Vermont Statutes Title 17 Sec. 2971
Terms Used In Vermont Statutes Title 17 Sec. 2971
- Candidate: means an individual who has taken affirmative action to become a candidate for State, county, local, or legislative office in a primary, special, general, or local election. See
- Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
- 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
- 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
- Independent expenditure-only political committee: means a political committee that conducts its activities entirely independent of candidates; does not give contributions to candidates, political committees, or political parties; does not make related expenditures; and is not closely related to a political party or to a political committee that makes contributions to candidates or makes related expenditures. See
- Local election: means any election that deals with the selection of persons to fill public office or the settling of public questions solely within a single municipality. See
- Mass media activity: means a television commercial, radio commercial, Internet advertisement, mass mailing, mass electronic or digital communication, literature drop, newspaper or periodical advertisement, robotic phone call, or telephone bank, that includes the name or likeness of a clearly identified candidate for office. See
- Person: means any individual, business entity, labor organization, public interest group, or other organization, incorporated or unincorporated. See
- Primary: means any election that precedes a general or special election, for the purpose of permitting political parties to nominate, from among all of the candidates for any office, only that number of candidates equal to the number of persons to be elected to that office at the succeeding general or special election. 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
§ 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 provided in section 2905 of this chapter, within 45 days before a primary, general, county, or local election shall, for each activity, file a mass media report with the Secretary of State and send a copy of the report to each candidate whose name or likeness is included in the activity without that candidate’s knowledge.
(2) The copy of the mass media report shall be sent by e-mail to each such candidate who has provided the Secretary of State with an e-mail address on his or her consent form and to any other such candidate by mail.
(3) The mass media report shall be filed and the copy of the report shall be sent within 24 hours of the expenditure or activity, whichever occurs first. For the purposes of this section, a person shall be treated as having made an expenditure if the person has executed a contract to make the expenditure.
(b) The report shall identify the person who made the expenditure; the name of each candidate whose name or likeness was included in the activity; the amount and date of the expenditure; to whom it was paid; and the purpose of the expenditure.
(c) If the activity occurs within 45 days before the election and the expenditure was previously reported, an additional report shall be required under this section.
[Subsection (d) as enacted by 2013, No. 90 (Adj. Sess.), § 3 and amended by 2015, No. 30, § 37; see also subsection (d) as amended by 2013, No. 90 (Adj. Sess.), § 4 and contingent effective date note set out below.]
(d)(1) In addition to the reporting requirements of this section, an independent expenditure-only political committee that makes an expenditure for any one mass media activity totaling $5,000.00 or more, adjusted for inflation pursuant to the Consumer Price Index as provided in section 2905 of this chapter, within 45 days before a primary, general, county, or local election shall, for each such activity and within 24 hours of the expenditure or activity, whichever occurs first, file an independent expenditure-only political committee mass media report with the Secretary of State and send a copy of the report to each candidate whose name or likeness is included in the activity without that candidate’s knowledge.
(2) The copy of the mass media report shall be sent by e-mail to each such candidate who has provided the Secretary of State with an e-mail address on his or her consent form and to any other such candidate by mail.
(3) The report shall include all of the information required under subsection (b) of this section, as well as the names of the contributors, dates, and amounts for all contributions in excess of $100.00 accepted since the filing of the committee’s last report.
[Subsection (d) as amended by 2013, No. 90 (Adj. Sess.), § 4; see also subsection (d) as enacted by 2013, No. 90 (Adj. Sess.), § 3 set out above and contingent effective date note set out below.]
(d) [Repealed.] (Added 2013, No. 90 (Adj. Sess.), § 3, eff. Jan. 23, 2014; amended 2013, No. 90 (Adj. Sess.), § 4, cont. eff; 2015, No. 30, § 37, eff. May 26, 2015.)