West Virginia Code 3-8-5f – Loans to candidates, organizations or persons for election purposes
(a) No candidate, financial agent, person or association of persons or organization advocating or opposing the nomination or election of any candidate or the passage or defeat of any issue or item to be voted upon may receive any money or any other thing of value as a loan toward election expenses except from the candidate, his or her spouse or a lending institution. All loans shall be evidenced by a written agreement executed by the lender, whether the candidate, his or her spouse, or the lending institution. Such agreement shall state the date and amount of the loan, the terms, including interest and repayment schedule, and a description of the collateral, if any, and the full names and addresses of all parties to the agreement. A copy of the agreement shall be filed with the financial statement next required after the loan is executed.
Terms Used In West Virginia Code 3-8-5f
- Candidate: means an individual who:
(A) Has filed a certificate of announcement under §. See West Virginia Code 3-8-1a
- Contribution: means a gift, subscription, loan, assessment, payment for services, dues, advance, donation, pledge, contract, agreement, forbearance, promise of money, or other tangible thing of value, whether conditional or legally enforceable, or a transfer of money or other tangible thing of value to a person, made for the purpose of influencing the nomination, election, or defeat of a candidate. See West Virginia Code 3-8-1a
- 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 any primary, general, or special election conducted under the provisions of this code or under the charter of any municipality at which the voters nominate or elect candidates for public office. See West Virginia Code 3-8-1a
- Financial agent: means any individual acting for and by himself or herself, or any two or more individuals acting together or cooperating in a financial way to aid or take part in the nomination or election of any candidate for public office, or to aid or promote the success or defeat of any political party at any election. See West Virginia Code 3-8-1a
- National Credit Union Administration: The federal regulatory agency that charters and supervises federal credit unions. (NCUA also administers the National Credit Union Share Insurance Fund, which insures the deposits of federal credit unions.) Source: OCC
- Person: means an individual, corporation, partnership, committee, association, and any other organization or group of individuals. See West Virginia Code 3-8-1a
- Political committee: means any candidate committee, political action committee, or political party committee. See West Virginia Code 3-8-1a
- State: when applied to a part of the United States and not restricted by the context, includes the District of Columbia and the several territories, and the words "United States" also include the said district and territories. See West Virginia Code 2-2-10
(b) Loans may only be made in the regular course of business by a lending institution which is a state bank, a federally chartered depository institution (including a national bank) or a depository institution whose deposits are insured by the federal deposit insurance corporation or the national credit union administration. Such loans shall be subject to the following requirements:
(1) Endorsements or guarantees of such loans may be made by the candidate or his or her spouse;
(2) Endorsements or guarantees of such loans by parties other than the candidate or his or her spouse may be made only to the extent of the contribution limits established in this article; and
(3) No other form of security shall be furnished in connection with such loans by any party other than the candidate or his or her spouse.
(c) The provisions of this section shall not be construed to prohibit a candidate or his or her spouse from lending money to the candidate or to the candidate's political committee: Provided, That the spouse of a candidate may not borrow money from a third party other than a lending institution authorized to make loans under this section for the purposes of lending money to the candidate or the candidate's political committee.