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11.1 When Reports Must Be Submitted

1. Election Years

During each election cycle, there are three different “election years” for purposes of campaign finance reporting:

• Baltimore City
• Presidential election year; and
• Gubernatorial election year.

The political committee must designate one or more election years in which it will participate. This designation will affect the reporting schedule of the political committee.

An authorized candidate campaign committee must at least designate the election year in which the office sought appears on the ballot. For example, House of Delegate candidates must designate the Gubernatorial election year.

2. Reporting Periods

All political committees must submit an Annual Campaign Finance Report due the third Wednesday in January.

Additionally a political committee is required to file the following campaign finance reports in the election year which it has designated for participation.
 
Gubernatorial and Baltimore designated committees:

• First Pre-Primary Report – due on the 4th Tuesday before the primary election
• Second Pre-Primary Report – due on the 2nd Friday before the primary election
• Ballot Issue Report – due on the 4th Friday before the general election*
• Pre- General Report – due on the 2nd Friday before the general election
• Post- General Report – due on the 3rd Tuesday after the general election

*The Ballot Issue Report is only for Ballot issue committees. All other political committees are not required to file this report.

Presidential designated committees:

• Pre-Primary Report – due on the 2nd Friday before the primary election
• Ballot Issue Report – due on the 4th Friday before the general election
• Pre- General Report – due on the 2nd Friday before the general election
• Post- General Report – due on the 3rd Tuesday after the general election

3. Participating in non-designated elections

If the political committee participates, in an election it did not designate, the responsible officers must notify the State Board immediately and begin to file all campaign finance reports in accordance with the reporting schedule for that election year, beginning with the first report due following the date of the committee’s first financial transaction relating to the relevant election. This will not affect the designation of the committee for future years and reports.

For example: Committee A designates Gubernatorial Elections only. However, on September 5, 2011, Committee A made a transfer of funds to a Baltimore City mayoral candidate. Committee A is required to notify the State Board of its participation in the election and file the Baltimore City Pre-General and Post-General reports.

4. Pre-Report Notices

Pre-report notice postcards or letters are mailed 10 to 20 days before each report due date. If the committee receives a pre-report notice, then the committee must file a campaign finance report. To make sure that the notice is received, addresses of the chairman, treasurer, and candidate must be kept current.

11.2 Filing Exception- Affidavit of Limited Contributions and Expenditures

In lieu of filing a detailed campaign finance report, a political committee may file the Affidavit of Limited Contributions and Expenditures if the committee did not spend or receive more than $1,000 in the aggregate, exclusive of the filing fee, within a campaign finance reporting period. Please note, the Affidavit does not relieve the committee of any future reporting requirements and must be renewed every reporting period.

Once the political committee does exceed the $1,000 threshold, it must file a detailed campaign finance report at the subsequent filing period. This report must also include any and all transactions that occurred during the period covered by the Affidavit.

-§§ 13-305, 13-309(a) and 13-312 of the Election Law Article

11.3 Where Reports Must Be Submitted

All political committees must file their campaign finance reports or Affidavits with the State Board.

11.4 How to File a Campaign Finance Report or Affidavit

1. Electronic Filing of a Campaign Finance Report

• Electronic Filing of Campaign Finance Reports
  
  All political committees are required to file campaign finance reports electronically, on a diskette or other electronic storage medium, or via the Internet. The State Board provides free software (ELECTrack EFS) to each political committee for the purpose of electronic filing. Political committees have the option of using their own software or software created by a private vendor, provided the software meets the exact data structure requirements established by the State Board.

- § 13-324 of the Election Law Article

2. How to Submit Your Reports

• Internet (SFTP):  If you use the Maryland ELECTrack software and have an Internet connection, you can transmit your report to the State Board via the Internet. You can file via the Internet until 11:59 PM on the filing deadline. The responsible officers must still sign and mail the Transmittal Sheet within 10 days after filing the report. A copy of the transmittal sheet should be retained by the political committee for their records.

• Mail:  A campaign finance report on a diskette or other electronic storage medium that is mailed is considered timely, regardless of when it is received by the State Board, if there is a U.S. Postal Service postmark confirming that the report was mailed on or before the report due date. A report that has a private postage meter postmark, or that is supported by a receipt from a private carrier, will also be considered timely if:

• The receipt or postmark indicates that the report was sent on or before the report due date; and
• The report is received within 3 days after the filing deadline.

• Hand Delivery:  A campaign finance report on a diskette or other electronic storage medium may be hand delivered. It must arrive on or before the close of business on the report due date. The State Board will issue a receipt.

