The provisions of this article shall apply to all elections subsequent to July 1, 1969, in which ballots shall be cast pursuant to the provisions of this chapter.
The City Clerk shall summarize provisions of the election laws of the City relating to campaign contributions and expenditures and provide for the distribution of this summary to all candidates for election to public office at the time such candidates file for election and shall prepare and include in such distribution to each candidate specimen forms provided for in this article.
A.
Each candidate for election to public office, upon or before, and as a condition precedent to, qualifying as such candidate, shall appoint one campaign treasurer and shall file the name and address of the campaign treasurer with the Board as provided in Subsection C of this section. A campaign treasurer shall be a resident of the City and have resided in the City for one year prior to the date of his or her appointment. Every treasurer so appointed shall accept such appointment, in writing, prior to filing thereof. The Board shall not accept any certificate of candidacy unless the name of the treasurer has been filed with it as provided in this subsection. A candidate cannot be their own campaign treasurer or the campaign treasurer for another candidate.
B.
The City Clerk shall devise and maintain a form for appointment of a treasurer and the acceptance of such appointment by the treasurer. Each candidate shall obtain and use, without alteration, the City's form for appointment of a treasurer.
C.
Any candidate, after filing the name of a treasurer as prescribed in Subsection A of this section, may choose, at any time after such filing and the first filing as required in Subsection A(1) of § 6-75, to join a group, combination or organization of candidates, commonly known as a "ticket" or "slate," at which time the candidate must notify the Board of the fact that he has joined the ticket or slate. The ticket or slate shall also appoint a treasurer as provided for in this article. The treasurer of the ticket or slate shall report in the same manner as the treasurer of any political committee as prescribed in § 6-69.
A.
A political committee is an entity that pools campaign contributions from members and donates those funds to campaign for or against candidates, ballot initiatives, or legislation.
B.
Every political committee except political clubs shall appoint and constantly maintain a treasurer, whose name and address, together with the names and addresses of the principal officers and steering committee, if any, shall be filed with the Board. The treasurer shall receive, keep and disburse all money, or other valuable things, which may be collected, received or disbursed by such committee or by any of its members for any purposes for which such committee exists or acts. Unless such treasurer, officers and steering committee, if any, are appointed and filed as required in this subsection, it shall be unlawful and a violation of this chapter for a political committee, or any of its members, to collect or receive or disburse money, or other valuable things, for such purposes. The treasurer shall report contributions and expenditures on the form prescribed in § 6-77 and in the manner required by Subsection C of this section and § 6-76.
C.
If any committee, including a political club, directly or indirectly expends $51 or more to aid or oppose the election of any candidate, regardless of the purpose for which the committee is formed, the treasurer of the committee, or in the case of a political club an officer thereof, shall report, on the form prescribed in § 6-77, a statement of contributions and expenditures to the treasurer appointed by the candidate being so aided, which statement shall be included in, or attached to, the statement of contributions and expenditures reported by the treasurer of the candidate as provided in §§ 6-76 and 6-77. However, a political club need only report that amount which it actually contributed to a candidate.
All contributions, money or other valuable things collected, received or disbursed by any candidate or committee for any purpose shall be paid over to and made to pass through the hands of the treasurer and shall be disbursed by him, and it shall be unlawful and a violation of this chapter for any candidate or any member of a committee, or for any member of a political committee, to make any expenditure, to disburse or expend money or any other valuable things, for any purposes until the money or other valuable things so disbursed or expended shall have passed through the hands of the treasurer, except that it shall not be unlawful for a candidate, or a person designated by him, to expend his own personal funds, provided that such expenditure is reported to the treasurer, a receipt is issued by the treasurer and the treasurer's report indicates whether those funds are reimbursed.
A.
