Campaign finance requirements in Arizona

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Arizona campaign finance requirements govern the following:

• how much money candidates may receive from individuals and organizations,
• how much and how often they must report those contributions, and
• how much individuals, organizations and political parties may contribute to campaigns.

In addition to direct campaign contributions, campaign finance laws also apply to third-party organizations and nonprofit organizations that seek to influence elections through independent expenditures or issue advocacy.

As of May 2015, individuals could contribute no more than $2,500 to candidates for office. Corporations and unions could not directly contribute to candidates for office but could make unlimited contributions to ballot measure campaigns.

Background

Seal of the United States Federal Election Commission

The Federal Election Commission (FEC) is the independent regulatory agency that administers and enforces federal campaign election laws. The FEC is responsible for disclosing campaign finance information, enforcing limits and prohibitions on contributions, and overseeing public funding of presidential elections. According to the FEC, an individual becomes a federal candidate and must begin reporting campaign finances once he or she has either raised or spent $5,000 in his or her campaign. Within fifteen days of this benchmark, the candidate must register with the FEC and designate an official campaign committee, which is responsible for the funds and expenditures of the campaign. This committee must have an official treasurer and cannot support any candidate but the one who registered it. Detailed financial reports are then made to the FEC every financial quarter after the individual is registered. Reports are also made before primaries and before the general election.

The rules governing federal election campaigns and contributions have evolved over the past generation as result of a number of Supreme Court decisions. In the 2010 Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission decision, the court held that corporate funding of independent political broadcasts in candidate elections cannot be limited. The court's decision also overturned the ban on for-profit and not-for-profit corporations and unions broadcasting electioneering communications in the 30 days before a presidential primary and in the 60 days before a general election. In the SpeechNOW.org v. Federal Election Commission decision, the first application of the Citizens United decision, the court held that contribution limits on what individuals could give to independent expenditure-only groups, and the amount these organizations could receive, were unconstitutional. Contribution limits on donations directly to candidates, however, remained unchanged. In 2014's McCutcheon v. Federal Election Commission decision, the court overturned biennial aggregate campaign contribution limits, and held that individuals may contribute to as many federal candidates as they want, but may only contribute up to the federal limit in each case.

While the FEC governs federal election campaigns and contribution limits, individual states enforce their own regulation and reporting requirements. Regulations vary by state, as do limits on campaign contributions and third-party activities to influence elections.

Contribution limits

The table below details contribution limits as they applied to various types of individuals and groups in Arizona as of May 2015. The uppermost row of the table indicates the contributor, while the leftmost column indicates the recipient. Contribution limits applied separately to primary and general elections.

Arizona contribution limits as of May 2015
	Individuals	Single candidates committees	Political committee (PAC)	Political party	Super PACs	Corporations	Unions
Statewide Candidate (incl. Governor)	$2,500	$0	$2,500	$100,110	$5,010	$0	$0
Senate	$2,500	$0	$2,500	$10,020	$5,000	$0	$0
House	$2,500	$0	$2,500	$10,020	$5,000	$0	$0
Political committee	Unlimited	$0	Unlimited	Unlimited	Unlimited	$0	$0
Political party	Unlimited	$0	Unlimited	Unlimited	Unlimited	$0	$0
Super PACs	Unlimited	$0	Unlimited	Unlimited	Unlimited	$0	$0
Ballot measures	Unlimited	$0	Unlimited	Unlimited	Unlimited	Unlimited	Unlimited
Sources: Arizona State Legislature, "16-905. Contribution limitations; civil penalty; complaint; reductions," accessed May 22, 2015 State of Arizona Secretary of State, "Attorney General Opinion and recent court opinions on HB2593," accessed May 22, 2015

Candidate requirements

Seal of Arizona

See statutes: Title 16, Chapter 6 of the Arizona Revised Statutes

The campaign finance reporting process for candidates seeking state office in Arizona is outlined below. Candidates seeking federal office must file with the Federal Election Commission. Reporting details for federal candidates are not included in this section.