Remember: All campaign finance reports must be electronically filed. If the committee mails or hand delivers the campaign finance report, the campaign finance report has to be in an electronic format, either on a floppy disk, CD or flash drive. A hard copy report will not be considered received or timely and late fees will accrue.

Additionally, the political committee is required to file a signed transmittal sheet. ELECTrack EFS automatically generates the transmittal sheet when the report is exported. Political committees not using ELECTrack EFS can fill out and use the attached transmittal sheet form. The transmittal sheet must be signed by the responsible officers of the political committee.

Political committees are not required to file a paper copy of the report.

3. Electronic filing of the Affidavit of Limited Contributions and Expenditures

Affidavit of Limited Contributions and Expenditures can be filed online. The filing requires the chairman or treasurer to sign the Affidavit electronically.

4. Waiver of the Requirement to File Electronically

A political committee that has minimal financial transactions may request a waiver of the electronic filing requirements from the State Board. To obtain a waiver, a political committee must maintain a cash balance of less than $3,000, minus any outstanding obligations, and/or have less than 30 transactions during a reporting period. The waiver must be requested, in writing, on the form supplied by the State Board, before the report due date.

- COMAR 33.13.03.01B

5. Resources for Filers

Treasurers who do not have access to computer equipment can use the public computers at the State Board to file their campaign finance reports. Please contact the State Board to reserve a time.

11.5 Liability for Failure to File

1. Fees for late reports

• A late filing fee is assessed for each campaign finance report that is not filed on or before the due date. The fee is $10 per day. There is an additional fee of $10 for each of the first 6 days that a pre-election report is overdue. The maximum fee chargeable per report is $250.
  
  Please note that Maryland law does not authorize an extension of the campaign finance report filing deadlines under any circumstance.
  - §13-331 of the Election Law Article
• Late fees are computed from the day after the due date through and including the day the report is received by the State Board, but excluding Saturdays, Sunday and holiday.
• The late fee is the personal liability of the responsible officers who include the treasurer and the chairman.
• A committee is not in compliance until all late fees have been paid.
• Failure to file a requested amended campaign finance report within 30 days after receipt of a written notice of deficiency from the State Board will result in the assessment of a daily late fee.

IMPORTANT: Late fees may not be paid directly or indirectly from campaign funds.

2. Consequences of unpaid late fees and missing reports

A. Filing for Office

The responsible officers of a committee may not become a candidate for a public or party office in this State, or become a treasurer for a political committee if:

• There exists a failure to file a campaign finance report; or
• A late filing fee is owed.
  - § 13-332 of the Election Law Article

The responsible officers of a committee, not the candidate unless the candidate is the chairman, may not be sworn into office or receive any salary for that office until the failure to file has been corrected. An official of the State or any of its political subdivisions may not issue a commission or administer an oath of office to an individual until that official has received a certification from the State Board declaring the responsible officer is in compliance.

- § 13-333 of the Election Law Article

11.6 Report Forms

The campaign finance report consists of a summary page and the following schedules:

• Schedule 1 – Contributions
• Schedule 1A –  Transfers in from Maryland and Out-of State Campaign Finance Entities
• Schedule 1B – Other Receipts and In-Kind Contributions
• Schedule 2 – Expenditures
• Schedule 3 – Outstanding Obligations
• Schedule 4 –Loan Consent Form

The committee must file at least the Summary Page. It is not required to file the schedules that are not used.

11.7 Summary Page

On the summary page, the committee must provide general information including the name of the political committee, the entity number, the committee’s bank account information (including bank account balance), and the report date for which the report is being filed. Additionally the receipt and expenditure subtotals from the different schedules and the political committee’s calculated cash balance must be on the page. If the committee has a waiver of electronic filing, then the summary page must be signed and dated by the treasurer and the chairman.

11.8 Reporting Receipts – Schedules 1, 1A, & 1B

Receipts Entry

When your political committee receives money or other things of value, you must be careful to properly identify the type of entity that contributed the money or other things of value.

* If you are using the paper form make sure you enter receipts on the correct schedule  and column.

2. Aggregate to Date

When entering receipts you must indicate the aggregate-to-date received from each contributor, transferor, or lender. For example: if you receive $2,000 from Ken Tribuder, and that was your first contribution from Ken, you would indicate the contribution amount as $2,000 and the aggregate-to-date amount as $2,000. When you receive a second contribution from Ken Tribuder for $1,900 you would indicate the contribution amount as $1,900 and the aggregate-to-date as $3,900. You would continue to aggregate the contributions received from Ken Tribuder until the four-year election cycle ends. The aggregate-to-date column is useful in helping you to avoid accepting an over-contribution. In the current example, you would know that you can only receive another $100 from Ken Tribuder during the current election cycle because of the $4,000 contribution limit.

