Title 1, Government Organization.

(a) There is established the Campaign Finance Board, whose purpose shall be to: (1) Appoint a Director of Campaign Finance, who shall: (A) Serve at the pleasure of the Campaign Finance Board; and (B) Be compensated at the maximum rate for Grade 16 of the District Schedule, pursua…

(a)(1) The Campaign Finance Board shall consist of 5 members, no more than 3 of whom shall be of the same political party, appointed by the Mayor with the advice and consent of the Council. (2) Members shall be appointed to serve for terms of 6 years, except the members first app…

(a) In the performance of its duties, or in matters of procurement, the Campaign Finance Board shall not be subject to the direction of any nonjudicial officer of the District, except as provided in the Merit Personnel Act. (b) The District government shall furnish to the Campaig…

(a)(1) The Director of Campaign Finance, under regulations approved by the Campaign Finance Board, shall have the power: (A) To require any person to submit in writing reports and answers to questions as the Director of Campaign Finance may prescribe relating to the administratio…

The Director of Campaign Finance shall: (1) Develop and furnish prescribed forms, materials, and electronic formats or mediums, including electronic or digital signatures, for persons to make the reports and statements required to be filed with the Director of Campaign Finance pu…

On or after April 27, 2012, the District of Columbia Board of Elections and Ethics established under subchapter I of Chapter 10 of this title 1 [§ 1-1001.01 et seq.]. shall be known as the District of Columbia Board of Elections and shall have the powers, duties, and functions as…

(a)(1) On its own initiative, or upon receiving a request from a person listed below and within a reasonable time after its receipt, the Campaign Finance Board shall provide an advisory opinion regarding compliance with this chapter: (A) A public official; (B) A political committ…

Political committees, political action committees, and independent expenditure committees shall be subject to the following requirements: (1) Each committee shall file with the Director of Campaign Finance a statement of organization within 10 days after its organization. The sta…

(a) Each committee and each candidate accepting contributions or making expenditures, shall designate in the registration statement required under § 1-1163.07 or § 1-1163.12, one or more national banks located in the District of Columbia as the depository or depositories of that …

(a) The following individuals shall file with the Director of Campaign Finance, and with the principal campaign committee, if applicable, reports of receipts and expenditures on forms to be prescribed or approved by the Director of Campaign Finance: (1) The treasurer of each poli…

(a) Each candidate shall designate in writing one political committee as his or her principal campaign committee. The principal campaign committee shall receive all reports made by any other political committee accepting contributions or making expenditures for the purpose of inf…

(a) Except as provided in § 1-1163.32h, within the limitations specified in subchapter I of Chapter 10 of this title, any surplus, residual, or unexpended campaign funds received by or on behalf of a candidate shall be: (1) Contributed to a political party for political purposes;…

In addition to the statement of organization set forth in § 1-1163.07, each political committee, political action committee, and independent expenditure committee shall also file the following information with the Director of Campaign Finance within 10 days after the political co…

(a) Each individual shall, within 5 days after becoming a candidate,, file with the Director of Campaign Finance a registration statement in a form prescribed by the Director of Campaign Finance. The registration statement shall indicate whether the individual intends to seek cer…

(a) A political action committee shall not make an independent expenditure unless it establishes a non-contribution account for the purpose of making such independent expenditures. (b) A political action committee must notify the Campaign Finance Board within 10 days after establ…

(a)(1) Every political action committee and independent expenditure committee shall certify, in each report filed with the Director of Campaign Finance, that the contributions it has received and the expenditures it has made have not been controlled by or coordinated with any pub…

Except for the provisions of § 1-1163.12(a), the provisions of this part shall not apply to any candidate who anticipates spending or spends less than $500 in any one election and who has not designated a principal campaign committee. On the 15th day before the date of the electi…

(a)(1) A candidate, political committee, or political action committee shall identify its political advertising by the words "paid for by", followed by the name and address of the candidate or committee and the name of the committee's treasurer, as applicable. (2) An independent …

(a) Except as provided in §§ 1-1163.10a(a)(2), 1-1163.24(a)(2), and 1-1163.27(a)(2), no provision of this part shall be construed as creating liability on the part of any candidate for any financial obligation incurred by a committee. (b) For the purposes of this part, actions of…

(a) Each report submitted to the Director of Campaign Finance pursuant to the requirements set forth in § 1-1163.09 shall also disclose the name and address of each political committee or candidate from which the reporting committee or the candidate received, or to which that com…

(a) Any balance in the exploratory committee fund shall be transferred only to an established political committee or nonprofit organization, within the meaning of section 501(c) of the Internal Revenue Code, operating in good standing in the District for a minimum of one calendar…

(a) Exploratory committees shall not receive aggregate contributions in excess of: (1) $200,000 for a Mayoral exploratory committee; (1A) $150,000 for an Attorney General exploratory committee; (2) $150,000 for a Chairman of the Council exploratory committee; (3) $100,000 for an …

When an individual decides to run for office and becomes a candidate, contributions received during the exploratory period shall apply to the campaign contribution limits for the candidate as provided under § 1-1163.33.

