THE FEDERAL ELECTION 

COMMISSION 

1325 K Street N.W., Washington, D.C. 20463 

Volume 4, Number 11 

STATISTICS 

MIDYEAR FEC REPORTS ON FINANCIAL 

ACTIVITY OF PARTY AND NONPARTY 

POLITICAL COMMITTEES 

On September 7, 1978, the Commission released the 

latest update of its study of 1977·1978 financial data of 

political committees. The study covers the financial activity 

from January 1, 1977, through June 30, 1978, of the 

following types of committees: nonparty committees; 

National and Congressional committees of the Republ ican 

and Democratic pol itical parties; State and local Demo· 

cratic and Republican party committees (if fi ling Federal 

campaign finance reports). 

The current study updates two previous studies which 

were summarized in the following issues of the Record: 

March 1978, p. 8, April 1978, p. 6 and June 1978, p. 7. 

Highlights of the current study include : 

.. The 1,709 nonparty committees raised $54 million 

and spent $38.7 million (including contributions to 

Federal candidates totaling $10.9 million), and had 

mid-1978 cash·on-hand of approximately $27 million. 

.. The 40 National and Congressional Republican and 

Democratic party committees and the 591 State and 

local committees raised $82.6 million, spent $73.6 

million including $1.8 million in contributions to 

Federal candidates. Their mid-1978 cash·on-hand was 

approximately $13 million. (Note: The receipt and 

disbursement figures above have been adjusted to 

subtract transfers between affiliated committees.) 

.. Nonparty committees contributed $7.8 million (71 per· 

cent) to incumbents, $1.3 mi llion (12 percent) to 

challengers, and $1.8 million (16 percent) to open-seat 

candidates (no incumbent). 

.. Democratic party committ ees contributed $62,000 to 

incumbents (60 percent); $9,000 to challengers (87 

percent); and $33,000 to open-seat candidates (32 

percent). 

.. Republican party committees contributed $.9 million to 

incumbents (56 percent); $.4 million to challengers 

(26 percent); and $.2 million to open-seat candidates (18 

percent). 

November 

Published in four vol umes, the study is available from 

Commission's Office of Public Records for $5.00 

volume, payable in advance. The four volumes are: 

I. Summary Data (see description above) 

II. Indiv idual State and Local Party 

Political Committees 

Ill. Individual Nonparty Political Committees 

(Corporate and Labor) 

IV. Individual Nonparty Political Committees 

(No Connected Organization; Trade/Membersh

Health; Cooperatives; Corporations Without 

Stock). 

For further information, call 800/424-9530 or 

523-4181. 

INTERIM FEC REPORTS ON FINANCIAL 

ACTIVITY OF U.S. SENATE AND 

HOUSE CAMPAIGNS- 1977-1978 

On September 28, 1978, the Commission released 

first interim study on the financial activity of candid

for the Senate and the House of Representatives in 1

and 1978. The study summarizes information containe

the reports of 1,812 candidates who have registered 

the FEC and who have been certified by appropriate S

officials as official candidates in a 1977 or 1978 prim

run-off, convention/caucus or general election. The s

is based on reports filed by the candidates and their au

rized committees from January 1, 1977 through Augus

1978. Certain itemized information in the study is 

plete for those reports filed through July 13, 1978. 

Figures in the study are presented separately for Se

and House candidates. Each category is further br

down by party affiliation (Democrat/ Republican/M

and by candidate status (Incumbent/Challenger/Open-S

Highlights of the study include: 

.. Adjusted receipts and expenditures for all candid

during the 18·month period covered by th e s

totaled $92.2 million and $79.5 mill ion, respect

(Gross receipt and expenditure figures have 

adjusted to eliminate transfers between filers w

the same campaign.) 

conti
Of the adjusted gross figures, 242 Senate campaigns 

showed receipts of $39.6 million and expenditures 

of $35.7 million. The 1,570 House campaigns had 

receipts totaling $52.6 million and expenditures totaling 

$43.8 million. 

