Campaign finance requirements in Oklahoma

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Oklahoma 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, in Oklahoma, corporations and unions were prohibited from making contributions to candidates, PACs, and party committees, but could make unlimited contributions to ballot measures. Individuals, single candidate committees, limited committees (PACs), limited committees, and political parties could make unlimited contributions to ballot measures.

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 Supreme Court of the United States has issued a number of rulings pertaining to federal election campaign finance regulations. 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 Oklahoma as of May 2015. The uppermost row of the table indicates the contributor, while the leftmost column indicates the recipient.

Oklahoma contribution limits as of May 2015
	Individuals	Single candidates committees	Limited committee (PAC)	Limited committee	Political party	Super PACs	Corporations	Unions
Statewide candidate (e.g., governor)	$2,700	$2,600	$5,000	$2,500	$25,000	$0	$0	$0
Senate candidate	$2,700	$2,600	$5,000	$2,500	$10,000	$0	$0	$0
House candidate	$2,700	$2,600	$5,000	$2,500	$10,000	$0	$0	$0
PAC	$5,000	$0	$5,000	$0	$0	$0	$0	$0
Party committees	$10,000	surplus funds up to $25,000	$10,000	$5,000	unlimited	$0	$0	$0
Ballot measures	unlimited	unlimited	unlimited	unlimited	unlimited	$0	unlimited	unlimited
Sources: ‘’Oklahoma Ethics Commission’’, “Campaign Finance Reporting,” accessed May 22, 2015. Oklahoma Ethics Commission, "Guide for Candidates," accessed May 22, 2015

Candidate requirements

Seal of Oklahoma

See statutes: Title 74, Chapter 62 of the Oklahoma Statutes

This section covers all campaign finance reporting requirements for candidates running for state office in Oklahoma. Candidates running for federal office must file with the Federal Election Commission.

Reporting requirements

Filing online

Every candidate in Oklahoma files campaign finance reports with the Oklahoma Ethics Commission. A candidate who receives contributions in excess of $10,000 is required to file reports online, but the online system is open to every candidate.

The online campaign reporting system can be accessed here. For help on how to use the online system, use the Campaign Reporting System Guide.

Statement of Organization

Before the candidate can start filing campaign finance reports, he or she must first file a Statement of Organization (Form SO-1) to form a candidate committee, which will be in charge of all contributions and expenditures for the campaign. The Statement of Organization must provide the name of the committee, which must include the name of the candidate and the year of the election in which the candidate will be running, as well as designate a committee chair and a treasurer. The candidate may hold both of those positions but may only designate one candidate committee per election cycle. The Statement of Organization must be filed within 10 days of the candidate filing a Declaration of Candidacy, or within 10 days of receiving or spending $500, whichever comes first.

The candidate committee must then establish a campaign account for all campaign finance activity. The campaign account can be in more than one location, as long as each location is a financial institution that ordinarily conducts business with the state and has an office in the state that ordinarily conducts business with the general public, and as long as each depository contains the whole name of the candidate committee without acronyms as well as the candidate's name and the year of the election in which the candidate is running. All expenditures in excess of $50, not including those made by the candidate from personal funds, must be taken from the campaign account and issued on a check signed by the candidate, treasurer or chair of the candidate committee. All contributions received on behalf of the candidate committee must be handed over to the treasurer within five days after receipt of the contribution. Contributions must then be deposited into the campaign account by the treasurer no later that 10 days after the treasurer accepted the contribution.

Statement of Financial Interests

The candidate is also required to file a Statement of Financial Interests (Form F-1R) to itemize his or her sources of income. The amount of income is not required. This form may be filed anytime between January 1 and the tenth day after a candidate files a Declaration of Candidacy. A candidate who is successfully elected to public office must file this form by May 15 of each year he or she holds that office.

Contribution and Expenditure Reports

Each candidate committee must file Contribution and Expenditure Reports (C-1R Reports) showing all financial reporting activity for each established reporting period. However, if a candidate committee expects to receive or spend less than $500 in a calendar year, it may file an Affidavit of Minimal Activity with the Oklahoma Ethics Commission by April 30 of the election year. This allows the candidate committee to file only annual reports.

Contribution and Expenditure Reports are filed quarterly. The non-election year reporting schedule is detailed in the table below.

Report due date	Time period covered
April 30	January 1 through March 31
July 31	April 1 through June 30
September 30	July 1 through August 31
January 31	September 1 through December 31

The election year reporting schedule is detailed in the table below.