Reporting

Candidates in Arizona file campaign finance reports with the Arizona Secretary of State through an online system. The system can be accessed here.

Committees

Before a candidate may file campaign finance reports, he or she must form a candidate committee. To do this, the candidate must establish the candidate committee through the online reporting system, print the Statement of Organization form, sign it and mail it to the Arizona Secretary of State. The committee's chairman and treasurer must also sign the Statement of Organization form (the candidate may serve in both of these positions). A candidate cannot accept contributions, make expenditures, distribute literature or obtain signatures on petitions until he or she receives confirmation that the Statement of Organization form has been received. If any information given on the original Statement of Organization changes, the candidate committee must file an amended Statement of Organization within five days of the change.

If a candidate will receive or spend less than $500 on their campaign, the $500 Threshold Exemption form should be filed. A candidate committee under this exemption does not have to file campaign finance reports. If more than $500 is raised or spent after filing such a form, the candidate committee must file a Statement of Organization form and begin filing campaign finance reports. A committee under the $500 Threshold Exemption must terminate as soon as an election cycle has come to a close.

Reports

Campaign finance reports must cover all financial transactions related to the campaign beginning the day the candidate committee files the Statement of Organization and continuing until the day the candidate committee files a Termination Statement. Campaign finance reports must be filed even if no financial activity occurred during the reporting period.

Reports must include the following:

• the amount of cash on hand at the beginning of the reporting period
• the total amount and an itemized list of all receipts
• the date, amount of contribution and identification of any individual who gave more than $50, any political committee who made a contribution, any person endorsed or guaranteed a loan, any person who provided a rebate, refund or offset operating expenses for the campaign and any person who provided a dividend or interest during the reporting period
• the total amount and an itemized list of all disbursements
• the name and address of each recipient of an expenditure
• an itemized account of campaign debts and extensions of credit

The campaign finance report schedule is summarized in the table below.

Report	Covers	Due date
Non-election year report	21 days after the last election through December 31 of the next year	January 31 following the last day of the report
June 30 Report	January 1 through May 31 of the year of the election in which the candidate is running	June 30
Pre-election Report	First date not covered on the last filed report through the 12th day before the election	Four days before the election
Post-election Report	11th day before the election through 20 days after the election	30 days after the election
Additional Report	Contributions of $1,000 or more from a single contributor less than 20 days before an election	Within 72 hours after receiving such a contribution

If any of the reports listed above are not filed in a timely manner, the Arizona Secretary of State will send written notice to the candidate committee within 15 days of the report's due date. The mandatory fine is $10 for each business day the report is not filed after the due date, up to a maximum of $450. If the late report is not filed within 15 days of receiving written notice from the Arizona Secretary of State, the fine increases to $25 per day, up to a maximum of $1,000. Late reports will not be accepted unless the fines attached to them are paid at the time of filing.

Termination

A Termination Statement can be filed when the chairman and treasurer can certify that the candidate committee will no longer receive contributions or make disbursements, that any surplus funds have been disposed of and that there are no outstanding debts owed. Surplus funds can be disposed of in any of the following ways:

• transfer funds to a new candidate committee for a future election
• return funds to the contributor
• contribute funds to a county, state or local committee of a political party
• donate funds to a charitable, tax-exempt organization
• if successful in the election, transfer funds to the candidate’s officeholder expense account

Citizens Clean Elections Commission

To participate in the Citizens Clean Elections Commission (CCEC), a candidate must agree not to accept funds from special interests and to adhere to additional limitations and reporting. In return, the candidate receives public funding for his or her campaign.

A candidate wishing to participate in the CCEC must file an Application for Certification with the Arizona Secretary of State. This form must be signed by the candidate and notarized. An Application for Certification Report must be filed along with the Application for Certification if the candidate has already filed a Statement of Organization to cover any campaign transactions that have occurred prior to applying for participation in the CCEC.