·· The 991 Democratic candidates raised $54.2 million 

and spent $46.2 million, while 683 Republican candidates received $37.8 million and spent $33 mill ion. 

-- The 413 House and Senate incumbents raised $38.6 

million and spent $28.5 million compared to their 

897 challengers who raised $24.6 million and spent 

$23.2 million. Open-seat candidates (502) showed 

receipts of $29 million and expenditures of $27.7 

million. 

A final report will be issued following the end of the 

1977-1978 election cycle. Copies of the Interim Report 

are available in the Commission's Office of Public Records 

by calling 523-4181 or toll-free 800-424-9530. 

OPINIONS 

PENDING ADVISORY OPINION REQUESTS 

The following chart lists pending Advisory Opinion 

Requests (AOR's), with a brief description of the subject 

matter, the date the requests were made public and the 

number of pages of each request. The full text of each 

AOR is avai lable to the public in the Commission's Office 

of Public Records. 

AOR Subject 

1978-73 Acceptance of 

honorarium. 

1978-74 Availability of payroll 

deduction plan. 

1978-75 Solicitation of stockholders. 

1978-76 Use of film for public 

service announcement. 

Date Made 

Public 

9119/78 

9120/78 

9129/78 

9129/78 

Number of 

Pages 

27 

2 

2 

ADVISORY OPINIONS: SUMMARIES 

Designated as AO's, Advisory Opinions discuss t

application of the Act or Commission regulations 

specific factual situations. Any qualified person request

an Advisory Opinion, who in good faith acts in accordan

with the opinion, will not be subject to any sanctions und

the Act with regard to the activity in question. The opini

may also be relied on by any other person involved in 

specific transaction which is indistinguishable in 

material aspects from the activity discussed in the Adviso

Opinion. Those seeking guidance for their own activ

should consult the full text of an Advisory Opinion and n

rely only on the summary given here. 

AO 1978-28: Party Get-Out-The-Vote Drive 

The Washoe County Republican Party Committee (t

Committee) of Nevada may conduct a get-out-the-vo

drive in connection with the general election on behalf 

State and local candidates. However, because it is a Fede

election year, the expenses for the drive are considered 

be made, in part, for the purpose of influencing the elect

of a person to Federal office. They must be allocated o

reasonable basis (11 CFR 1 06.1) between expenditu

made to influence a Federal election and those which 

made to influence a State or local election. That portion 

the expenses which would be attributable to a Fede

election must be paid from funds which are lawful und

the Act. 

Since the Committee does not anticipate that the porti

of the funds attributable to a Federal election will exce

$1,000, the Committee will not be required to regis

and report as a "political committee" under the A

Furthermore, because the drive will not identify a

"clearly identified" candidate for Federal office, t

expenditures attributable to Federal elections are n

considered contributions to or expenditures on behalf 

any specific candidate for Federal office. (Length: 4 page

AO 1978-42: Solicitations by 

Dental Association 

The Dental Society of the State of New York (the Socie

may solicit contributions to its separate segregated fun

Empire Dental Political Action Committee (EDPAC). 

conjunction with the mailing of dues statements to t

Society's individual members. 

1978-77 Endorsement of candidate 

by corporate officer. 

9/29/78 2 Members of the Society may use a single personal check 

both make contributions to EDPAC and pay their dues 

the Society. The check must be made payable to t

1978-78 Payments for committee's 

office space. 

1978-79 Definition of election 

for I imitation purposes. 

9129/78 

1013/78 

2 Society or to one of its district dental societies. Chec

representing the combined dues payment and contributi

may be placed in the bank account of the Society 

3 district society. They may then remit the contributi

portion to EDPAC by means of a separate check. 

The RECORD is published by the Federal Election Commission, 1325 K Street, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20463. Commissioners are: Joan D. Aikens, Chairman; Robert 0. Tiernan, Vice Chairman; Thomas E. Harris; William L. Springer; 

Neil Staebler; Vernon W. Thomson; J.S. Kimmitt, Secretary of the Senate, Ex Officio; Edmund L. Henshaw, Jr., Clerk 

of the House of Representatives, Ex Officio. For more information, call 523-4068 or toll free 800/424-9530. 

