjust the dollar amount annually based on inflation using a specified Consumer Price Index formula, the foundational limit framework, the adjustment methodology, and the effective dates are all defined in statute itself, not left to administrative discretion.

“No individual, political committee, or other entity shall contribute to any candidate or other political committee any money or make any other contribution in any election in excess of five thousand six hundred dollars ($5,600) for that election.”

The statute explicitly codifies independent-expenditure rules, defining who may make them (individuals and other entities not prohibited), establishing reporting thresholds ($100 for initial report, $5,000 for expedited disclosure), specifying reporting timelines (within 30 days or 10 days before an election; 48 hours for large late expenditures), and requiring identification of donors and their principal occupations. The procedural framework—enumeration of reportable events, timing requirements, donor identification, and electronic-filing mandates—is grounded entirely in statute rather than delegated to administrative discretion.

“Subject to G.S. 163-278.39 and G.S. 163-278.14 , individuals and other entities not otherwise prohibited from doing so may make independent expenditures.”

The statute explicitly prohibits anonymous contributions and specifies a clear, defined statutory disposition: anonymous or straw-donor contributions must be paid over to the State Board and deposited into the Civil Penalty and Forfeiture Fund. This is a complete procedural rule codified in statute, not left to administrative discretion.

“If a candidate, political committee, referendum committee, political party, affiliated party committee, or treasurer receives anonymous contributions or contributions determined to have been made in the name of another, he shall pay the money over to the Board, by check, and all such moneys received by the Board shall be deposited in the Civil Penalty and Forfeiture Fund of the State of North Carolina.”

The statute explicitly defines two disclosure thresholds in codified law: $100 for independent expenditures and contributions by certain entities, and $5,000 for independent expenditures and $1,000 for donations within 48 hours of an election. These numeric thresholds are grounded directly in statute, not delegated to regulation or administrative discretion, satisfying the core procedural requirement.

“In the event an individual, person, or other entity making independent expenditures but not otherwise required to report them makes independent expenditures in excess of one hundred dollars ($100.00), that individual, person, or entity shall file a statement of such independent expenditure with the appropriate board of elections in the manner prescribed by the State Board of Elections. Any person or entity other than an individual that is permitted to make contributions but is not otherwise required to report them shall report each contribution in excess of one hundred dollars ($100.00) with the appropriate board of elections in the manner prescribed by the State Board of Elections.”

No matching sections in corpus.

The statute exhaustively enumerates all required identity disclosures: name, complete mailing address, principal occupation (defined to include job title/profession and employer name/field of business), and date received. These requirements are statutory and mandatory for contributions above the $50 threshold. The State Board is tasked with preparing the business-activity classification schedule, but the disclosure obligation itself is codified in statute.

“The statement shall list the name and complete mailing address of each contributor, the amount contributed, the principal occupation of the contributor, and the date such contribution was received.”

No matching sections in corpus.

The section specifies a criminal penalty (Class I felony) for false certifications under oath, providing statutory grounding for criminal enforcement. However, it does not specify the sentence length, fine amount, or any civil penalties (which are typical in comprehensive campaign-finance penalty schedules). The statute grounds enforcement but incompletely enumerates the penalty schedule.

“any person making a certification under this Article knowing the information to be untrue is guilty of a Class I felony”

No section in the FTS-surfaced candidates satisfies this criterion. Best signal: This section enumerates the State Board's procedural powers regarding investigation, reporting, and civil-penalty assessment, but does not address the appointment process, tenure protections, or structural independence of the State Board itself. The criterion asks whether the enforcement body is appointed by multi-branch process and protected from in-cycle political control—questions of structural governance that are outside the scope of this section's administrative duties. No quote supports the appointment mechanism or independence safeguards because the section does not address them.

The section explicitly grants any registered voter the right to file a written complaint under oath with the State Board alleging campaign-finance violations (filing failures or non-conformity with statutory requirements). This codifies a private right of action to initiate enforcement proceedings, with the Board required to notify the accused entity and provide an opportunity to respond before action is taken.

“A written complaint is filed under oath with the State Board by any registered voter of this State alleging that a statement filed with the State Board does not conform to this Article or to the truth or that an individual, candidate, treasurer, political committee, referendum committee, media, or other entity has failed to file a statement required by this Article.”

The statute explicitly prohibits candidates and campaign committees from accepting contributions from foreign corporations in unambiguous, statutory language. The prohibition is codified in the statute itself, not delegated to administrative discretion, and applies regardless of whether the foreign entity does business in North Carolina. This satisfies the criterion's requirement that a foreign-source prohibition be grounded in statute.

“No candidate, political committee, political party, affiliated party committee, or treasurer shall accept any contribution made by any corporation, foreign or domestic, regardless of whether such corporation does business in the State of North Carolina”

No section in the FTS-surfaced candidates satisfies this criterion. Best signal: Section 163-271 addresses voter intimidation by government employees and contains no provisions regarding foreign-source contributions, indirect foreign channels, corporate-ownership tracing, or any campaign-finance disclosure or restriction mechanism. This section concerns coercion of voters, not regulation of campaign funding.

No section in the FTS-surfaced candidates satisfies this criterion. Best signal: Section 163-278.27 is purely a penalty and enforcement statute that addresses criminal sanctions, referral procedures to prosecutors, and statute-of-limitations rules. It does not establish any verification procedures, contributor-attestation requirements, or mechanisms for campaign committees to verify that contributors are not foreign-source. The section presupposes violations of other statutes (§ 163-278.7 through 163-278.40J) but does not itself impose or clarify any substantive verification duty.

No section in the FTS-surfaced candidates satisfies this criterion. Best signal: Section 163-19 establishes the State Board of Elections' composition, appointment procedures, and conflict-of-interest rules for board members. It contains no provisions regarding campaign-committee record retention, documentation requirements, or retention periods for contributor lists or expenditure records. The section is purely administrative and governance-focused, addressing board membership eligibility and organization, not campaign finance record management.

No matching sections in corpus.