Delaware Code Title 15 Sec. 8012 – Contribution limits generally
(a) No person shall make, and no candidate, treasurer or any other person acting on behalf of a political committee shall accept, any contribution in excess of $50 in cash to a political committee during an election period.
Terms Used In Delaware Code Title 15 Sec. 8012
- Candidate: means a person who seeks nomination for or election to public office, or who has taken action necessary under the law to qualify for nomination or election under the laws of the State, or has authorized the solicitation of any contribution or the making of any expenditure in that person's behalf. See Delaware Code Title 15 Sec. 8002
- Candidate committee: means each political committee formed on behalf of a candidate for public office. See Delaware Code Title 15 Sec. 8002
- Cash: includes currency, money orders, travelers checks and other negotiable instruments that do not disclose on their face the true name of the contributor. See Delaware Code Title 15 Sec. 8002
- Chapter: includes , in addition to the provisions of this chapter, the rules and regulations made by the Commissioner. See Delaware Code Title 15 Sec. 8002
- Commissioner: means the State Election Commissioner, or the designee of the Commissioner. See Delaware Code Title 15 Sec. 8002
- Contribution: means any advance, deposit, gift, expenditure or transfer, of money or any other thing of value, to or for the benefit of any candidate or political committee involved in an election, including without limitation any:
- Corporation: A legal entity owned by the holders of shares of stock that have been issued, and that can own, receive, and transfer property, and carry on business in its own name.
- Election: means the action by qualified voters of the State either to nominate by vote a candidate for public office or to select a candidate to fill a public office, whether in a primary, general or special election. See Delaware Code Title 15 Sec. 8002
- Election period: means :
- Entitlement: A Federal program or provision of law that requires payments to any person or unit of government that meets the eligibility criteria established by law. Entitlements constitute a binding obligation on the part of the Federal Government, and eligible recipients have legal recourse if the obligation is not fulfilled. Social Security and veterans' compensation and pensions are examples of entitlement programs.
- Equitable: Pertaining to civil suits in "equity" rather than in "law." In English legal history, the courts of "law" could order the payment of damages and could afford no other remedy. See damages. A separate court of "equity" could order someone to do something or to cease to do something. See, e.g., injunction. In American jurisprudence, the federal courts have both legal and equitable power, but the distinction is still an important one. For example, a trial by jury is normally available in "law" cases but not in "equity" cases. Source: U.S. Courts
- Expenditure: means any payment made or debt incurred, by or on behalf of a candidate or political committee, or to assist in the election of any candidate or in connection with any election campaign. See Delaware Code Title 15 Sec. 8002
- Independent expenditure: means any expenditure made by any individual or other person (other than a candidate committee or a political party) expressly advocating the election or defeat of a clearly identified candidate, which is made without cooperation or consultation with any candidate, or any committee or agent of such candidate, and which is not made in concert with, or at the request or suggestion of, any candidate or any committee or agent of such candidate. See Delaware Code Title 15 Sec. 8002
- Partnership: A voluntary contract between two or more persons to pool some or all of their assets into a business, with the agreement that there will be a proportional sharing of profits and losses.
- Person: includes any individual, corporation, company, incorporated or unincorporated association, general or limited partnership, society, joint stock company, and any other organization or institution of any nature. See Delaware Code Title 15 Sec. 8002
- Political action committee: means a political committee which is neither a political party nor a candidate committee. See Delaware Code Title 15 Sec. 8002
- Political committee: means :
- political party: includes all constituent parts of such party, including the statewide, county, regional, municipal and district committees, all finance committees and all other committees, subdivisions and organizations related to the political party. See Delaware Code Title 15 Sec. 8002
- Public office: means an office of this State or any political subdivision thereof which is required by law to be determined by an election. See Delaware Code Title 15 Sec. 8002
- Responsible party: means any natural person who shares or exercises discretion or control over the activities of any entity required to file reports in accordance with this chapter, and shall include any officer, director, partner, proprietor or other natural person who exercises discretion or control over the activities of such entity. See Delaware Code Title 15 Sec. 8002
- State: means the State of Delaware; and when applied to different parts of the United States, it includes the District of Columbia and the several territories and possessions of the United States. See Delaware Code Title 1 Sec. 302
- Treasurer: means the individual appointed by a candidate to assist the candidate with the duties imposed by this chapter. See Delaware Code Title 15 Sec. 8002
(b) No political party shall make any contribution to any political action committee.
