General. (1) A candidate seeking to become eligible to receive Presidential primary matching fund payments shall make the certifications set forth in 11 CFR 9033.2(b) to the Commission in a written statement signed by the candidate. The candidate may submit the letter containing the required certifications at any time after January 1 of the year immediately preceding the Presidential election year.

The Commission will not consider a candidate's threshold submission until the candidate has submitted candidate certifications that meet the requirements of this section.

Certifications. (1) The candidate shall certify that he or she is seeking nomination by a political party to the Office of President in more than one State. For purposes of this section, in order for a candidate to be deemed to be seeking nomination by a political party to the office of President, the party whose nomination the candidate seeks must have a procedure for holding a primary election, as defined in 11 CFR 9032.7, for nomination to that office. For purposes of this section, the term political party means an association, committee or organization which nominates an individual for election to the office of President. The fact that an association, committee or organization qualifies as a political party under this section does not affect the party's status as a national political party for purposes of 52 U.S.C. 30116(a)(1)(B) and 30116(a)(2)(B).

The candidate and the candidate's authorized committee(s) shall certify that they have not incurred and will not incur expenditures in connection with the candidate's campaign for nomination, which expenditures are in excess of the limitations under 11 CFR part 9035.

The candidate and the candidate's authorized committee(s) shall certify:

That they have received matchable contributions totaling more than $5,000 in each of at least 20 States; and

That the matchable contributions are from individuals who are residents of the State for which their contributions are submitted.

A maximum of $250 of each individual's aggregate contributions will be considered as matchable contributions for the purpose of meeting the thresholds of this section.

For purposes of this section, contributions of an individual who maintains residences in more than one State may only be counted toward the $5,000 threshold for the State from which the earliest contribution was made by that contributor.

Threshold submission. To become eligible to receive matching payments, the candidate shall submit documentation of the contributions described in 11 CFR 9033.2(b)(3) to the Commission for review. The submission shall follow the format and requirements of 11 CFR 9036.1.