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FEDERAL ELECTIONS ACT OF 1960

THURSDAY, AUGUST 25, 1960

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES,
SUBCOMMITTEE ON ELECTIONS OF THE
COMMITTEE ON HOUSE ADMINISTRATION,

Washington, D.C.

The subcommittee met, pursuant to call, at 2:30 p.m., in room G-53, the Capitol, Hon. Robert T. Ashmore (chairman of the subcommittee) presiding.

Present: Representatives Ashmore, Lesinski, Elliott, Casey, Lipscomb, and Chamberlain.

Also present: Julian P. Langston, chief clerk; and Samuel H. Still, counsel.

Mr. ASHMORE. Gentlemen, the committee will come to order. The committee has before it S. 2436, H.R. 9924, H.R. 9938, and H.R. 9944. We might insert each of these bills in the record as this time.

(The bills referred to, follow :)

[S. 2436, 86th Cong., 2d sess.]

AN ACT To revise the Federal election laws, to prevent corrupt practices in Federal elections, and for other purposes

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That this Act may be cited as the "Federal Elections Act of 1960".

TITLE I-TABLE OF CONTENTS AND DEFINITIONS

TABLE OF CONTENTS

SEC. 101. This Act is divided into titles and sections according to the following table of contents:

TABLE OF CONTENTS

TITLE I-TABLE OF CONTENTS AND DEFINITIONS

Sec. 101. Table of contents.

Sec. 102. Definitions.

TITLE II-CAMPAIGN PRACTICES

Sec. 201. Organization of political committees.

Sec. 202. Reports by political committees.

Sec. 203. Reports by others than political committees.

Sec. 204. Reports by candidates.

Sec. 205. Formal requirements on filing reports and statements.

Sec. 206. Duties of the Clerk of the House of Representatives and the Secretary of the

Senate.

Sec. 207. Duties of clerks of United States district courts.

Sec. 208. Limitations upon amount of expenditures.

Sec. 209. General penalties for violations.

Sec. 210. Expenses of election contests.

Sec. 211. Effect on State laws.

Sec. 212. Partial invalidity.

Sec. 213. Repealing clause.

1

Sec. 301. Definitions.

TITLE II-AMENDMENTS TO CRIMINAL CODE

Sec. 302. Overall limitation on financial aid to candidates or political committees and prohibition of certain purchases.

Sec. 303. Maximum contributions to and expenditures by interstate political committees. Sec. 304. Publication or distribution of election materials.

Sec. 401. Effective date.

TITLE IV-EFFECTIVE DATE

DEFINITIONS

SEC. 102. As used in this title and title II, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise

(1) The term "election" includes a general, special, or primary election, including a preferential primary, and a convention or a caucus of a political party held for the purpose of nominating candidates;

(2) The term "candidate" means an individual whose name is presented at an election for nomination for, or election as, President or Vice President, or Senator or Representative in, or Resident Commissioner to, the Congress of the United States, whether or not such individual is nominated or elected;

(3) The term "political committee" includes any committee, association, or organization which accepts contributions or makes expenditures in an aggregate amount exceeding $2,500 in any calendar year for the purpose of influencing or attempting to influence in any manner whatsoever the election of a candidate or candidates or presidential or vice presidential electors;

(4) The term "contribution" includes a gift, subscription, loan, advance, or deposit, of money, or anything of value, or transfer of funds between committees, and includes a contract, promise, or agreement, whether or not legally enforcible, to make a contribution;

(5) The term "expenditure" includes a payment, distribution, loan, advance, deposit, or gift, of money, or anything of value, or transfer of funds between committees, and includes a contract, promise, or agreement, whether or not legally enforcible, to make an expenditure;

(6) The term "person" includes an individual, partnership, committee, association, corporation, and any other organization or group of persons; and

(7) The term "State" includes the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, any possession of the United States, and the District of Columbia.

TITLE II-CAMPAIGN PRACTICES

ORGANIZATION OF POLITICAL COMMITTEES

SEC. 201. (a) Every political committee shall have a chairman and a treasurer. No contribution shall be accepted, and no expenditure made, by or on behalf of a political committee for the purpose of influencing an election until such chairman and treasurer have been chosen. No expenditure shall be made for or on behalf of a political committee without the authorization of its chairman or treasurer.

(b) Every person who receives a contribution for a political committee shall, on demand of the treasurer, and in any event within five days after the receipt of such contribution, render to the treasurer a detailed account thereof, including the name and address of the person making such contribution, and the date on which received. It shall be the duty of the treasurer to see to it that all contributions received by or for a committee shall be kept separate from any personal funds and deposited in a special account.

