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# Public funding of presidential elections

Under the presidential public funding program, eligible presidential candidates receive federal government funds to pay for the qualified expenses of their political campaigns in both the primary and general elections. The public funding program was designed to use tax dollars to:
                  - Match the first $250 of each  contribution  from individuals that an eligible presidential candidate receives during the primary campaign; and
                  - Fund the  major party  nominees' general election campaigns (and assist eligible  minor party  nominees).

Between 1976 and 2012, the program also funded the major parties' presidential nominating conventions and provided partial convention funding to qualified minor parties. In 2014, legislation was enacted to end public funding of conventions.

#### Read next

- Presidential elections
- Election results and voting information
- Understanding ways to support federal candidates

-  Primary matching funds 
-  General election funds 
-  The $3 tax checkoff 
-  Mandatory audits 
-  Reports and resources 
- Legal citations

## Primary matching funds

Only candidates seeking nomination by a political party to the office of President are eligible to receive primary matching funds. A presidential candidate must establish eligibility by showing broad-based public support. He or she must raise more than $5,000 in each of at least 20 states (that is, over $100,000). Although an individual may contribute up to a specific limit to a primary candidate, only a maximum of $250 of each individual’s contribution is counted in determining whether a candidate has met the $5,000 threshold in each state. This means that a candidate must receive contributions from a minimum of 20 contributors in each of at least 20 states in order to establish eligibility for primary matching funds.

Presidential candidates also must agree to:
                    - Limit campaign spending for all primary elections combined to $10 million plus the difference in the price index. This  national spending limit for 2024 is $61.79 million .
                    - Limit campaign spending in each state to $200,000 plus the difference in the price index, or to a specified amount based on the number of voting age individuals in the state (plus the difference in the price index), whichever is greater.  State limits for 2024 range from $1,236,000 in Wyoming to $30,176,500 in California .
                    - Limit spending from personal funds to $50,000.

The campaign finance law exempts the payment of some expenses from the spending limits. Certain fundraising expenses (up to 20 percent of the expenditure limit) and legal and accounting expenses incurred solely to ensure the campaign's compliance with the law do not count against the expenditure limits.

Even if they no longer campaign actively in primary elections, candidates may continue to request public funds to pay off campaign debts until the first Monday of March of the year following an election. However, to qualify for matching funds, contributions must be deposited in the campaign account by December 31 of the election year. Eligible candidates may receive public funds equaling up to half of the national spending limit for the primary campaign.

Learn more about eligibility to receive primary matching funds

Guideline for Presentation in Good Order (for presidential candidate seeking primary matching funds)

Appendices to Guideline for Presentation in Good Order (for presidential candidate seeking primary matching funds)

Press releases on public funding of presidential candidates

## General election funds

Public funding for major party presidential nominees in the general election takes the form of a grant of $20 million plus the difference in the price index. To be eligible to receive public funds, the presidential nominee of a major party must agree to limit spending to the amount of the grant and may not accept private contributions for the campaign. Candidates may spend an additional $50,000 from their own personal funds, which does not count against the expenditure limit. In 1976, each major party nominee received $21.8 million. By 2008 (the last year a major party candidate chose to accept a general election grant), that amount had grown to $84.1 million. (The general election grant for 2024 is $123.5 million.)

Minor party candidates and new party candidates may become eligible for partial public funding of their general election campaigns. A minor party candidate is the nominee of a party whose candidate received between five and 25 percent of the total popular vote in the preceding presidential election. The amount of public funding to which a minor party candidate is entitled is based on the ratio of the party's popular vote in the preceding presidential election to the average popular vote of the two major party candidates in that election. A new party candidate receives partial public funding after the election if he or she receives five percent or more of the vote. The entitlement is based on the ratio of the new party candidate's popular vote in the current election to the average popular vote of the two major party candidates in the election.

Learn more about the public funding grant for the general election

## The $3 tax checkoff

Once the FEC determines that a candidate has met the eligibility requirements, it certifies the amount of public funds to which the candidate is entitled. The U.S. Treasury then makes the payments using funds from the $3 tax checkoff.

The 1040 federal income tax form asks taxpayers whether they'd like to designate $3 of their taxes paid to the Presidential Election Campaign Fund. When taxpayers check "yes," three of their tax dollars are placed in the Fund. Checking the "yes" box does not increase the amount of tax that taxpayers owe, nor does it decrease any refund to which they are entitled. The tax checkoff is the sole source of funds for the public funding program.

Presidential Election Campaign Fund tax check-off chart

Latest Presidential Election Campaign Fund status report

## Mandatory audits

The FEC audits all campaigns that receive public funds for either the primary or general election. Candidates may owe a repayment to the Treasury if they used public funds to defray non-campaign related expenses, exceeded the expenditure limits, maintained a surplus of public funds, or received more public funds than they were entitled to receive.

## Reports and resources

                    - Public funds received 1976-present  (.xls)
                    - Public funds received by candidates 1976-present  (.xls)
                    - Presidential campaign finance summaries by reporting period
                    - Presidential data summary tables
                    - Presidential matching fund submissions from 2004 through the present
                    - Monthly reports from the Dept. of Treasury of balance available for Presidential Election Campaign Fund:  2016  |  2017  |  2018  |  2019  |  2020  |  2021  |  2022  |  2023  |  2024
                    - Yearly long term budget estimates for Presidential Election Campaign Fund
                    - Presidential Public Funding Program report  (1993)
                    - Help for presidential campaigns on public funding 

Record article: Convention funding eliminated

#### Legal citations

Regulations

11 CFR 100.152(a)-(d)*Fundraising costs exemption*

11 CFR 106.2*Allocation of expenditures among states by primary candidates*

11 CFR 110.1(j)(1) and 110.2(i)(1)*Application of contribution limits to presidential primary elections*

11 CFR 110.8*Expenditure limitations*

11 CFR 9001-9007, 9012*Public funding of general election nominees*

11 CFR 9031-9039*Matching funds for primary candidates*

## Related topics

Icon representing a question            Get help from the FEC by phone or email          

            Election results and voting information            

            Presidential elections            

            Understanding ways to support federal candidates            

This information is not intended to replace the law or to change its meaning, nor does this information create or confer any rights for or on any person or bind the Federal Election Commission or the public.

The reader is encouraged also to consult the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971, as amended (52 U.S.C. 30101 et seq.), Commission regulations (Title 11 of the Code of Federal Regulations), Commission advisory opinions and applicable court decisions.