Report due date	Time period covered
April 30	January 1 through March 31
8 days before the primary election	April 1 through 15 days before the primary election
8 days before the primary run-off election (if applicable)	14 days before the primary election through 15 days before the primary run-off election
8 days before the general election	14 days before the primary or primary run-off election through 15 days before the general election
January 31	14 days before the general election through December 31

During an election year, Last Minute Contributions Reports (C-4R Reports) might also be required. These are necessary to report contributions of $500 or more from one source after the closing of a pre-election report but before the date of the next election and are due within 24 hours of receipt of the contribution.

If no expenditures were made and no contributions were received during a reporting period, a candidate committee can file a Statement of Inactivity (Form C-3R) instead of the regularly scheduled report.

If mailing or hand-delivering reports, they are considered timely only when received by 5 p.m. of the due date. If filing electronically or by fax, they are considered timely if received by midnight of the due date. If a report is not delivered in a timely fashion, late fees will be applied, from $100 to $1,000 per day.

Reporting must continue until the campaign is concluded by filing a Final Report. This report may be filed at any time after a candidate's name appears on the ballot as long as the candidate committee can show a zero balance. If a candidate committee has surplus funds at the end of the campaign, there a number of ways the committee can disperse those funds. The committee can:

• deposit the funds with the state treasurer for the General Revenue Fund
• return the funds to the contributors
• donate the funds to a charitable organization
• retain the funds for use in a future election within six years of the general election in which the candidate ran
• use the funds to perform official duties as a public officeholder
• use the funds for political or community activities
• transfer the funds to a political party

Contributor Statement

A contributor who gives more than $50 to a campaign must sign a Contributor Statement. This is due within 10 days of the candidate committee receiving the contribution and must provide the following information:

• the date the contribution was given
• the amount of the contribution (if in-kind, a description and estimated value of the contribution must be provided)
• the name of the contributor
• the address of the contributor
• the occupation, employer or principal business activity of the contributor
• a declaration stating that the contribution is for a campaign in the state of Oklahoma and that it was freely and voluntarily given from the contributor's personal property

Campaign finance legislation

The following is a list of recent campaign finance bills that have been introduced in or passed by the Oklahoma 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 Oklahoma ballot measures

Ballotpedia has tracked 18 statewide ballot measures relating to elections and campaigns.

1. Oklahoma Fair Elections, State Question 78 (1916)
2. Oklahoma Registration of Electors, State Question 80 (1916)
3. Oklahoma Direct Election of U.S. Senators, State Question 41 (August 1912)
4. Oklahoma State Conduct of General Elections, State Question 21 (1910)
5. Oklahoma Qualifications for Electors, State Question 82 (August 1916)
6. Oklahoma State Question 312, Runoff Primary Elections Measure (July 1944)
7. Oklahoma Voting Age, State Question 356 (1952)
8. Oklahoma Primary Elections, State Question 388 (July 1960)
9. Oklahoma Qualified Electors, State Question 412 (May 1964)
10. Oklahoma Residential Requirements for Electors, State Question 432 (May 1966)
11. Oklahoma Voting Requirements, State Question 479 (December 1971)
12. Oklahoma Voting Age, State Question 484
13. Oklahoma Utility Bond Elections, State Question 488 (August 1972)
14. Oklahoma Qualifications of Electors, State Question 503 (August 1974)
15. Oklahoma Election Regulations, State Question 531 (1978)
16. Oklahoma Repeal Poll Tax, State Question 590 (1986)
17. Oklahoma Majority Needed to Approve Bond Issues, State Question 616 (August 1988)
18. Oklahoma Labor Commissioner Elections, State Question 613 (1988)

Election-related agencies

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

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

• Oklahoma State Election Board
  

Why: This agency oversees all candidate filing.

Room B-6, State Capitol Building

2300 N. Lincoln Boulevard

Oklahoma City, Oklahoma 73105-4804

Phone: (405) 521-2391

Fax: (405) 521-6457

Website: http://www.ok.gov/elections/index.html

Email: [email protected]

• Oklahoma Ethics Commission
  

Why: This agency oversees all campaign finance reporting.

2300 N. Lincoln Boulevard, Room B-5

Oklahoma City, OK 73105-4812

Phone: (405) 521-3451

Website: http://www.ok.gov/oec/

Recent news

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

Campaign finance requirements in Oklahoma - Google News

See also

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