Once the CCEC accepts a candidate's application, the candidate is considered a participating candidate and must adhere to the CCEC's rules and regulations. However, the participating candidate must still qualify in order to receive funding. In order to qualify, the participating candidate must collect $5 qualifying contributions from registered voters in the district of the office the candidate seeks. Participating candidates may start collecting these qualifying contributions on August 1 of the year before the election and must file them, with an End of Qualifying Period Report, one week before the primary. The number of qualifying contributions needed varies depending on the office sought. For details, look to the table below.

Office sought	Number of qualifying contributions needed
Governor	4,500
Secretary of State	2,800
Attorney General	2,800
Treasurer	1,700
Superintendent of Public Instruction	1,700
Corporation Commission	1,700
Mine Inspector	650
State legislature	250

Once the qualifying contributions and Qualifying Contributions Report have been submitted, a participating candidate will receive funding. Funding amounts are contingent on the office and are summarized in the table below. A participating candidate may not make expenditures in excess of the cash he or she has on hand, which includes early contributions as well as funding from the CCEC.

Office sought	Funding for primary election	Funding for general election
Governor	$753,616	$1,130,424
Secretary of State	$195,280	$292,920
Attorney General	$195,280	$292,920
Treasurer	$97,620	$146,430
Superintendent of Public Instruction	$97,620	$146,430
Corporation Commission	$97,620	$146,430
Mine Inspector	$48,825	$73,238
State legislature	$15,253	$22,880

Below is a list of the additional reports required from candidates participating in the CCEC.

Report	Covers	Due date
Application for Certification Report	Any campaign transactions that occurred since the candidate filed a Statement of Organization	Must be filed when the Application for Certification is filed, but only if the candidate already filed a Statement of Organization
End of Qualifying Period Report	All $5 qualifying contributions collected by the candidate	One week before the primary election
Return of Primary Funds Report	All campaign transactions through primary election day and any leftover funds, which must be returned to the CCEC when the report is filed	Five days after the primary election
Return of General Funds Report	All campaign transactions through general election day and any leftover funds, which must be returned to the CCEC when the report is filed	30 days after the general election

Noteworthy events

Judge strikes down portions of state's campaign finance law (2018)

On December 5, 2018, Maricopa County Superior Court Judge David J. Palmer struck down portions of a campaign finance law enacted in Arizona in 2016. In particular, Palmer found that the 2016 law constituted an illegal attempt to supplant the Voter Protection Act, an earlier constitutional amendment adopted by voters. The 2016 law transferred the authority to investigate campaign finance violations from the Citizens Clean Election Commission to the secretary of state. The 2016 law permitted political parties to spend unlimited sums in support of candidates. The 2016 law also allowed for unlimited spending on legal fees, accounting fees, and other such services.

Campaign finance legislation

The following is a list of recent campaign finance bills that have been introduced in or passed by the Arizona state legislature. To learn more about each of these bills, click the bill title. This information is provided by BillTrack50 and LegiScan.

Note: Due to the nature of the sorting process used to generate this list, some results may not be relevant to the topic. If no bills are displayed below, no legislation pertaining to this topic has been introduced in the legislature recently.

Election and campaign ballot measures

See also: Elections and campaigns on the ballot and List of Arizona ballot measures

Ballotpedia has tracked 40 statewide ballot measures relating to elections and campaigns.

