Vermont Statutes Title 17 Sec. 2944
Terms Used In Vermont Statutes Title 17 Sec. 2944
- Campaign: means any organized or coordinated activity undertaken by two or more persons, any part of which is designed to influence the nomination, election, or defeat of any candidate or the passage, defeat, or modification of any public question. See
- candidate: includes the candidate's committee, except in regard to the provisions of section 2947 of this subchapter. See
- Contribution: means a payment, distribution, advance, deposit, loan, or gift of money or anything of value, paid or promised to be paid for the purpose of influencing an election, advocating a position on a public question, or supporting or opposing one or more candidates in any election. See
- Docket: A log containing brief entries of court proceedings.
- Election: means the procedure whereby the voters of this State or any of its political subdivisions select a person to be a candidate for public office or to fill a public office or to act on public questions, including voting on constitutional amendments. See
- Electioneering communication: means any communication that refers to a clearly identified candidate for office and that promotes or supports a candidate for that office or attacks or opposes a candidate for that office, regardless of whether the communication expressly advocates a vote for or against a candidate, including communications published in any newspaper or periodical or broadcast on radio or television or over the Internet or any public address system; placed on any billboards, outdoor facilities, buttons, or printed material attached to motor vehicles, window displays, posters, cards, pamphlets, leaflets, flyers, or other circulars; or contained in any direct mailing, robotic phone calls, or mass electronic or digital communications. See
- Evidence: Information presented in testimony or in documents that is used to persuade the fact finder (judge or jury) to decide the case for one side or the other.
- Expenditure: means a payment, disbursement, distribution, advance, deposit, loan, or gift of money or anything of value, paid or promised to be paid, for the purpose of influencing an election, advocating a position on a public question, or supporting or opposing one or more candidates. See
- filed: means deposited in the regularly maintained office of the official with whom the filing is to be made. See
- following: when used by way of reference to a section of the law shall mean the next preceding or following section. See
- Person: means any individual, business entity, labor organization, public interest group, or other organization, incorporated or unincorporated. See
- Political party: means a political party organized under chapter 45 of this title and any committee established, financed, maintained, or controlled by the party, including any subsidiary, branch, or local unit thereof, and shall be considered a single, unified political party. See
- Secretary: means the Secretary of State. See
- State: when applied to the different parts of the United States may apply to the District of Columbia and any territory and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. See
- Trial: A hearing that takes place when the defendant pleads "not guilty" and witnesses are required to come to court to give evidence.
- Voter: means an individual who is qualified to vote in an election in this State or a political subdivision of this State, and whose name is registered on the checklist of a political subdivision of the State. See
§ 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 behalf” means any expenditure intended to promote the election of a specific candidate or group of candidates or the defeat of an opposing candidate or group of candidates, if intentionally facilitated by, solicited by, or approved by the candidate or the candidate’s committee.
(c)(1) An expenditure made by a political party or by a political committee that recruits or endorses candidates that primarily benefits six or fewer candidates who are associated with the political party or political committee making the expenditure is presumed to be a related expenditure made on behalf of those candidates, except that the acquisition, use, or dissemination of the images of those candidates by the political party or political committee shall not be presumed to be a related expenditure made on behalf of those candidates.
(2) An expenditure made by a political party or by a political committee that recruits or endorses candidates that substantially benefits more than six candidates and facilitates party or political committee functions, voter turnout, platform promotion, or organizational capacity shall not be presumed to be a related expenditure made on a candidate’s behalf.
(d) As used in this section, an expenditure by a person shall not be considered a “related expenditure made on the candidate’s behalf” if:
(1)(A) All of the following apply:
(i) the expenditure was made in connection with a campaign event whose purpose was to provide a group of voters with the opportunity to meet a candidate;
(ii) the expenditure was made for:
(I) invitations and any postage for those invitations to invite voters to the event; or
(II) any food or beverages consumed at the event and any related supplies thereof; and
(iii) the cumulative value of any expenditure by the person made under this subsection does not exceed $500.00 per event.
(B) For the purposes of this subdivision (1):
(i) if the cumulative value of any expenditure by a person made under this subsection exceeds $500.00 per event, the amount equal to the difference between the two shall be considered a “related expenditure made on the candidate’s behalf”; and
(ii) any reimbursement to the person by the candidate for the costs of the expenditure shall be subtracted from the cumulative value of the expenditures.
(2) All of the following apply:
(A) the expenditure is for an electioneering communication that promotes or supports all of the candidates who are named or pictured in it and no other candidates, and those candidates named or pictured:
(i) have filed or been nominated as described in subdivision 2901(1)(B) of this chapter for a legislative, county, or local office;
(ii) are on the same ballot for the same election; and
(iii) each make an expenditure for the electioneering communication of an equal amount in order to share the cost of the electioneering communication equally; and
(B) no other person has made an expenditure for the electioneering communication.
(e)(1) A candidate may seek a determination that an expenditure is a related expenditure made on behalf of an opposing candidate by filing a petition with the Superior Court of the county in which either candidate resides.
(2) Within 24 hours of the filing of a petition, the court shall schedule the petition for hearing. Except as to cases the court considers of greater importance, proceedings before the Superior Court, as authorized by this section, and appeals from there take precedence on the docket over all other cases and shall be assigned for hearing and trial or for argument at the earliest practicable date and expedited in every way.
(3) The findings and determination of the court shall be prima facie evidence in any proceedings brought for violation of this chapter.
(f) The Secretary of State may adopt rules necessary to administer the provisions of this section. (Added 2013, No. 90 (Adj. Sess.), § 3, eff. Jan. 23, 2014; amended 2017, No. 50, § 65.)