Title 169, CAMPAIGN FINANCING AND ADVERTISING

Sec. 5. (1) "Domestic dependent sovereign" means an Indian tribe that has been acknowledged, recognized, restored, or reaffirmed as an Indian tribe by the secretary of the interior pursuant to 25 USC 5101 to 5144, commonly referred to as the Indian reorganization act, or has othe…

Sec. 6. (1) "Expenditure" means a payment, donation, loan, or promise of payment of money or anything of ascertainable monetary value for goods, materials, services, or facilities in assistance of, or in opposition to, the nomination or election of a candidate, the qualification,…

Sec. 7. (1) "Filed" means the receipt by the appropriate filing official of a statement or report required to be filed under this act. (2) "Filer" means a person required to file a statement or report under this act. (3) "Filing official" means the official designated under this …

Sec. 8. (1) "House political party caucus committee" means an independent committee established by a political party caucus of the state house of representatives under section 24a. (2) "Immediate family" means any child residing in a candidate's household, the candidate's spouse,…

Sec. 9. (1) "Incidental expense" means an expenditure that is an ordinary and necessary expense, paid or incurred in carrying out the business of an elective office. Incidental expense includes, but is not limited to, any of the following: (a) A disbursement necessary to assist, …

Sec. 10. (1) "Major political party" means a political party qualified to have its name listed on the general election ballot whose candidate for governor received 25% or more of the popular vote cast in the preceding gubernatorial election. If only 1 political party received 25%…

Sec. 11. (1) "Payroll deduction plan" means any system in which an employer, including, but not limited to, a public body, deducts any amount of money from the wages, earnings, or compensation of an employee. (2) "Person" means a business, individual, proprietorship, limited liab…

Sec. 12. (1) "Qualifying contribution" means a contribution of money made by a written instrument, credit card, or debit card by an individual to the candidate committee of a candidate for the office of governor that is $100.00 or less and made after April 1 of the year preceding…

Sec. 15. (1) The secretary of state shall do all of the following: (a) Make available through his or her offices, and furnish to county clerks, appropriate forms, instructions, and manuals required by this act. (b) Develop a filing, coding, and cross-indexing system for the filin…

Sec. 16. (1) A filing official shall make a statement or report required to be filed under this act available for public inspection and reproduction, as soon as practicable, but not later than the third business day following the day on which it is received, during regular busine…

Sec. 17. (1) A person paying a late filing fee as a result of that person's failure to file a statement or report shall pay that fee to the filing official with whom the statement or report was required to be filed. (2) The late filing fees collected under sections 24, 33, 34, 35…

Sec. 18. (1) The secretary of state shall develop and implement an electronic filing and internet disclosure system that permits committees that are required to file statements or reports under this act with the secretary of state to file those statements or reports electronicall…

Sec. 18a. (1) A county clerk may adopt an electronic filing and internet disclosure system developed or approved by the secretary of state that permits committees that are required to file statements or reports under this act with the county clerk to file those statements or repo…

Sec. 20. (1) An individual is not considered a candidate if the individual has done any of the following: (a) Filed a fee, affidavit of incumbency, or nominating petition for an elective office, if the individual withdraws within the time limit established by law, and if the indi…

Sec. 21. (1) A candidate, within 10 days after becoming a candidate, shall form a candidate committee. An individual who is a candidate for more than 1 office shall form a candidate committee for each office for which the individual is a candidate, if at least 1 of the offices is…

Sec. 21a. (1) A candidate committee of a candidate who is elected or appointed to an elective office may make an expenditure for an incidental expense for the elective office to which that candidate was elected or appointed. Except as otherwise specifically provided in this act, …

Sec. 22. A committee treasurer or other individual designated on the statement of organization as responsible for the committee's record keeping, report preparation, or report filing shall keep detailed accounts, records, bills, and receipts as required to substantiate the inform…

Sec. 23. Subject to section 15, the secretary of state shall promulgate rules for the withdrawal of funds from a committee account for petty cash expenditures and for keeping records of the withdrawals. A single expenditure from a petty cash fund shall not exceed $50.00. A person…

Sec. 24. (1) A committee shall file a statement of organization with the filing officials designated in section 36 to receive the committee's campaign statements. A committee shall file a statement of organization within 10 days after the committee is formed. A filing official sh…

Sec. 24a. (1) A political party caucus of the state house of representatives may maintain 1 house political party caucus committee. A political party caucus of the state house of representatives shall not maintain more than 1 house political party caucus committee. Not later than…

Sec. 24b. (1) One or more persons may create an independent expenditure committee and shall file a statement of organization under section 24. An independent expenditure committee shall file campaign statements under sections 33 and 35 and as otherwise provided in this act. (2) A…

Sec. 24c. (1) If the independent nature of an independent expenditure is defeated, the resulting contribution is punishable as follows: (a) For an independent expenditure committee or its agent, under section 24b(5) if the resulting contribution violates section 24b(4). (b) For a…

