153.00.01 Ark. Code R. § 003 Rules On Campaign Finance and Disclosure

• Library: Arkansas Administrative Code
• Edition: 2023
• Currency: Current through Register Vol. 48, No. 12, December, 2023
• Citation: 153.00.01 Ark. Code R. § 003
• Year: 2023

§ 200 Definitions

(a) "Approved political action committee" means any person who receives contributions from one or more persons in order to make contributions to candidates; does not accept any contribution or cumulative contributions in excess of five thousand dollars ($5,000) from any person in any calendar year; and has been registered with the Secretary of State pursuant to Ark. Code Ann. § 7Registration and reporting by approved political action committees7-6-215 for at least four (4) continuous months prior to making contributions to candidates. Approved political action committee does not include political parties, the candidate's own campaign committee or an exploratory committee.

(b) "Candidate" means any person who has knowingly and willingly taken affirmative action, including solicitation of funds, for the purpose of seeking nomination for or election to any public office.1

(c) "Contribution" means, whether direct or indirect, advances, deposits, or transfers of funds, contracts, or obligations whether or not legally enforceable, payments, gifts, subscriptions assessments, payment for services, dues, advancements, forbearance, loans pledge or promise of money or anything of value, whether or not legally enforceable, to a candidate, committee, or holder of elective office, made for the purpose of influencing the nomination or election of any candidate "Contribution" includes the purchase of tickets for events such as dinners, luncheons, rallies, and similar fund-raising events; the granting of discounts or rebates by television stations, radio stations, and newspapers not extended on an equal basis to all candidates for the same office; and any payments for the services of any person serving as an agent of a candidate or committee by a person other than the candidate or committee or persons whose expenditures the candidates or committee must report under this subchapter. The term "contribution" further includes any transfer of anything of value received by a committee from another committee; "Contribution" shall not include noncompensated, nonreimbursed, volunteer personal services or travel.2

(d) "Carryover funds" means the amount of campaign funds retained from the last election by the candidate for future use but not to exceed the annual salary, excluding expense allowances, set by Arkansas law for the office sought.3

(e) "Election" means each election to be held to nominate or elect a candidate to any public office, including school elections. For the purposes of these rules, a preferential primary election, a runoff election, a special election, and a general election shall each constitute a separate election.4

(f) "Expenditure" means a purchase, payment distribution, gift, loan, or advance of money or anything of value, and a contract, promise, or agreement to make an expenditure, made for the purpose of influencing the nomination or election of any candidate.5

(g) "Exploratory committee" means a person who receives contributions which are held to be transferred to the campaign of a single candidate in an election. "Exploratory committee" shall not include an organized political party as defined in Ark. Code Ann. § 7Definitions7-1-101(16) or the candidate's own campaign committee.6 For a more detailed description of an "exploratory committee" and its duties, see §§ 251-252 herein.

(h) "Fair market value" means the price the good or service would bring between a willing seller and a willing buyer in the open market after negotiations. See Minerva Enterprises, Inc. v. Howlett, 308 Ark. 291, 824 S.W.2d 377 (1992).

(i) "Financial institution" means any commercial bank, savings and loan, mutual savings bank or savings bank, credit union, insurance company, brokerage house, or any corporation that is in the business of lending money that is subject to state or federal regulation.7

(j) "In-kind contribution" means a contribution of goods, services, or any other thing of value, or its use, other than money and includes an agreement made or other obligation incurred, whether legally enforceable or not, to make such a contribution in the future. The term does not include direct campaign contributions. For a more detailed discussion of in-kind contributions, see § 205 of these rules.

(k) "Person" means any individual, proprietorship, firm, partnership, joint venture, syndicate, labor union, business trust, company, corporation, association, committee, or any other organization or group of persons acting in concert. It shall also include organized political parties as defined in Ark. Code Ann. § 7Definitions7-1-101(16).8

(l) "Political party" means any group of voters which, at the last-preceding general election, polled for its candidate for Governor in the state or nominees for presidential electors at least three percent (3%) of the entire vote cast for the office; or which files with the Secretary of State a petition signed by qualified electors equal in number to at least three percent (3%) of the total vote cast for the Office of Governor or nominees for presidential electors at the last-preceding election, declaring their intention of organizing a political party, the name of which shall be stated in the declaration, and of participating in the next-succeeding general election. The petition shall be filed with the Secretary of State not later than the first Monday in May before the general election in which the political party filing the petition desires to participate. No group of electors shall assume a name or designation which is so similar, in the opinion of the Secretary of State, to that of an existing political party as to confuse or mislead the voters at an election. When any political party fails to obtain three percent (3%) of the total votes cast at an election for the Office of Governor or nominees for presidential electors, it shall cease to be a political party.9

(m) "Prohibited political action committee" means any person who receives contributions from one or more persons in order to make contributions to candidates but who does not meet the requirements of an approved political action committee. "Prohibited political action committee" shall not include an organized political party as defined in Ark. Code Ann. § 7Definitions7-1-101(16), the candidate's own campaign committee, or an exploratory committee.10

(n) "Public office" means any office created by or under authority of the laws of the State of Arkansas, or of a subdivision thereof, that is filled by the voters, except a federal office.11

(o) "Small donor political action committee" means any person who receives contributions from one or more individuals in order to make contributions to candidates; does not accept any contribution or cumulative contributions in excess of twenty-five dollars ($25) from any individual in any calendar year; and has been registered with the Secretary of State pursuant to Ark. Code Ann. § 7Registration and reporting by approved political action committees7-6-215 prior to making contributions to candidates. Small donor political action committee does not include political parties, the candidate's own campaign committee or an exploratory committee.12

(p) "Surplus campaign funds" means any balance of campaign funds over expenses incurred as of the day of the election except for:(A) Carryover funds; and (B) Any funds required to reimburse the candidate for personal funds contributed to the campaign or to repay loans made by financial institutions to the candidate and applied to the campaign.13

§ 201 Loans

A candidate shall treat a loan of money or goods as a contribution for purposes of campaign finance laws and of the rules that follow. A candidate receiving a loan must disclose the loan as a contribution on the proper Contribution and Expenditure Report. On the issue of loans, see also § 225 and § 234 infra.

§ 202 Prohibited Contributions

(a) (1) A candidate or a person acting on a candidate's behalf shall not accept any contribution from a prohibited political action committee. (2) A prohibited political action committee shall not make any contribution to a candidate in an election.14

(b) No campaign contribution shall be made to a candidate, a political action committee, an independent expenditure committee, an exploratory committee, or a political party unless such contribution is made directly to the intended recipient, provided that it shall be permissible to make a contribution to a candidate's campaign committee instead of directly to the candidate.15

(c) No contribution shall be made to or knowingly accepted by a candidate or his or her campaign committee, a political action committee, an independent expenditure committee, an exploratory committee, or a political party unless the contribution is made in the name by which the person providing the funds for the contribution is identified for legal purposes.16

(d) (1) No person shall make an anonymous contribution in support of or opposition to a candidate or campaign committee totaling $50 or more in a calendar year. (2) The intended recipient shall not keep an anonymous contribution of $50 or more; the recipient shall promptly pay that contribution to the Secretary of State of Arkansas for deposit in the State Treasury as...