(c) It shall be the duty of the treasurer of a political committee to keep a detailed and exact account of—

(1) all contributions made to or for such committee;

(2) the name and address of every person making any such contribution, and the date thereof;

(3) all expenditures made by or on behalf of such committee; and

(4) the name and address of every person to whom any such expenditure is made, and the date thereof.

(d) It shall be the duty of the treasurer to obtain and keep a receipted bill, stating the particulars, for every expenditure by or on behalf of a political committee exceeding $100 in amount. The treasurer shall preserve all receipted bills and accounts required to be kept by this section for a period of two years from the date of the filling of the statement containing such items.

REPORTS BY POLITICAL COMMITTEES

SEC. 202. (a) The treasurer of a political committee shall file reports or receipts and expenditures with the Clerk of the House of Representatives, on forms to be prescribed by him, and shall transmit a copy of such reports (except as provided in section 207 (b)) to the clerk of the United States district court for the district in which the principal office of the committee is located. Such reports shall be filed, complete as of June 30 and December 31 of each year, and as of the tenth day next preceding the date on which an election is to be held, and as of the thirtieth day following an election, with respect to which contributions were received or expenditures made by such committee. In each instance reports shall be filed not later than the third day following the reporting date as above provided. Each report shall contain

(1) the amount of cash on hand at the beginning of the reporting period; (2) the name and address of each person who has made a contribution to or for such committee in one or more items of the aggregate amount or value, within the calendar year, of $100 or more, together with the amount and date of such contribution; and for the purposes of this paragraph the term "contribution", as used herein, shall not include transfers of funds to or form political committees or candidates:

(3) The total sum of individual contributions made to or for such committee during the calendar year and not stated under paragraph (2) ;

(4) the name and address of each political committee or candidate from which the committee received any transfer of funds, together with the amounts and dates of all such transfers;

(5) the total sum of all contributions made to or for such committee during the calendar year;

(6) the name and address of each person to whom and expenditure has been made by such committee in one or more items of the aggregate amount or value, within the calendar year, of $100 or more, and the amount, date, and purpose of such expenditure;

(7) the total sum of all expenditures made by such committee, during the calendar year and not stated under paragraph (6);

(8) the name and address of each political committee or candidate to which the committee made any transfer of funds, together with the amounts and dates of all such transfers; and

(9) the total sum of expenditures made by such committee during the calendar year.

(b) The reports required to be filed by subsection (a) shall be cumulative during the calendar year to which they relate, but where there has been no change in an item reported in a previous report only the amount need be carried forward.

(c) The report required to be filed as of December 31 shall cover the entire calendar year.

(d) In the case of political committees supporting candidates for President, Vice President, or Senator, a copy of the report filed with the Clerk of the House of Representatives under subsection (a) shall be filed with the Secretary of the Senate.

(e) The reports required to be filed by subsection (a) of this section shall also contain a list of the names of candidates in whose behalf contributions were received or expenditures made. In the case of political committees supporting more than one candidate (and State and local candidates), the amount of the total expenditures allocable to each candidate—

(1) shall be in the same ratio as expenditures on behalf of each candidate for printing and advertising, radio time, and television time bears to the total of such expenditures, or

(2) where no expenditures were made for Federal candidates for any of such purposes there shall be charged to each Federal candidate an amount equal to the full expenditure, divided by the total number of candidates, Federal and State;

except that expenditures specifically designated for an individual candidate shall be charged to such candidate.

(f) Whenever any report is filed by the treasurer of any political committee pursuant to subsection (a), such treasurer at the same time shall transmit a true and correct copy of such report to each candidate on whose behalf such report reflects any contribution received, or any expenditure made, by such political committee.

REPORTS BY OTHER THAN POLITICAL COMMITTEES

SEC. 203. Every person (other than those filing reports pursuant to section 202) who makes an expenditure in one or more items aggregating $100 or more within a calendar year, other than by contribution to a political committee, for the purpose of influencing, in two or more States, election of candidates, shall file with the Clerk of the House of Representatives, on a form to be prescribed by him, an itemized detailed report of such expenditures in the same manner as required of the treasurer of a political committee by section 202, and shall file a copy thereof (subject to the provisions of section 207 (b)) with the clerk of the United States district court for the district in which such expenditures are made, and in the case of any expenditure in support of a candidate for Presi dent, Vice President, or United States Senator, shall file a copy of the report with the Secretary of the Senate.

