Title 17, Title 17: Elections

§ 2904a. Reports to the State Ethics Commission Upon receipt of a complaint made in regard to a violation of this chapter or of any rule made pursuant to this chapter, the Attorney General or a State’s Attorney shall: (1) Forward a copy of the complaint to the State Ethics Commis…

§ 2905. Adjustments for inflation (a)(1) Whenever it is required by this chapter, the Secretary of State shall make adjustments to monetary amounts provided in this chapter based on the Consumer Price Index. Increases shall be rounded to the nearest $10.00 and shall apply for the…

§ 2906. Campaign database; candidate information web page (a) Campaign database. For each election, the Secretary of State shall develop and continually update a publicly accessible campaign database, which shall be made available to the public through the Secretary of State’s ho…

§ 2907. Administration The Secretary of State shall administer this chapter and shall perform all duties required under this chapter. The Secretary of State may employ or contract for the services of persons necessary for performance of these duties. (Added 2013, No. 90 (Adj. Ses…

§ 2921. Registration; candidates (a)(1) Each candidate who files a consent to the printing of the candidate’s name on the ballot, as provided in section 2361, 2370, 2385, or 2402 of this title, shall register with the Secretary of State prior to filing the consent stating the can…

§ 2922. Registration; political committees; independent expenditure-only political committees (a)(1) Each political committee or independent expenditure-only political committee shall register with the Secretary of State within 10 days after making expenditures of $500.00 or more…

§ 2923. Political parties; registration; checking accounts; treasurer (a)(1) Each political party that has accepted contributions or made expenditures of $1,000.00 or more in any two-year general election cycle shall register with the Secretary of State within 10 days of reaching…

§ 2924. Candidates; surplus campaign funds; new campaign accounts (a) A candidate who has surplus funds after all campaign debts have been paid shall not convert the surplus to personal use, other than to reduce personal campaign debts or as otherwise provided in this chapter. (b…

§ 2925. Political committees; surplus campaign funds (a) A member of a political committee or an independent expenditure-only political committee that has surplus funds after all campaign debts have been paid shall not convert the surplus to personal use. (b) Surplus funds in a p…

§ 2941. Limitations of contributions (a) In any election cycle: (1)(A) A candidate for State Representative or for local office shall not accept contributions totaling more than: (i) $1,000.00 from a single source; or (ii) $1,000.00 from a political committee. (B) Such a candidat…

§ 2942. Exceptions The contribution limitations established by this subchapter shall not apply to contributions to a political committee made for the purpose of advocating a position on a public question, including a constitutional amendment. (Added 2013, No. 90 (Adj. Sess.), § 3…

§ 2943. Limitations adjusted for inflation The contribution limitations contained in this subchapter shall be adjusted for inflation pursuant to the Consumer Price Index as provided in section 2905 of this chapter. (Added 2013, No. 90 (Adj. Sess.), § 3, eff. Jan. 23, 2014.)

§ 2944. Accountability for related expenditures (a) A related campaign expenditure made on a candidate’s behalf shall be considered a contribution to the candidate on whose behalf it was made. (b) As used in this section, a “related campaign expenditure made on the candidate’s be…

§ 2945. Accepting contributions (a) A candidate, political committee, independent expenditure-only political committee, or political party accepts a contribution when the contribution is deposited in the candidate’s, committee’s, or party’s campaign account or five business days …

§ 2946. Candidate’s attribution to previous cycle A candidate’s expenditures related to a previous campaign and contributions used to retire a debt of a previous campaign shall be attributed to the earlier campaign. (Added 2013, No. 90 (Adj. Sess.), § 3, eff. Jan. 23, 2014.)

§ 2947. Contributions from a candidate This subchapter shall not be interpreted to limit the amount a candidate may contribute to his or her own campaign. (Added 2013, No. 90 (Adj. Sess.), § 3, eff. Jan. 23, 2014.)

§ 2948. Prohibition on transferring contributions A candidate, political committee, or political party shall not accept a contribution that the candidate, political committee, or political party knows is not directly from the contributor but was transferred to the contributor by …

§ 2949. Use of term “candidate” As used in this subchapter, the term “candidate” includes the candidate’s committee, except in regard to the provisions of section 2947 of this subchapter. (Added 2013, No. 90 (Adj. Sess.), § 3, eff. Jan. 23, 2014.)

