Virginia Code 24.2-953.5: Additional penalties related to federal political action or out-of-state political committees
A. Acceptance of contributions of $10,000 or more in the aggregate in any calendar year from an unregistered federal political action committee or out-of-state political committee shall result in a civil penalty equal to the amount of the contributions made to a candidate campaign committee or political committee.
Terms Used In Virginia Code 24.2-953.5
- Board: means the State Board of Elections. See Virginia Code 24.2-101
- Campaign committee: means the committee designated by a candidate to receive all contributions and make all expenditures for him or on his behalf in connection with his nomination or election. See Virginia Code 24.2-945.1
- Candidate: means "candidate" as defined in § 24. See Virginia Code 24.2-945.1
- Contribution: includes money, services, or things of value in any way provided by a candidate to his own campaign and the payment by the candidate of a filing fee for any party nomination method. See Virginia Code 24.2-945.1
- Federal political action committee: means any political action committee registered with the Federal Election Commission that makes contributions to candidates or political committees registered in Virginia. See Virginia Code 24.2-945.1
- Out-of-state political committee: means an entity covered by § 527 of the United States Internal Revenue Code that is not registered as a political committee or candidate campaign committee in Virginia and that does not have as its primary purpose expressly advocating the election or defeat of a clearly identified candidate. See Virginia Code 24.2-945.1
- Political action committee: means any organization, person, or group of persons, established or maintained to receive and expend contributions for the primary purpose of expressly advocating the election or defeat of a clearly identified candidate. See Virginia Code 24.2-945.1
- Political committee: means and includes any political action committee, political party committee, referendum committee, or inaugural committee. See Virginia Code 24.2-945.1
- State: when applied to a part of the United States, includes any of the 50 states, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, and the United States Virgin Islands. See Virginia Code 1-245
B. The provisions of this subsection are applicable regardless of the assessment of a civil penalty pursuant to subsection A. The failure of any federal political action committee or out-of-state political committee to comply with the provisions of § 24.2-949.2, 24.2-949.10, 24.2-949.11, or 24.2-949.12 shall result in a civil penalty not to exceed the amount of the contribution made to a candidate campaign committee or political committee.
C. The State Board of Elections shall institute proceedings pursuant to § 24.2-104 against any committee that fails to comply with the provisions of § 24.2-947.3:1, 24.2-949.2, 24.2-949.10, 24.2-949.11, 24.2-949.12, or 24.2-949.13 and, after notice by the State Board, continues for more than five days to remain noncompliant.