2 
• 

This conclusion was based on several assumptions: 

-- Contributions are regarded as "received" by EDPAC 

at the time the combined dues payment/contribution 

is received by the Society or any of the district 

societies. 

-- The contribution portion of the checks are deposited 

in EDPAC's depository within 10 days after having 

been "received." 

-- All records of the Society's bank accounts into which 

combined dues payments/contributions are deposited 

are available to the Commission for inspection. 

-- The Society (and any district societies) must maintain 

for a specified period of time " ... usual and customary 

accounting records of members' dues payments and 

other appropriate records indicating those members who 

make political contributions in combination with dues 

payments." (Length: 3 pages) 

AO 1978-50: Party Get-Out-the-Vote Drive 

The Michigan Democratic Party (the Party) may conduct 

a get-out-the-vote drive for the purpose of "identifying and 

motivating persons to support the Party's Gubernatorial 

nominee." However, the expenditures for such a drive must 

also be regarded as for the additional purpose of influencing 

the election of the Party's candidates for Federal office. 

Therefore, the expenses for the drive must be allocated on a 

reasonable basis between those made to influence Federal 

elections and those wh ich are not. 

The expenditures allocable to Federal candidates must be 

paid from and reported by the Party's Federal campaign 

committee. These expenses do not, however, need to be 

allocated as contributions to or expenditures on behalf 

of specific candidates for Federal office, unless the drive is 

conducted on behalf of clearly identified candidates. The 

Party may use materials which identify candidates for 

Federal office in connection with the drive, without the 

expenses for those materials being considered a contribution or expenditure, provided the materials are prepared in 

accordance with the slate card/sample ballot exemption 

under the Act (2 U.S.C. §431 (e)(5)(E) and §431 (f)(4)(G)). 

The Michigan State law requ iring party committees to 

make all expenditures from one account is preempted 

and superceded by the provisions of the Act which require 

that expenditures to influence the results of Federal elections be made and reported by a registered political committee. 

Commissioner Thomas E. Harris filed a dissenting opinion. 

(Length, including dissenting opinion: 6 pages) 

AO 1978-59: Definition of Honorarium 

Payments to Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan would be 

considered honoraria if the payments involved the reprinting or republication, as an article, of any of his previously 

pub I ished works. The payments are considered honoraria 

regardless of "whether or not additional effort is required 

from the author to produce the income from the reprint." 

Payment for an article is specifically included in the defini3 

tion of "honorarium" in the Commission's regula

(11 CFR 110.12(b)). "Article" is defined to inclu

writing (other than a book) wh ich has been published. 

Income realized from the publ ication of books, how

is not considered an honorarium. Therefore, paym

for the reprinting or republ ication of his works in a b

are not considered honoraria and are not subject to 

honoraria limitations in 2 U.S.C. §441 i. (Length: 3 pag

AO 1978-63: Donations to 

Retire Campaign Debts 

Donations to retire campaign debts of Friends of 

Obenshain (the Committee), the principal campaign c

m ittee of the late Richard Obenshain, are not consid

contributions within the definition of the Act or re

tions. Because the donations to the Committee are 

made to influence the results of a Federal elect ion, they 

not subject to contribut ion limit s. As receipts, howe

they must be reported by the Committee. The retirem

of debts of the Committee must also be reported. 

The concl usion is based on two assumptions: 

-- "Any funds received in excess of the amount requ

to liquidate the debt will not be transferred or app

for the benefit of any 'pol itical committee' or 'ca

date' .... "; and 

-- None of the debts to be ret ired wil l be assumed 

any political party organization. (Length : 3 pages) 

AO 1978-66: Preemption of 

California Law 

William E. Dannemeyer, a candidate for the U.S. H

of Representatives, may accept contributions from lo

ists registered under California law, even though he is 

currently an elected State officer in California. A State 

prohibiting contributions from lobbyists to any S

officer is preempted by the Federal Election Campaign 

to the extent the officer accepts contributions made to 

(or his campaign committee) as a candidate for Fed

office. 2 U.S.C. §453. (Length: 3 pages) 