3. Required Elements

For contributions received, the campaign finance report filed by a political committee shall include:

• The date that the contribution was received by the campaign finance entity;
• The amount of money or fair market value of the contribution; and
• The name of:
• The individual who made the contribution;
• The business, corporation, limited liability corporation, partnership, union, or other legal entity that made the contribution;
• The campaign finance entity that made the contribution; or
• The non-federal out-of-state political committee that made the contribution;
• The address of the contributor, provided that:
• If the contributor is an individual, the address where the individual resides or receives residential mail; or
• If the contributor is a business entity, including a corporation, limited liability corporation, union, or other legal entity, the address where that business entity is registered or does business;
• Whether the contribution transaction was cash, check, credit card, or payroll deduction;
• Whether the contribution is from:
• An individual or corporation;
• A ticket purchased by an individual or corporation including the amount per ticket;
• A federal committee;
• A political club;
• The campaign finance entity of a Maryland candidate committee;
• The campaign finance entity of a Maryland party central committee;
• The campaign finance entity of a Maryland political action committee; or
• A non-federal, out-of-state political committee;
• The aggregate amount of contributions received to date from the contributor for the election cycle in which the campaign finance report is filed;
• For a political party central committee or a political action committee associated with a business entity, whether the contribution was an administrative contribution; and
• If an in-kind contribution, a description of the in-kind contribution.
  - COMAR 33.13.02.02A

4. Lump Sum Reporting

Lump-sum record keeping and reporting of campaign contributions on the campaign finance report is permitted only in very narrow circumstances. Recording contributions in a political committee’s account books as a “lump sum” is prohibited, except for certain qualified gaming receipts. The following contributions, including ticket sales, may be reported on Schedule 1 of the campaign finance report as a lump sum.

• A monetary contribution, other than a ticket purchase, that is $50.99 or less;
• The purchase of one or more tickets for a campaign event provided:
• the cost of a ticket is $50.99 or less; and
• The cumulative amount per person is less than $250.99; or
• The purchase of a spin or chance on a paddle wheel or wheel of fortune

Reporting lump sum contributions on a campaign finance report does not relieve the treasurer of the responsibility for maintaining all required information in the account book of the political committee. The treasurer must identify all contributors, including ticket purchasers, by name, address, date of contribution, amount, (regardless of the amount) and form of the contribution (i.e., check, credit card, description of asset and services received). Failure to include the requisite information shall be considered non-compliance and subject to penalties.

11.9 Reporting Expenditures – Schedule 2

1. Generally

Expenditures are recorded on Schedule 2 and informatively coded. (For example: a payment for a radio commercial would be listed under code Q, media.) 

2. Reimbursements

When reporting an expenditure that was made from personal funds and then reimbursed, the treasurer must report the name and address of:

• The person who ultimately received the campaign funds (payee); and
• The person who received the campaign check as a reimbursement for the expenditure.

For example: Bob Jones has been authorized by the campaign finance entity to spend personal funds on behalf of the campaign. Bob goes to Office Mart and buys $50 worth of paper and office supplies.  The treasurer promptly pays Bob back, identifying:

• Office Mart as the person who ultimately received the campaign funds (payee); and
• Bob Jones as the person who received the campaign check as a reimbursement.

Assume that Bob also went to Office Warehouse and Office Emporium and spent $60 at each. The treasurer could write one check for $170 to Bob to reimburse him for all three expenditures. However, when it comes time to report this information, the treasurer must make three separate entries on the reporting form as follows:

3. Returned Contributions

Occasionally, a political committee needs to return a contribution to the contributor. Report this transaction as an expenditure made to the contributor. Select expenditure code Z on ELECTrack EFS. Do not report a returned contribution as a negative contribution.

4. Funding an In-Kind Contribution

If the expenditure funded an in-kind contribution to another political committee, the campaign finance report must also disclose the name of the political committee receiving the in-kind contribution.