Account books. Every treasurer shall keep detailed, full and accurate accounts in proper books, to be called "account books," to be provided and preserved by him, of all contributions, money or valuable things received by or promised to and all expenditures, disbursements and promises of payment or disbursements of money or valuable things made by any committee, or any of its officers or members, or by any person acting under its authority, or on its behalf or by such treasurer, and setting forth in such statement and accounts the sum or valuable thing so received, disbursed or promised, as the case may be, and the date when, the name of the person and his address from whom received or promised, or to whom paid or promised, as the case may be, and the object and purposes for which the sum, or other valuable thing, was received, disbursed or promised, as the case may be. Such books and records may be destroyed or discarded at any time after one year from the date of filing the final report required by § 6-76 unless a court of competent jurisdiction shall order their retention for a longer period.
B.
Campaign contribution receipts.
(1)
Upon receipt and before depositing a campaign contribution, a campaign contribution receipt shall be issued by the treasurer to each person or treasurer of a committee or group or organization of persons making a contribution to the campaign or purchasing a ticket or tickets to any campaign-related event or purchasing any campaign-related item or items in the amount of $51 or more, or upon receipt for any lesser amount, to the candidate or committee of which he is treasurer, setting forth:
(a)
The date of the contribution or purchase of a ticket or other item.
(b)
The name and address of the person making the contribution or purchase of a ticket or other item.
(c)
The amounts of the individual contributions and/or cost of the ticket(s) or other item(s) and the total for all contributions and/or purchases.
(d)
The name of the candidate or organization.
(2)
A check received by a treasurer shall itself serve as a receipt and no additional receipt shall be necessary. Such check shall be recorded by the treasurer in the account books and shall include the date of the check, the amount of the check, the bank upon which it is written and the name of the person signing the check.
(4)
The campaign contribution receipt issued to a contributor shall serve as evidence of a contribution by such contributor.
C.
Anonymous contributions. Any money or other thing of value received from any unknown person or source by any treasurer or other person or committee authorized to incur obligations or to pay or defray obligations or expenses under the provisions of this chapter shall not be used for any political purpose whatsoever but shall be paid by the treasurer, or other persons or committee so receiving the same, to the Treasurer of the City.
D.
Disposition of surplus funds. Any surplus funds remaining after payment of all campaign expenditures shall be returned to contributors or to a Section 501(c)(3) corporation of the candidate's choice by the treasurer prior to the time of filing the final report required by § 6-76. In any event, there must be a $0 sum balance at the time of the final report.
A.
Contributions. Any person who is a candidate for public office may make voluntary contributions or payment of money to any treasurer, subject to the provisions and restrictions of this chapter, and for any of the purposes permitted by this chapter, and for no other purposes.
It shall be unlawful for any individual, either directly or indirectly, to contribute any money or thing of value greater than $1,000 in any City election. The limit of contribution shall be considered for adjustment after each general election. It shall be unlawful for any partisan political organization, nonprofit or profit-making corporation or other business entity to contribute any money or other thing of value to any candidate in any City election.
A.
Proper expenditures. It shall be lawful for any treasurer in connection with any election and in making provisions therefor to pay all lawful expenses including, but not limited to, the following expenses:
(1)
Hiring of halls and music for public meetings and for advertising the same;
(2)
Printing and circulating political articles, circulars, pamphlets and books or renting radio and television time and newspaper space for political speeches and advertising;
(3)
Printing and distributing the sample or specimen ballots or instructions to voters, subject, however, to such prohibitions or restrictions as may be imposed by this chapter upon the publication and distribution of such sample or specimen ballots or instructions;
(4)
Renting rooms and headquarters to be used by political committees;
(5)
Compensating clerks, stenographers and typists employed in the committee rooms;
(6)
Traveling and other legitimate expenses of political agents, committees and public speakers;
(7)
Necessary postage, stationery, telephoning, and printing expenses.
B.
Time for presentation of statement of money due. Any statement of money owing by a treasurer must be presented for payment to the treasurer within 30 days following the election in connection with which such liability was incurred.
A.
