§1013-A. Registration

1.  Candidates, their treasurers and political committees.  A candidate shall register the candidate's name and the name of a treasurer with the commission at least once in each legislative biennium, as provided in this section. A candidate may have only one treasurer, who must be appointed pursuant to paragraph A or B. For purposes of this section, "legislative biennium" means the term of office a person is elected to serve in the Legislature.

A. No later than 10 days after becoming a candidate and before accepting contributions, making expenditures or incurring obligations, a candidate for state or county office or a candidate for municipal office who has not filed a written notice in accordance with section 1011, subsection 4, paragraph A shall appoint a treasurer. The candidate may serve as treasurer, except that a participating candidate, as defined in section 1122, subsection 6, or a candidate certified in accordance with section 1125 may not serve as treasurer, except that the candidate may serve as treasurer or deputy treasurer for up to 14 days after declaring an intention to qualify for campaign financing under chapter 14 until the candidate identifies another person to serve as treasurer. The candidate may have only one treasurer, who is responsible for the filing of campaign finance reports under this chapter. A candidate shall register the candidate's name and address and the name and address of the treasurer appointed under this section no later than 10 days after the appointment of the treasurer. A candidate may accept contributions personally or make or authorize expenditures personally, as long as the candidate reports all contributions and expenditures to the treasurer. The treasurer shall make a consolidated report of all income and expenditures and provide this report to the commission.

(1) A candidate may appoint a deputy treasurer to act in the absence of the treasurer. The deputy treasurer, when acting in the absence of the treasurer, has the same powers and responsibilities as the treasurer. A candidate certified in accordance with section 1125 may not serve as deputy treasurer. When a treasurer dies or resigns, the deputy treasurer may not assume the position of treasurer unless the candidate appoints the deputy treasurer to the position of treasurer. The candidate shall report the name and address of the deputy treasurer to the commission no later than 10 days after the deputy treasurer has been appointed.   [PL 2011, c. 389, §9 (AMD); PL 2011, c. 389, §62 (AFF).]

B. A candidate may authorize one political committee to promote the candidate's election. No later than 10 days after appointing a political committee and before accepting contributions, making expenditures or incurring obligations, a candidate for state, county or municipal office shall appoint a treasurer of the political committee. The treasurer of the political committee is responsible for filing campaign finance reports under this chapter. No later than 10 days after appointing a political committee, the candidate shall register with the commission the following information regarding the political committee:

(1) The name of the committee;

(2) The name and address of the committee's treasurer;

(3) The name of the candidate who authorized the committee; and

(4) The names and addresses of the committee's officers.   [PL 1995, c. 483, §4 (AMD).]

C. No later than 10 days after becoming a candidate, as defined in section 1, subsection 5, a candidate for the office of State House of Representatives or Senate may file in writing a statement declaring that the candidate agrees to accept voluntary limits on political expenditures or that the candidate does not agree to accept voluntary limits on political expenditures, as specified in section 1015, subsections 7 to 9. A candidate who has filed a declaration of intent to become certified as a candidate under the Maine Clean Election Act is not required to file the written statement described in this paragraph.

The statement filed by a candidate who voluntarily agrees to limit spending must state that the candidate knows the voluntary expenditure limitations as set out in section 1015, subsection 8 and that the candidate is voluntarily agreeing to limit the candidate's political expenditures and those made on behalf of the candidate by the candidate's political committee or committees, the candidate's party and the candidate's immediate family to the amount set by law. The statement must further state that the candidate does not condone and will not solicit any independent expenditures made on behalf of the candidate.

The statement filed by a candidate who does not agree to voluntarily limit political expenditures must state that the candidate does not accept the voluntary expenditure limits as set out in section 1015, subsection 8.   [PL 2015, c. 350, §4 (AMD).]

[PL 2015, c. 350, §4 (AMD).]

2.  Authorized political committees.

[PL 1991, c. 839, §5 (RP); PL 1991, c. 839, §34 (AFF).]

3.  Party committees.  The district, county and municipal committees of parties shall submit to their state party committees the names, mailing addresses and e-mail addresses of all their officers and of their treasurers and the name and address of the principal paid employee, if any, within 10 days after the appointment, election or hiring of these persons. Municipal committees shall file copies of the same information with the municipal clerk. No later than June 15th of each year in which a general election is scheduled, the state party committee shall submit to the commission a consolidated report of the names, mailing addresses and e-mail addresses of the chair and treasurer of the district, county and municipal committees of that party or of another officer if a chair or treasurer has not been appointed.

[PL 2019, c. 323, §4 (AMD).]

4.  Reporting by registered treasurers.  Any contribution accepted and any expenditure made or authorized by or on behalf of a candidate registered under this section or qualified under sections 335 and 336 or sections 354 and 355 must be recorded and reported as provided in sections 1016 and 1017.

[PL 1991, c. 839, §6 (AMD); PL 1991, c. 839, §34 (AFF).]

5.  Changes in registration information.  Every change in information required by this section to be reported to the commission shall be reported within 10 days of the date of the change.

[PL 1989, c. 504, §§4, 31 (NEW).]

SECTION HISTORY

PL 1989, c. 504, §§4,31 (NEW). PL 1989, c. 833, §1 (AMD). PL 1991, c. 839, §§4-6 (AMD). PL 1991, c. 839, §34 (AFF). RR 1995, c. 2, §35 (COR). PL 1995, c. 384, §1 (AMD). PL 1995, c. 483, §§4,5 (AMD). PL 1999, c. 729, §1 (AMD). PL 2007, c. 443, Pt. A, §7 (AMD). PL 2007, c. 642, §9 (AMD). PL 2007, c. 642, §14 (AFF). PL 2009, c. 366, §2 (AMD). PL 2009, c. 366, §12 (AFF). PL 2011, c. 389, §9 (AMD). PL 2011, c. 389, §62 (AFF). PL 2015, c. 350, §4 (AMD). PL 2019, c. 323, §4 (AMD).