1. Arizona Proposition 104, Initiative and Referendum Amendment (1998)
2. Arizona Proposition 100, Legislative Emergency Enactment of Laws Amendment (1996)
3. Arizona Proposition 105, Initiative Financing Amendment (2008)
4. Arizona Proposition 100, Executive Department Amendment (1974)
5. Arizona Proposition 101, Special Elections Amendment (1974)
6. Arizona Proposition 121, Top-Two Primary Elections Initiative (2012)
7. Arizona Proposition 100, Repeal Run-Off Requirement for State Executive Elections Amendment (1992)
8. Arizona Proposition 103, Eligibility for State Office Amendment (1988)
9. Arizona Proposition 105, Run-Off Requirement for State Executive Elections Amendment (1988)
10. Arizona Proposition 200, Campaign Contributions Limitations Initiative (1986)
11. Arizona Proposition 100, Initiative and Referendum Petition Filing Deadlines Amendment (1984)
12. Arizona Proposition 100, Resign-to-Run Amendment (1980)
13. Arizona Proposition 105, Corporation Commission Amendment (1968)
14. Arizona Proposition 101, Congressional Vacancy Elections Amendment (1962)
15. Arizona Proposition 102, Require Minimum 10% Turnout for Bond and Assessment Elections Amendment (1974)
16. Arizona Proposition 102, Repeal Qualified Elector of Municipality Requirement for Non-Elected Officials Amendment (1972)
17. Arizona Proposition 200, Commission to Administer Alternative Campaign Finance System Initiative (1998)
18. Arizona Proposition 211, Campaign Finance Sources Disclosure Initiative (2022)
19. Arizona Measure Nos. 106-107, Elections for Mine Inspector Amendment (1933)
20. Arizona Measure Nos. 102-103, Election of Members of the State Tax Commission Amendment (1920)
21. Arizona Measure Nos. 102-103, Repeal Direct Primary for Candidate Nominations Requirement Amendment (September 1922)
22. Arizona Measure Nos. 100-101, Term Limits for State Officials Amendment (1926)
23. Arizona Measure Nos. 104-105, General Election Amendment (September 1922)
24. Arizona Measure Nos. 300-301, 51% Vote Primary Election Candidates Referendum (1924)
25. Arizona Measure Nos. 306-307, Change of County Seat Referendum (1914)
26. Arizona Measure Nos. 306-307, Local Option for Alcohol Initiative (September 1950)
27. Arizona Measure Nos. 106-107, Election of County Officers Amendment (September 1922)
28. Arizona Proposition 102, Method of Increasing Local Spending Limits Amendment (1986)
29. Arizona Measure Nos. 102-103, Irrigation Works for the Reclamation of Arid Lands Amendment (May 1927)
30. Arizona Proposition 202, IRS Elimination Pledge on Ballot for Congressional Candidates Initiative (1998)
31. Arizona Proposition 200, Voter Reward Initiative (2006)
32. Arizona Proposition 205, Vote By Mail Initiative (2006)
33. Arizona Proposition 112, Filing of Initiative Petitions Amendment (2010)
34. Arizona Proposition 133, Require Partisan Primaries and Prohibit Primaries Where Candidates Compete Regardless of Party Affiliation Amendment (2024)
35. Arizona Proposition 131, Create Office of Lieutenant Governor Amendment (2022)
36. Arizona Proposition 306, Clean Election Account Uses and Commission Rulemaking Measure (2018)
37. Arizona Proposition 103, Allow Unaffiliated Voters to Vote in Partisan Primaries Amendment (1998)
38. Arizona Proposition 140, Single Primary for All Candidates and Possible RCV General Election Initiative (2024)
39. Arizona Proposition 104, Local Spending Limit Adjustment Elections Amendment (1992)
40. Arizona Proposition 137, End Term Limits and Retention Elections for Supreme Court Justices and Superior Court Judges Amendment (2024)

Election-related agencies

See also: Campaign finance agencies in Arizona and State election agencies

Candidates running for office may require some form of interaction with the following agencies:

Office of the Secretary of State:

Why: This agency oversees candidate filing and reporting and all election procedures.

Capitol Executive Tower, 7th Floor

1700 W. Washington Street

Phoenix, AZ 85007-2808

Telephone: (602) 542-8683

Fax: (602) 542-1575

http://www.azsos.gov/

Citizens Clean Elections Commission:

Why: This agency administers the alternative campaign financing system for candidates who choose to participate and oversees contribution limits for all candidates.

1616 W. Adams, Suite 110

Phoenix, AZ 85007

Telephone: 602-364-3477

Fax: 602-364-3487

Email: [email protected]

http://www.azcleanelections.gov/

Recent news

The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms Arizona campaign finance. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.

Campaign finance requirements in Arizona - Google News

See also

• Campaign finance regulation
• Ballot access requirements for political candidates in Arizona
• Arizona