AO 1978-67: Headquarters Shared by Federal 

And Non-Federal Candidates 

Congressman Glenn M. Anderson may share the cost

a com bined campaign headquarters with a candidate 

State office provided the costs of the shared facil

are allocated between the two campaigns "in a ma

wh ich equitably reflects the actual use and benefit 

each campaign." Payment of Congressman Anderson 's s

of the costs would be considered an expenditure by 

principal campaign committee and may be made in on

the following ways: 

Payment by Congressman Anderson's comm 

directly to the commercial vendor(s); 

-- Payment by Congressman Anderson's committee to 

State candidate's comm ittee (which, in turn, pays 

full amount to the commercial vendor(s)); or 

-- Payment directly to the commercial vendor (s) b

single check drawn on an escrow account establis

jointly by Congressman Anderson's committ ee and 

State candidate's committee. 
Payment may not be made by means of a transfer from the 

State candidate's committee to Congressman Anderson's 

committee if the State candidate's committee has accepted 

any funds wh ich would not be lawful under the Act. If 

the State candidate's committee paid the entire cost of 

the headquarters, without being reimbursed by Congressman Anderson's committee, the payment would be considered a contribution in-kind to Congressman Anderson's 

campaign, subject to the Act's limitations and prohibitions. 

(Length: 2 pages) 

AO 1978-68: Contri but ions by Credit Card 

The Seith for Senate Committee (the Committee) may 

accept contributions made by credit card which are authorized to be made over the telephone. The definition of 

"contribution" includes a written agreement to make a 

contribution, and does not require that the agreement be 

signed by the contributor. Such credit card contributions 

would be considered received by the Committee (and thus, 

reportable) when the proceeds of the transaction are 

received by the Committee from the credit card company. 

The amou nt of the contribution is considered to be the 

total amount authorized by the contributor. The total 

contribution may not be reduced by discounts or service 

charges deducted by the credit card company before transferring the proceeds to the Committee. Any such discounts 

or service charges are considered expenditures made by the 

Committee on the date when it receives notice that the 

discount or service charge has been taken. 

The conclusion is based on the assumptions that: 

·· The credit card company follows its usual and normal 

collection procedures with respect to obtaining payment from credit card holders who used their card to 

make a political contribution. 

FEC PUBLIC APPEARANCES 

In keeping with its objective of making information available to the public, the Federal Election 

Commission regularly accepts invitations for its 

representatives to address public gatherings on the 

subject of campaign fina nce laws and the Commission 

itself. This regu lar column lists scheduled Commission 

appearances, detailing the name of the sponsoring 

organization, the location of the event and the 

Commission's representative. 

11 /9-10 National Association of Business 

Political Action Committees 

Scottsdale, Arizona 

Jan Baran, Executive Assistant to 

Chairman Joan Aikens 

11/ 14 Delaware Val ley Women's Chapter 

Freedoms Foundation at Vall ey Forge 

Valley Forge, Pennsy lvania 

Chairman Joan Aikens 

4 

·· The credit card company and the independent compa

receiving calls from contributors render "their services 

the ordinary course of business"; and 

·· The credit card company and the independent compa

receiving calls are paid the normal and usual char

for their services. (Length: 4 pages) 

ALTERNATE DISPOSITION OF 

ADVISORY OPINION REQU ESTS 

Since July 1978, the Commission has responded to t

following Advisory Opinion Requests in a manner oth

than the issuance of an Advisory Opinion: 

-- AOR 1978-8 was withdrawn by its requestor. 

·· AOR 1978-57 was withdrawn by its requestor. 

INFORMATION 

REPORTING OF PARTICULARS 

OF EXPENDITURES 

On August 31, 1978, the Commission approved proc

dures for the disclosure of particulars of expenditur

by non-Presidential candidates and committees. T

procedures are contained in FEC Directive No. 1

Not e: Procedures for the disclosure of particulars 

Presidential candidates and committees in the 1980 electi

will be determined at a later date. 