The duration of an exploratory committee shall not exceed 18 months for any one office. Once an individual's exploratory committee reaches the maximum duration of 18 months, the candidate shall file a declaration of candidacy and form a principal political campaign committee or t…

No person, including a business contributor, may make any contribution to or for an inaugural committee, and the Mayor or Mayor-elect shall not receive any contribution to or for an inaugural committee from any person, that when aggregated with all other contributions to or for t…

Any balance in the inaugural committee fund shall be transferred only to a nonprofit organization, within the meaning of section 501(c) of the Internal Revenue Code , operating in good standing in the District of Columbia for a minimum of one calendar year before the date of any …

(a)(1) An inaugural committee shall terminate no later than 6 months after the beginning of the term of the new Mayor. (2) An inaugural committee may accept contributions necessary to retire the debts of the committee for 6 months after the beginning of the term of the new Mayor,…

Any balance in the transition committee fund shall be transferred only to a nonprofit organization within the meaning of section 501(c) of the Internal Revenue Code , operating in good standing in the District for a minimum of one calendar year before the date of any transfer, or…

(a) No person, including a business contributor, may make any contribution to or for a transition committee, and the Mayor or Mayor-elect may not receive any contribution to or for a transition committee from any person, that when aggregated with all other contributions to or for…

(a)(1) A transition committee shall terminate no later than 6 months after the beginning of the term of the new Mayor, Chairman of the Council, or Attorney General. (2) A transition committee may continue to accept contributions necessary to retire the debts of the committee for …

(a)(1) One legal defense committee and one legal defense checking account shall be established and maintained for the purpose of soliciting, accepting, and spending legal defense funds, which funds may be spent to defray attorney’s fees and other related costs for a public offici…

(a) Each legal defense committee shall have a chairperson and a treasurer. No contribution and no expenditure shall be accepted or made by or on behalf of a legal defense committee at a time when there is a vacancy in the office of treasurer for the committee and no other person …

Each legal defense committee accepting contributions or making expenditures shall designate in the statement of organization required under § 1-1163.28, one or more banks located in the District of Columbia as the legal defense depository or depositories of that legal defense com…

(a) The treasurer of each legal defense committee shall file with the Director of Campaign Finance, and with the applicable principal campaign committee, reports of receipts and expenditures on forms to be prescribed or approved by the Director of Campaign Finance. The reports sh…

(a) A report or statement required by this part to be filed by a treasurer of a legal defense committee shall be verified by the oath or affirmation of the person filing the report or statement and by the individual to be benefitted by the committee. (b) A copy of a report or sta…

There is established within the Campaign Finance Board a Fair Elections Program to provide for publicly funded political campaigns.

(a) Neither a candidate seeking certification nor a participating candidate may accept a qualified small-dollar contribution or a contribution from a non-District resident individual, that, when aggregated with all other qualified small-dollar contributions received from that sma…

(a) To be certified by the Director of Campaign Finance as a participating candidate for a seat for a covered office in an election cycle, a candidate shall, during the qualifying period: (1) Obtain the following: (A) For a candidate for Mayor, qualified small-dollar contribution…

(a)(1)(A) Within 5 business days after a participating candidate is certified under § 1-1163.32c(b), the Director of Campaign Finance shall direct the Office of the Chief Financial Officer to disburse to the participating candidate half of the base amount described in paragraph (…

(a) Qualified small-dollar contributions received in an election cycle before a candidate is certified as a participating candidate pursuant to § 1-1163.32c(b) shall not be matched until the candidate is certified. (b) After the candidate is certified, the participating candidate…

(a) Except as provided in subsection (d)(2) of this section, a candidate seeking certification and a participating candidate shall not receive or expend any contribution in that election cycle other than: (1) Qualified small-dollar contributions; (2) Contributions from non-Distri…

(a) The Director of Campaign Finance shall conduct at least one debate for each contested primary, special, and general election in an election cycle for the covered offices of Mayor, Attorney General, Chairman of the Council, member of the Council elected at-large, and member of…

*NOTE: This section includes amendments by emergency legislation that will expire on November 11, 2026. To view the text of this section after the expiration of all emergency and temporary legislation affecting this section, click this link: Permanent Version.* (a)(1) No later th…

(a) There is established as a special fund the Fair Elections Fund ("Fund"), which shall be administered by the Director of Campaign Finance in accordance with subsection (c) of this section. (b) Revenue from the following sources shall be deposited in the Fund: (1) Annual approp…

(a) The Director of Campaign Finance shall publish on the Campaign Finance Board's website and submit a report to the Mayor and the Council no later than 9 months after the end of each election cycle. The report shall include, at a minimum, the following: (a)(1) For that election…

(a) [T]he Board, pursuant to subchapter I of Chapter 5 of Title 2, shall issue rules to implement the provisions of [this part], including: (1) Procedures for verifying and auditing qualified small-dollar contributions; and (2) Rules relating to the donation of equipment. ([b]) F…