(a)(1) No later than 60 days after a primary election in an election cycle for which a losing participating candidate was on the ballot, the losing participating candidate shall remit to the Director of Campaign Finance, for deposit in the Fair Elections Fund, the remaining funds in the participating candidate's campaign accounts. The losing participating candidate shall also donate any equipment purchased by the campaign to a non-profit organization, within the meaning of section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code and operating in good standing in the District for a minimum of one calendar year before the date of any donation, that is unaffiliated with the candidate, the candidate's immediate family, the principal campaign committee, the principal campaign committee chair and treasurer, the immediate family of the principal campaign committee chair and treasurer, and any board of directors or similar governing body on which sits the candidate, the candidate's immediately family, or the principal campaign committee chair or treasurer.
(2) No later than 60 days after a special or general election in an election cycle for which a participating candidate was on the ballot, the participating candidate shall remit to the Director of Campaign Finance, for deposit in the Fair Elections Fund, the remaining funds in the participating candidate's campaign accounts. The losing participating candidate shall also donate any equipment purchased by the campaign to a non-profit organization, within the meaning of section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code and operating in good standing in the District for a minimum of one calendar year before the date of any donation, that is unaffiliated with the candidate, the candidate's immediate family, the principal campaign committee, the principal campaign committee chair and treasurer, the immediate family of the principal campaign committee chair and treasurer, and any board of directors or similar governing body on which sits the candidate, the candidate's immediately family, or the principal campaign committee chair or treasurer.
(b)(1) No later than 60 days after a participating candidate's certification is revoked pursuant to § 1-1163.32c(c), the participating candidate shall remit to the Director of Campaign Finance, for deposit in the Fair Elections Fund, the remaining funds in the participating candidate's campaign accounts. The participating candidate whose certification has been revoked pursuant to § 1-1163.32c(c) shall also donate any equipment purchased by the campaign to a non-profit organization, within the meaning of section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code and operating in good standing in the District for a minimum of one calendar year before the date of any donation, that is unaffiliated with the candidate, the candidate's immediate family, the principal campaign committee, the principal campaign committee chair and treasurer, the immediate family of the principal campaign committee chair and treasurer, and any board of directors or similar governing body on which sits the candidate, the candidate's immediately family, or the principal campaign committee chair or treasurer.
(2) If a participating candidate's certification is revoked pursuant to section 332c(c)(2), (3), or, due to fraudulent activities, (5), the participating candidate shall be personally liable for any expended base amount or matching payments.
(c) Notwithstanding subsections (a) and (b) of this section, a participating candidate may withhold funds from the amount required to be remitted for an additional 180 days after the 60-day periods in subsections (a) and (b) of this section if the participating candidate submits documentation of the funds to the Director of Campaign Finance no later than the last day of the 60-day period. The withheld funds shall only be used for the following purposes:
(1) To repay any authorized expenditures or retire the proper debts that were incurred in connection with the participating candidate's campaign; and
(2) To repay personal funds of the participating candidate or the participating candidate's immediate family contributed under § 1-1163.32f(a)(6).
(d) Repealed.
(e) For the purposes of this section, the term "equipment" means any furniture or electronic or battery-powered equipment purchased by a participating candidate's campaign that costs at least $50.
(Apr. 27, 2012, D.C. Law 19-124, § 332h; as added May 5, 2018, D.C. Law 22-94, § 2(b)(5), 65 DCR 2847; Mar. 13, 2019, D.C. Law 22-250, § 6(ll), 66 DCR 985; Sept. 11, 2019, D.C. Law 23-16, § 1042(o), 66 DCR 8621.)
Applicability of D.C. Law 22-250: § 10 of D.C. Law 22-250 provided that the change made to this section by § 6(ll) of D.C. Law 22-250 is subject to the inclusion of the law’s fiscal effect in an approved budget and financial plan. Therefore that amendment has not been implemented.
Section 3 of D.C. Law 22-168 amended section 3 of D.C. Law 22-94, removing the applicability restriction impacting this section. Therefore the creation of this section by section 2(b)(5) of D.C. Law 22-94 has been implemented as of November 7, 2018.
Applicability of D.C. Law 22-94: § 3 of D.C. Law 22-94 provided that the creation of this section by § 2(b)(5) of D.C. Law 22-94 is subject to the inclusion of the law’s fiscal effect in an approved budget and financial plan. Therefore that amendment has not been implemented.
For temporary (90 days) amendment of this section, see § 1042(o) of Fiscal Year 2020 Budget Support Congressional Review Emergency Act of 2019 (D.C. Act 23-112, Sept. 4, 2019, 66 DCR 11964).
For temporary (90 days) amendment of this section, see § 1042(o) of Fiscal Year 2020 Budget Support Emergency Act of 2019 (D.C. Act 23-91, July 22, 2019, 66 DCR 8497).
For temporary (90 days) amendment of this section, see § 2(i) of Fair Elections Emergency Amendment Act of 2019 (D.C. Act 23-50, May 22, 2019, 66 DCR 6583).
For temporary (225 days) amendment of this section, see § 2(i) of Fair Elections Temporary Amendment Act of 2019 (D.C. Law 23-13, Aug. 24, 2019, 66 DCR 8058).
Structure District of Columbia Code
Title 1 - Government Organization
Chapter 11A - Ethics and Government Accountability
Subchapter III - Campaign Finance
Part C-i - Fair Elections Program
§ 1–1163.32a. Establishment of the Fair Elections Program
§ 1–1163.32b. Fair Elections Program contribution limitations and requirements
§ 1–1163.32c. Certification as a participating candidate
§ 1–1163.32d. Base amount payments
§ 1–1163.32e. Matching payments for qualified small-dollar contributions
§ 1–1163.32f. Limitations on contributions and expenditures
§ 1–1163.32g. Debate requirement
§ 1–1163.32h. Remitting funds and donating equipment
§ 1–1163.32i. Fair Elections Fund
§ 1–1163.32k. 2020 election cycle report by the District of Columbia Auditor. [Repealed]