The Commission's regulations require that each candida

and committee required to report under the Act must d

close on their reports of receipts and expenditures: 

The identification of each person to whom 

expenditures have been made . .. which total 

more than $100, or in an amount less than 

$100 if the total exceeds $100 within a calendar year, together with the amount, date, and 

particulars of each such expenditure .... 

(1 1 CFR 104.9(b)(9)) (Emphasis added.) 

The procedures approved by the Commission provide guid

lines for acceptable categories to use when reporting th

particulars of expenditures. These include, among other

"transportation, consulting/professional fees, surveys/pol

advertising, printing/photography, fund raising, administr

tion/operating, postage and meetings." Those categori

which are not acceptable include: 

1. "Credit Cards." Instead, the particulars (i.e., one of th

categories listed above) of the credit card expend

tures must be disclosed, together with the identificati

of each person (including hotels, restaurants, etc.) 

whom expenditures were made by credit card in 

aggregate amount exceeding $100. 

2. "Get-Out-the-Vote/ EI ection Day," when such expend

tures exceed either $1 ,000 to any one person or $2,5

to all persons during a reporting period. Instead, t

continu
"particulars (i.e., those categories listed in the paragraph 

above) of each actual election day expenditure must 

be disclosed. 

3. "Advances." Instead, the particulars of the actual 

use of each expenditure (i.e., those categories listed in 

the paragraph above) must be disclosed. 

800 LINE 

The Public Communications Office of the Federal 

Election Commission receives numerous inquiries from the 

public on the toll-free line (800-424-9530). The following 

explanation of methods for allocating party expenses is in 

response to several frequently asked questions. 

ALLOCATION OF PARTY EXPENSES 

The Commission's regulations require that "party 

committees and other political committees [supporting 

both Federal and non-Federal candidates] which have 

established Federal campaign committees pursuant to 

§102.6 [of FEC regulations] shall allocate administrative 

expenses on a reasonable basis between their Federal and 

non-Federal accounts .. .. " These administrative expenses 

include rent, personnel, overhead, and other day-to-day 

costs of the party committee. Expenses for general party 

get-out-the-vote or registration drives must also be allocated 

between Federal and non-Federal accounts. 

The portion of the expenses allocable to the Federal 

committee need not be attributed to any candidate's limits 

as contributions to or expenditures on behalf of any 

specific candidate unless they are made on behalf of and 

can be directly attributed to a clearly identified candidate. 

The expenses allocable to the Federal committee must be 

paid from funds lawfully contributed under the Act. The 

non-Federal expenses may be paid from a non-Federal 

account which may include, if permissible under State law, 

funds from corporate or labor sources. (Note : This supercedes the "Note" in the article on allocation of expenses in 

the December 1977 issue of the Record, p. 1.) 

The following methods of allocating party expenses 

between Federal and non· Federal accounts have been 

suggested by the Commission for possible use: 

1. Proportionate to Funds Spent 

Expenses may be allocated in proportion to the amount 

of funds spent on Federal elections as compared to the 

amount spent on non-Federal elections. (11 CF R 

106.1(e)) 

2. Proportionate to Funds Raised 

Expenses may be allocated in proportion to the total 

amount of funds received respectively by the Federal 

committee alone and the Federal and non-Federal 

committees together. The ratio shou ld be based on 

cumulative figures, from the beginning of the year, and 

should not include refunds or loan repayments. Con· 

sider, for example, a State-wide political party organi· 

zation which has received a total of $10,000 for both its 

5 

Federal and non-Federal committees, and whose rec

for the Federal committee alone amount to $1,50

this case, the expenses which must be paid by 

Federal committee would be 15 percent of the 

expenses of the State party organization. 