(c) Any contribution by a political action committee shall be by a check which discloses the full name and address of said political action committee.
(d) No agency of the State, no political subdivision of the State, no agency of any political subdivision of the State and no agency authorized by an act of the General Assembly shall make any contribution to any political committee or candidate for any elective office. No candidate, treasurer or other person acting on behalf of a political committee shall accept any contribution from any agency of the State, any political subdivision of the State, any agency of any political subdivision of the State or any agency authorized by an act of the General Assembly. Notwithstanding the foregoing, a political subdivision of the State which has enacted an ordinance providing for public financing of elections shall be permitted to make contributions in an amount authorized by such ordinance for campaign expenditures authorized by § 8020 of this title to a candidate committee of a candidate for public office of such political subdivision and the candidate committee shall be permitted to accept such contributions.
(e) Any person other than an individual or a political committee which makes a contribution to a political committee shall notify such political committee in writing of the full names and mailing addresses of:
(1) All persons who, directly or otherwise, own a legal or equitable interest of 50% or greater (whether in the form of stock ownership, percentage of partnership interest, liability for the debts of the entity, entitlement to the profits from the other entity or other indicia of interest) in such corporation, partnership or other entity, or that no such persons exist; and
(2) A responsible party, if such contribution would cause the aggregate amount of contributions by such entity during the election period to exceed $100.
The political committee may rely on such notification, and should the notification provided by the representative of the entity be inaccurate or misleading, the person or persons responsible for the notification, and not the political committee which received the contribution, shall be liable therefor. A ratable portion of the contribution by the corporation, partnership or other entity shall be deemed to be a contribution under this chapter to the political committee by each such person who owns a 50% or greater interest in the entity, shall be included within the limit imposed by this section on individual contributions, and shall be so included in the reports filed by the candidate committee with the Commissioner under § 8030 of this title.
The Commissioner shall adopt by regulation a uniform summary of the law relating to the reporting of contributions pursuant to this subsection, with illustrative examples of how such law applies in specific cases. Such summary shall be posted on Elections Commissioner’s web site, and shall be provided by a political committee to any person requesting same that has made a contribution to such political committee pursuant to this subsection.
(f) Any expenditure made by any political committee on behalf of or in connection with the campaign of any candidate (except an independent expenditure that meets the requirements of this chapter) shall be deemed a contribution under this chapter, shall be included within the limit imposed by § 8010(a) of this title on individual contributions, provided, however, that such expenditures by political parties shall be included within the limit imposed by § 8010(b) of this title on contributions by political parties, and shall be so included in the reports filed by the candidate committee with the Commissioner under § 8030 of this title. Where such an expenditure by any political committee benefits more than 1 candidate, such expenditure shall be prorated among the candidates benefitted for purposes of the limits on contributions. For example, if a billboard depicts 2 candidates’ names and likenesses with equal prominence, each candidate is benefitted equally by the expenditure for the billboard.
(g) For purposes of this chapter:
(1) Amounts paid by a political party to compensate individuals working on behalf of all of the candidates of the party, and amounts incurred on behalf of or in connection with 5 or more candidates shall not be deemed to be contributions to the candidates of such political party;
(2) Any reimbursement paid by 1 political committee to another political committee for costs actually incurred by the other political committee on behalf of the political committee that makes the reimbursement shall not be deemed to be a contribution to such other political committee;
(3) If 2 or more candidate committees share the amount of any expenditure permitted under this chapter, no contribution is made, so long as the amounts respectively paid by the respective candidate committees reasonably reflects the amount of the use made by each candidate committee of goods or services for which the expenditure was made; and
(4) Costs incurred by political parties for voter registration and get-out-the vote activities conducted by a political party shall not be considered contributions to any candidate.
67 Del. Laws, c. 449, § ?1; 68 Del. Laws, c. 230, § ?1; 78 Del. Laws, c. 400, § ?4; 79 Del. Laws, c. 346, § ?1;