§ 2950. State officers and State office candidates; contractor contribution restrictions (a) Contributor restrictions on contracting. (1) If a person makes a contribution to a State officer or a candidate for a State office, or if his, her, or its principal or spouse makes such a…

§ 2961. Submission of reports to the Secretary of State (a)(1) The Secretary of State shall provide on the online database set forth in section 2906 of this chapter digital access to the form that he or she provides for any report required by this chapter. Digital access shall en…

§ 2962. Reports; general provisions (a) Any report required to be submitted to the Secretary of State under this chapter shall contain the statement “I hereby certify that the information provided on all pages of this campaign finance disclosure report is true to the best of my k…

§ 2963. Campaign reports; Secretary of State; forms; filing (a) The Secretary of State shall prescribe and provide a uniform reporting form for all campaign finance reports. The reporting form shall be designed to show the following information: (1) the full name, town of residen…

§ 2964. Campaign reports; candidates for State office, the General Assembly, and county office; political committees; independent expenditure-only political committees; political parties (a)(1) Each candidate for State office, the General Assembly, or a two-year-term county offic…

§ 2965. Final reports; end-of-cycle reports (a) At any time, but not later than December 15 following the general election, each candidate required to report under the provisions of section 2964 of this subchapter shall file with the Secretary of State a “final report” that lists…

§ 2967. Additional campaign reports; candidates for State office and the General Assembly (a) In addition to any other reports required to be filed under this chapter, a candidate for State office or for the General Assembly who accepts a monetary contribution in an amount over $…

§ 2968. Campaign reports; local candidates (a) Each candidate for local office who has rolled over any amount of surplus into his or her new campaign or who has made expenditures or accepted contributions of $500.00 or more since the last local election for that office shall file…

§ 2969. Reporting of surplus maintenance by former candidates A former candidate who has maintained surplus by carrying it forward as provided in subdivision 2924(d)(1)(B) of this chapter but who is not otherwise required to file campaign reports under this chapter shall file a r…

§ 2970. Campaign reports; public questions (a) Any formal or informal political action committee or independent expenditure-only political committee that makes expenditures of $500.00 or more during the election cycle for the purpose of advocating a position on a public question …

§ 2971. Report of mass media activities (a)(1) In addition to any other reports required to be filed under this chapter, a person who makes expenditures for any one mass media activity totaling $500.00 or more, adjusted for inflation pursuant to the Consumer Price Index as provid…

§ 2972. Identification in electioneering communications (a) An electioneering communication shall contain the name and mailing address of the person, candidate, political committee, independent expenditure-only political committee, or political party that paid for the communicati…

§ 2973. Specific identification requirements for radio, television, or internet communications (a) In addition to the identification requirements set forth in section 2972 of this subchapter, a person, candidate, political committee, independent expenditure-only political committ…

§ 2981. Definitions As used in this subchapter: (1) “Affidavit” means the Vermont campaign finance affidavit required under section 2982 of this chapter. (2) “General election period” means the period beginning the day after the primary election and ending the day of the general …

§ 2982. Filing of Vermont campaign finance affidavit (a) A candidate for the office of Governor or Lieutenant Governor who intends to seek Vermont campaign finance grants from the Secretary of State Services Fund shall file a Vermont campaign finance affidavit on the date on or b…

§ 2983. Vermont campaign finance grants; conditions (a) A person shall not be eligible for Vermont campaign finance grants if, prior to February 15 of the general election year during any two-year general election cycle, he or she becomes a candidate by announcing that he or she …

§ 2984. Qualifying contributions (a) In order to qualify for Vermont campaign finance grants, a candidate for the office of Governor or Lieutenant Governor shall obtain during the Vermont campaign finance qualification period the following amount and number of qualifying contribu…

§ 2985. Vermont campaign finance grants; amounts; timing (a)(1) The Secretary of State shall make grants from the Secretary of State Services Fund in separate grants for the primary and general election periods to candidates who have qualified for Vermont campaign finance grants …

§ 2986. Monetary amounts adjusted for inflation The monetary amounts contained in sections 2983-2985 of this subchapter shall be adjusted for inflation pursuant to the Consumer Price Index as provided in section 2905 of this chapter. (Added 2013, No. 90 (Adj. Sess.), § 3, eff. Ja…