REPORTS BY CANDIDATES

SEC. 204. (a) Every candidate shall file with the Clerk of the House of Representatives, on a form to be prescribed by him, reports of receipts and expenditures and shall transmit a copy thereof to the Secretary of the Senate if a candidate for Senator, and (except as provided in section 207(b)) to the clerk of the United States district court for the district in which the candidate resides. Such reports shall be complete as of the tenth day next preceding the date on which an elecion for the office for which he is a candidate is to be held, and as of the fortieth day following such election, and in each instance shall be filed not later than the third day following the reporting date; except that where a candidate in order to qualify for the general election must run in two successive primaries in one party no second report on the first primary will be required for those candidates participating in the second primary if reports filed for the second primary are cumulative and supplementary of the report filed before the first primary. Such reports shall contain a correct and itemized detailed report of contributions received and expenditures made by him in aid or support of his candidacy for election, or for the purpose of influencing the result of the election, in the same manner as required of the treasurer of a political committee by section 202, including amounts expended from his own funds.

(b) The reports required to be filed by subsection (a) shall be cumulative, but where there has been no change in an item reported in a previous report, only the amount need be carried forward.

(c) Every candidate shall enclose with his first report a statement, based upon the records of the proper State official, giving the total number of votes cast for all candidates for the office which the candidate seeks (or the number of persons registered to vote), in the election required to be used as a basis for the computation under section 208(b) (2).

FORMAL REQUIREMENTS ON FILING REPORTS AND STATEMENTS

SEC. 205. The reports and statements required by this title to be filed by a candidate, a treasurer of a political committee, or by any other person, with the Clerk of the House of Representatives and the copies thereof required to be filed with the Secretary of the Senate, and (subject to the provisions of section 207 (b)) with the clerk of the United States district court—

(1) shall be verified by the oath or affirmation of the person filing such report or statement, taken before any officer authorized to administer oaths; (2) shall be deemed properly filed when delivered to the specified recipient, or when deposited in an established post office within the prescribed time, duly stamped, registered, and properly addressed, but in the event it is not received, a duplicate of such report or statement shall be promtply filed upon notice of its nonreceipt by the officer with whom it is required to be filed; and (3) a copy shall be preserved by the person filing it for a period of one year from the date of filing.

DUTIES OF THE CLERK OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES AND THE SECRETARY OF THE SENATE

SEC. 206. It shall be the duty of the Clerk of the House of Representative and of the Secretary of the Senate

(1) to preserve the reports and statements filed under this title for a period of six years from the date of receipt;

(2) to make such reports and statements available for public inspection during regular office hours;

(3) to make such reports and statements available for such inspection within twenty-four hours of their receipt by them; and

(4) to permit copying of any such report of statement by hand or by duplicating machine, as requested by any person, at the expense of such person.

DUTIES OF CLERKS OF UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURTS

SEC. 207. (a) It shall be the duty of the clerks of United States district courts

(1) to receive and maintain in an orderly manner all reports and statements required by this act to be filed with such clerks ;

(2) to maintain such reports and statements for public inspection for a period of six years from the date of receipt;

(3) to make such reports and statements available for public inspection during regular office hours;

(4) to make available for public inspection each report and statement within twenty-four hours of its receipt; and

(5) to permit copying of any such report or statement by hand or by duplicating machine, as requested by any person, at the expense of such person.

(b) In States where the secretary of state or other State official is authorized to perform the duties specified in this section, the filing of reports and statements under this title shall be with such State official in lieu of the filing with the clerk of the United States district court.

LIMITATIONS UPON AMOUNT OF EXPENDITURES

SEC. 208. (a) A candidate for Senator or Representative in, or Resident Com. missioner to, the Congress of the United States, in his campaign for election, shall not make expenditures in excess of the amount which he may lawfully make under the provisions of this title.

(b) A candidate, in his campaign for election (treating primaries, nominating conventions, caucuses, and special and general elections as separate for the purposes of this limitation), may make expenditures up to

(1) the sum of $50,000 if a candidate for Senator or Representative at Large, or the sum of $12,500 if a candidate for Representative or Resident Commissioner; or

(2) in the case of an election other than a caucus or nominating convention an amount equal to the higher of the following:

(A) (i) the amount obtained by mutiplying 20 cents by the total number, not in excess of one million of votes cast in the last general election for all candidates for the office which the candidate seeks, plus (ii) the amount obtained by multiplying 10 cents by the total number of such votes in excess of one million; or

(B) (i) the amount obtained by multiplying 20 cents by the total number, not in excess of one million, of persons registered to vote in the general election for the office which the candidate seeks, plus (ii) the amount obtained by multiplying 10 cents by the total number of such persons in excess of one million.

(c) Candidates for elections as President and Vice President who are nominees of a political party, in their campaign for election, shall not make expenditures in excess of an amount equal to the amount obtained by multiplying 20 cents by the largest number of voters casting votes for presidential electors in any one of the last three preceding elections. For the purpose of the limitation prescribed in this subsection, there shall be included the expenditures made by or on behalf of either or both candidates.

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