The treasurer designated by a candidate prior to an election shall file reports or statements of contributions and expenditures as prescribed in this section and § 6-76 with the Board in accordance with the following schedule:
(1)
By the close of business on the 15th day of each month, or if the 15th day of the month falls on a Saturday, Sunday or federal holiday, by the close of business on the Monday immediately following the 15th day of the month, a report shall be filed containing all contributions received and expenditures made in furtherance of the candidate's election, including those made by the candidate, or with the knowledge of the candidate, and those made by any other person or groups of persons since the date of the last preceding election to fill the office for which he is a candidate. Within 48 hours of its submission, excluding Saturdays and Sundays, the Board or its designee shall review each report and return any such report that does not meet the requirements of this article. A treasurer to whom a document is returned shall have 48 hours to correct the document and resubmit it. A copy of all monthly and final campaign financial reports shall be posted on the City's website by close of business within three business days after review and acceptance by the Board.
(2)
A successful candidate shall file a final campaign financial report no later than 4:00 p.m. on the eighth day following the election. The final campaign financial report shall be accepted and approved as sufficiently itemized and complete by the Board of Elections or its designee no later than 4:00 p.m. on the last business day prior to the date on which the successful candidate takes office. In the event of a special election in which the above time frames cannot be met, the successful candidate shall file a final campaign financial report no later than 12:00 noon on the last business day prior to the date on which the successful candidate takes office.
(3)
Unsuccessful candidates shall file a final campaign report that is accepted and approved as sufficiently itemized and complete by the Board of Elections or its designee within 30 days of the election. An unsuccessful candidate who fails to submit a final campaign report as required by this section shall not be permitted to run for office in the City of Bowie again until such report is filed and all outstanding fees and penalties are paid in full.
B.
Before filing a final campaign report, the treasurer shall pay all outstanding obligations and dispose of all of its remaining assets in accordance with Subsection F below. It shall be the responsibility of each candidate to advise the candidate's creditors that invoices must be received by the candidate within 5 days of the election.
C.
It is the responsibility of the treasurer to file the report and such report shall be in full and accurate detail. Each report shall contain all contributions received and expenditures made since filing of the initial report. Any campaign financial report which simply displays lump sum funds spent or obligated to campaign consultants, public relations firms or other entities without reasonable itemization of services provided shall be rejected and returned to the treasurer as failing to meet campaign reporting guidelines.
D.
The treasurer of a political committee shall file the committee's report of statement of contributions with the Board according to the times specified in Subsection A of this section.
E.
It shall be unlawful for a treasurer to accept money or any other thing of value for or intended to be used on behalf of the candidate more than 21 days after an election.
The reports required by this article shall be filed on a form devised and distributed by the City Clerk, without alteration. These reports and any amendments thereto may be submitted to the City Clerk electronically in accordance with procedures adopted by the Board.
A.
Successful candidates. No person shall enter upon the duties of any public office thereof, or receive any salary or emoluments therefrom, until he shall have filed the statements provided for in § 6-75.
B.
Section mandatory. The provisions of this article, including the provisions of § 6-75 with respect to the time of filing reports, shall be mandatory and not directory, provided that no candidate shall be disqualified for failure to file such statement if such failure is found by a court of competent jurisdiction to be with just cause.
The Board shall preserve all statements or accounts filed with it pursuant to any section of this chapter in accordance with the City's records retention policy. All such statements and accounts shall be open to public inspection.
A.
It shall be unlawful for any candidate or treasurer to print, publish, or broadcast any campaign-related communications whatsoever, including electronic communications, unless such matter shall purport on its face to be printed, published or broadcast by the authority of the candidate or treasurer. Any such material which is printed, published, or broadcast shall be marked as an advertisement.
B.
Each candidate or treasurer shall maintain for a period of 120 days following each election a complete file of sample copies of all matter printed, published, or broadcast by his authority.
C.
No person or corporation publishing or distributing a newspaper or other periodical within the City shall charge a candidate for public office for political advertising a rate in excess of the regular local rate regularly charged by such person or corporation for commercial advertising, except that when such political advertising is placed with the person or corporation through the medium of an advertising or press agency, then the regular national rate regularly charged by such person or corporation for commercial advertising may be charged.
D.
Violation of this section is a misdemeanor and any person so convicted is subject to the penalties provided in this chapter.