- COMAR 33.13.02.02C(7)

11.10 Reporting Loans - Schedule 3

1. Reporting the Receipt of a Loan

• Loans received must be recorded on Schedule 3. The political committee needs to report the name and address of the creditor, the date the loan was accepted, the total amount of the loan, interest rate charged and the prime rate as of that date.
• When the loan is first received, the loan consent form (Schedule 4) must be filled out completely and filed with the State Board at the time the next campaign finance report is due. A loan cannot be made to the campaign of a candidate, or accepted on behalf of the campaign, without the express written consent of the candidate. Schedule 4 specifies the terms of the loan, the schedule for repayment, the interest rate charged, and the prime rate on the day the loan was accepted. Accordingly, when entering a new loan in ELECTrack EFS, the treasurer needs to click the “Written Consent Filed Herewith” button.
• If a candidate (or spouse) makes loans to the political committee, click on the “Informal Candidate Loan.”  A loan consent form (Schedule 4) will not required. Informal Candidate loans may not charge any interest and there is no requirement to record the in-kind contribution of the difference from the prime rate.
• If a non-candidate political committee accepts a loan, the treasurer shall acknowledge receipt of the loan by signing the Schedule 4.
• If the actual interest amount charged (which can be zero) is less than the prime rate on the date the loan was received, the difference is an in-kind contribution which must be reported. The in-kind contribution does count against the creditor’s contribution limits to the campaign and may not exceed $4,000 in an election cycle. The prime rate is published daily in the Wall Street Journal under its “Money Rates” column.

2. Reporting the Repayment of a Loan

• When loans are repaid, the amount repaid is entered on Schedule 2, Code X.
• Until the loan is completely repaid, the loan balance amount needs to be updated on Schedule 3. The original loan amount does not get altered.
• If you are reporting a loan repayment on the same report that the loan was first made, you should have two entries: one with the original balance and one with the current balance.

3. Reporting Unpaid loans

• Even if no payment was made on a loan during the reporting period, you must still report the loan and the outstanding balance on Schedule 3 (and continue to do so until the loan is paid off).
• If a loan to a candidate committee remains unpaid at the end of the four-year cycle after the loan was initially made, it becomes automatically a contribution that must be reported on Schedule 1 and subject to the contribution limits. (See Chapter 9 of this Summary Guide )
• If a loan is forgiven by a lender, the date on which the loan was forgiven must be entered. It will automatically zero out the remaining balance and convert to an in-kind contribution.

11.11 Reporting Bills

A bill is any expenditure that is unpaid at the end of a reporting period.

Bills must be recorded on Schedule 3 whenever the campaign receives goods or services that will not be paid for during the current reporting period. When the bill is paid, the amount paid is entered on Schedule 2, and coded with what best represents the purpose of the payment. The bill is reported on each report (and the balance is updated) until it is completely paid off.

11.12 Reporting Items Sold

If the campaign sells items for the purpose of fundraising, the money from the sale should be treated as a campaign contribution and reported on Schedule 1. Furthermore, if the item sold was donated to the political committee, the person who donated the item must be reported as making an in-kind contribution for the fair market value of the item.

11.13 Reporting Credit Card Contributions

Generally, for every credit card contribution, a fee is assessed for the transaction. The political committee must report the entire amount of the contribution and report separately the expenditure made for the transaction.

For example: A person makes a credit card contribution of $100 to a candidate committee. The candidate committee hired a service to process the transaction. The hired service charges 1% of the amount per transaction. The candidate committee reports receiving a contribution of $100 from the person and also reports making an expenditure of $1 to the hired service.

11.14 Creating an Amendment

When you need to correct deficiencies, add or change information in a previously exported report (i.e., one already sent to the State Board), you MUST file an amendment.

In order to execute the amendment option, the report which you want to amend MUST have been already created and exported (i.e. filed with the State Board).

For ELECTrack EFS users to create an amendment:

• Go to the EFS Main Window
• Click on the “Create or Edit a Report” button (which will open the “Report Entry” window)
• Click on the report that you want to amend (i.e. 2010 Annual Report).
• A message will appear with the question “Has this report been sent to the State Board of Elections.”
• If you answer “yes” the amendment field will automatically display an amendment sequence number (i.e., if it is the first time amending the report, the number “1” will appear). Click on the save button.
• If you answer “no”, you will not be creating an amendment. Therefore, you should only indicate “no” if you have exported the report but have not sent it to the State Board. This situation only occurs if you do not file the report via FTP but save it to a CD or disk and mail it to the State Board; and, it has not been entered into the State Board database.

NOTE: We highly recommend that you print a copy of the old report before you amend it since ELECTRack EFS DOES NOT save prior versions of reports.

Once you have entered in the changes and are ready for exporting, EFS will automatically perform a review of the new, amended report. EFS will compare the contents of the new amended report with the most recent version of the same report contained in the EFS database. An Amendment Description Report will be generated detailing line by line the differences found between the two reports with the Schedule and Item number as well as a description of the change.

The treasurer and chairman must sign the Amendment Review Report and file it with the amended report.

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