To begin the process of seeking matching funds, presidential primary election candidates must submit a letter of agreements and certifications. This document is a contract with the government. In exchange for public funding, the candidates pledge to comply with the provisions of the Federal Election Campaign Act and the Presidential Primary
Matching Payment Account Act. Presidential candidates also must agree to: The candidate
must submit a candidate agreement that meets the stated requirements before the Commission will review the candidate’s threshold submission to determine eligibility for matching funds. Candidates seeking their party's nomination to the Presidency can qualify to receive matching funds by raising over $5,000 in each of
20 states (that is, over $100,000). Although an individual may contribute up to a specific limit to a primary candidate, only a maximum of $250 of each individual’s contribution is counted in determining whether a candidate has met the $5,000 threshold in each state. This means that a candidate must receive contributions from a
minimum of 20 contributors in each of at least 20 states in order to establish eligibility for primary matching funds. Candidates may present documentation to establish their eligibility for matching funds and submit matchable contributions during the year before the election is held. The threshold submission must be prepared in compliance with the Commission’s Guideline for
Presentation in Good Order. This publication sets forth a uniform format for the presentation of submissions, together with specifying a quality of content standard that must be met after a matching fund request has been accepted for review. The Commission will examine the submission and either determine that the candidate has
satisfied the minimum contribution threshold requirements or make an initial determination that the candidate has failed to satisfy the matching payment threshold requirements. The Commission will notify the candidate of its initial determination. During the presidential election year, the Commission will generally complete its review and make its determination within 15 business days. If the Commission, however, makes an initial determination that a candidate or the candidate's
authorized committee(s) have knowingly and substantially exceeded the expenditure limitations for publicly funded primary candidates prior to that candidate's application for certification, the Commission may make an initial determination that the candidate is ineligible to
receive matching funds. Once the Commission determines that a candidate has met the eligibility criteria, the candidate may submit contributions from individuals for matching. The Commission's audit staff reviews these submissions to see if the requests meet the standards for matchability. Only contributions from individuals may be matched. Matchable contributions include:
Loans, cash contributions, goods or services, contributions from political committees and contributions which are illegal under the campaign finance law are not matchable. Certification of entitlementOnce the Commission is satisfied that the submissions comply with the law, it certifies to the U.S. Treasury an amount due to be paid to the candidate. By law, the Commission must certify the payment amounts to which the candidate is entitled by law within ten calendar days after the Commission determines that he or she has established eligibility. The first payments are not made until January of the election year. Additional submissionsFrom that point forward, candidates may submit additional matching fund requests and receive payments on a monthly basis. Even if a candidate is no longer actively campaigning in primary elections, he or she may continue to request matching funds to pay off campaign debts and to wind down the campaign until early in the year following the election. Additional submissions must be prepared in compliance with the Commission’s Guideline for Presentation in Good Order. The last date for first-time submissions will be the first Monday in March of the year following the election. Eligible candidates may receive public funds equaling up to half of the national spending limit for the primary campaign. Because candidates receive many nonmatchable contributions, such as those from political committees, they generally raise more money than they receive in matching funds. Determination of ineligibility dateAfter the candidate's date of ineligibility, the candidate may only receive matching payments to the extent that the candidate’s committee has net outstanding campaign obligations. The date of ineligibility is the earliest of these three dates:
Even if they no longer campaign actively in primary elections, candidates may continue to request public funds to pay off campaign debts until the first Monday of March of the year following an election. However, to qualify for matching funds, contributions must be deposited in the campaign account by December 31 of the election year. After a candidate's date of ineligibility, the Commission will review each additional submission and resubmission, and will certify to the Secretary of the Treasury, at least once a month on dates to be determined and published by the Commission, an amount to which the ineligible candidate is entitled. Determination of active or inactive candidacyIn making a determination of inactive candidacy in order to determine eligibility, the Commission may consider, but is not limited to considering, the following factors:
Reestablishing eligibilityDepending on how the date of ineligibility was established, a candidate determined to be ineligible may reestablish eligibility for matching funds. A candidate whose eligibility is reestablished by the Commission may submit, for matching payment, contributions received during ineligibility. Candidates found to be inactiveAn inactive candidate may reestablish eligibility for matching payments by submitting to the Commission evidence of active campaigning in more than one state. The day the Commission determines to be the day the candidate becomes active again will be the date on which eligibility is reestablished. Candidates who received insufficient votes in two consecutive primariesA candidate who received insufficient votes in two consecutive primaries may reestablish eligibility if the candidate receives at least 20 percent of the total number of votes cast for candidates of the same party for the same office in a primary election held subsequent to the date of the election which rendered the candidate ineligible. In the event of a shortfallThe U.S. Treasury Department normally will make payments due to primary candidates at least once per week, to the extent funds are available in the Matching Payment Account. The priorities established by the public financing statutes provide that a shortfall in the balance of the Presidential Election Campaign Fund will affect the availability of matching funds for primary candidates before it affects the financing of general election candidates or payments to the 10-Year Pediatric Research Initiative Fund, established in 2014 by the Gabriella Miller Kids First Act, which eliminated public funding for national party conventions and provided for the amounts set aside for them to be transferred to that fund instead. Thus, if a shortage of primary funds occurs in a particular week, U.S. Treasury revenue procedures set forth a formula for determining the amount each candidate will receive as partial payment and the amount that will be treated as certified for the next week. |