Sec. 25. A committee supporting or opposing a candidate or the qualification, passage, or defeat of a ballot question shall file a legibly printed or typed campaign statement. The period covered by a campaign statement is the period beginning with the day after the closing date o…

Sec. 26. (1) A campaign statement of a committee, other than a political party committee, required by this act must contain all of the following information: (a) The filing committee's name, address, and telephone number, and the full name, residential and business addresses, ele…

Sec. 28. (1) Interest received by a committee on an account consisting of funds belonging to the committee shall not be considered a contribution to the committee but the committee shall report its receipt on a campaign statement as interest. A committee shall report interest pai…

Sec. 29. (1) A campaign statement filed by a political party committee shall contain all of the following information: (a) The full name and street address of each person from whom contributions are received in a calendar year, the amount, and the date or dates contributed; and, …

Sec. 30. (1) A committee shall not knowingly maintain receipt of a contribution from a person prohibited from making a contribution during the prohibited period under section 7b of the Michigan gaming control and revenue act, the Initiated Law of 1996, MCL 432.207b. (2) For purpo…

Sec. 31. (1) A contribution that is controlled by, or made at the direction of, another person, including a parent organization, subsidiary, division, committee, department, branch, or local unit of a person, shall be reported by the person making the contribution and shall be re…

Sec. 32. (1) A committee, candidate, treasurer, or other individual designated as responsible for the committee's record keeping, record preparation, or report filing shall report a late contribution by filing with the filing officer within 48 hours after its receipt the full nam…

Sec. 33. (1) A committee, other than an independent committee, an independent expenditure committee, or a political committee required to file with the secretary of state, supporting or opposing a candidate shall file complete campaign statements as required by this act and the r…

Sec. 33a. A political committee, independent committee, or political party committee that makes a contribution to a candidate or ballot question committee shall include with the contribution all information that the receiving committee is required to include in a campaign stateme…

Sec. 34. (1) A ballot question committee shall file a campaign statement as required by this act according to the following schedule: (a) A preelection campaign statement, the closing date of which is the sixteenth day before the election, must not be filed later than the elevent…

Sec. 35. (1) In addition to any other requirements of this act for filing a campaign statement, a committee shall also file a campaign statement not later than January 31 of each year. The campaign statement has a closing date of December 31 of the previous year. The period cover…

Sec. 36. (1) A candidate committee for a state elective office or a judicial office shall file a copy of the campaign statement required under this act with the secretary of state. The secretary of state shall reproduce the copy and transmit the reproduction to the clerk of the c…

Sec. 37. A campaign statement filed by a committee shall be signed by the committee treasurer or other individual designated as responsible for the record keeping, report preparation, or report filing for that committee. A verification statement shall be part of the campaign stat…

Sec. 38. A campaign statement shall cover the period beginning the day after the closing date of the last campaign statement and ending on the closing date as specified in this act.

Sec. 41. (1) A person shall not make or accept a single contribution of more than $20.00 in cash or make or accept a single expenditure of more than $50.00 in cash. Contributions of more than $20.00 and expenditures of more than $50.00, other than an in-kind contribution or expen…

Sec. 42. (1) A person who accepts a contribution, other than by written instrument, on behalf of another and acts as the intermediary or agent of the person from whom the contribution was accepted shall disclose to the recipient of the contribution the intermediary's own name and…

Sec. 43. An expenditure shall not be made, other than for overhead or normal operating expenses, by an agent or an independent contractor, including an advertising agency, on behalf of or for the benefit of a person unless the expenditure is reported by the committee as if the ex…

Sec. 44. (1) A person shall not make a contribution to another person with the agreement or arrangement that the person receiving the contribution will then transfer that contribution to a particular candidate committee. (2) Except as otherwise provided in this section and sectio…

Sec. 44a. If a candidate is required to pay a late filing fee under the public officers financial disclosure act or the candidate for office financial disclosure act, the candidate committee that supports the candidate may make an expenditure to pay the fee.

Sec. 45. (1) A person may transfer any unexpended funds from 1 candidate committee to another candidate committee of that person if the contribution limits prescribed in section 52 or 69 for the candidate committee receiving the funds are equal to or greater than the contribution…

Sec. 46. (1) At the beginning of every odd numbered year, the secretary of state shall recommend adjustments to and which shall be approved by the legislature of the dollar value floor for reporting of the name, address, occupation, and employer, or principal place of business of…

Sec. 47. (1) Except as otherwise provided in this subsection and subject to subsections (3) and (4), a billboard, placard, poster, pamphlet, or other printed matter having reference to an election, a candidate, or a ballot question, must display an identification that contains th…

Sec. 50. A legislator shall not accept an honorarium. A person who knowingly violates this section is guilty of a misdemeanor punishable by a fine of not more than $1,000.00 or imprisonment for not more than 90 days, or both.

Sec. 51. (1) A person, other than a committee, that makes an independent expenditure, advocating the election or defeat of a candidate or the qualification, passage, or defeat of a ballot question, in an amount of $100.01 or more in a calendar year shall file a report of the inde…