3. Ballot Position 

Expenses may be allocated in proportion to the nu

of Federal and non-Federal candidates appearing o

official election ballot. Candidates for Federal o

may not be equated on a one-to-one basis with St

local candidates. (For two specific examples of this 

of allocation, see Re: AOR 1976-72 and AO 1978-2

4. Any Other Reasonable Basis 

Expenses may be allocated between the Federal 

non-Federal committees on any other reasonable ba

Note: In a recent Advisory Opinion, the Commi

concluded that a county party unit, not qualified 

"political committee," had to consider a portion o

expenses for a get-out-the-vote drive as expenditures 

for the purpose of influencing a Federal election, sinc

drive was held in a Federal election year and would, t

fore, have an influence on Federal elections. Using o

the methods outlined above, party units had to all

these expenses even though: 

·· The drive was not on behalf of or for the benefit o

clearly identified candidate for Federal office 

therefore, not counted against limitations as a cont

tion to or an expenditure on behalf of such a candid

·· The county party unit was not required to esta

a Federal political committee under 11 CFR 1

and 

·· The County party unit had not made and did not in

to make contributions to or expenditures on beh

Federal candidates in excess of $1,000 during the c

dar year. See Advisory Opinion 1978-28. 

If the portion of get-out-the-vote expenses attributab

Federal elections (or if those expenses in combination 

contributions to or expenditures on behalf of a cl

identified candidate for Federal office) exceeded $

during the calendar year, the party unit would beco

"political committee" under the Act and would be su

to the Act's registration and reporting requirements. 

COMPLIANCE 

FEC PUBLISHES NAMES 

OF NONFILERS 

The Commission is required by the Federal Ele

Campaign Act to publish the names of candidates 

political committees who fail to file required repor

receipts and expenditures. 

Before publishing the name of a candidate or comm

who has failed to file, the Commission sends them at 

conti
two notices. If, following receipt of these notices, the 

candidate or committee continues not to file the required 

report, the name of that " nonfiler" is made public. The 

fol lowing is a list of recent nonfiler actions taken by the 

Commission: 

Publ ication Report Not 

Date Filed 

9/13/78 July 10 

(Quarterly) 

9/25/78 Mississippi 

(Post-Runoff) 

10/ 5/78 Hawaii 

(Pre-Primary) 

AUDITS 

AUDITS RELEASED 

TO THE PUBLIC 

Number of 

Nonfilers 

138 

The Federal Election Campaign Act requires the Commission " ... to make from time to time audits and field 

investigations with respect to reports and statements filed 

under the Act." The Commission is also required to conduct audits of all campaigns of Presidential candidates who 

receive public funds. Once an audit is completed and an 

audit report is approved by the Commission, the report is 

made public and is available in the Office of Public Records 

and the Press Office. The following is a chronological listing 

of audits released as of October 18, 1978. 

Date Made 

Audit Public 

1. D.C. Republican Committee/1976 9/22/78 

D.C. Republican Dinner Committee/ 

1978 D.C. Republ ican Dinner Committee 

FEDERAL ELECTION COMM ISSION 

1325 K STREET, NW 

WASHINGTON, DC 20463 

OFFICIAL BUSINESS 

PUBliCATIONS 

INFORMATION BROCHURE 

The Commission recently released its new ge

informational brochure, The FEC and the Federal 

paign Finance Law. Designed for the general public

12-page pamphlet gives a brief overview of the m

provisions of the Federal Election Campaign Act and 

Commission's role in administering it. The brochure 

summarizes the information and assistance available 

the FEC and contains details on how to obtain addit

information on other election-related topics. 

!he brochure is available to anyone requesting a cop

m bulk, to organizations wishing to distribute mul

copies. For further information, contact the Offic

Public Communications at the Commission (

424-9530). 

FORMS 

Forms for candidates and committees to register an

report are available at any time by contacting: 

Office of Public Communications 

Federal Election Commission 

1325 K Street, N.W. 

Washington, D.C. 20463 

Telephone: 202/523-4068 

Toll-Free: 800/424-9530 

Candidates and committees should use the revise

form for reporting receipts and expenditures, which 

designated in the upper left hand corner as: FEC 

Form 3 REVISED, January 1978. Candidates an

committees may make and use photocopies o

standard FEC forms. 

FIRST CLASS MAIL 

POSTAGE & FEES PAID 

FEC 

WASHINGTON , D.C. 

PERM IT NO. G-3 1