2023 Connecticut General Statutes › Title 9 - Elections › Chapter 155 - Elections: Campaign Financing › Section 9-621. (Formerly Sec. 9-333w). - Political advertising.

(a) No individual shall make or incur any expenditure with the consent of, in coordination with or in consultation with any candidate, candidate committee or candidate's agent, no group of two or more individuals acting together that receives funds or makes or incurs expenditures not exceeding one thousand dollars in the aggregate and has not formed a political committee shall make or incur any expenditure, and no candidate or committee shall make or incur any expenditure including an organization expenditure for a party candidate listing, as defined in subparagraph (A) of subdivision (25) of section 9-601, for any written, typed or other printed communication, or any web-based, written communication, which promotes the success or defeat of any candidate's campaign for nomination at a primary or election or promotes or opposes any political party or solicits funds to benefit any political party or committee unless such communication bears upon its face as a disclaimer (1) the words “paid for by” and the following: (A) In the case of such an individual, the name and address of such individual; (B) in the case of a committee other than a party committee, the name of the committee and its treasurer; (C) in the case of a party committee, the name of the committee; or (D) in the case of a group of two or more individuals that receives funds or makes or incurs expenditures not exceeding one thousand dollars in the aggregate and has not formed a political committee, the name of the group and the name and address of its agent, and (2) the words “approved by” and the following: (A) In the case of an individual, group or committee other than a candidate committee making or incurring an expenditure with the consent of, in coordination with or in consultation with any candidate, candidate committee or candidate's agent, the name of the candidate; or (B) in the case of a candidate committee, the name of the candidate.
(b) In addition to the requirements of subsection (a) of this section:
(1) No candidate or candidate committee or exploratory committee established by a candidate shall make or incur any expenditure for television advertising or Internet video advertising, which promotes the success of such candidate's campaign for nomination at a primary or election or the defeat of another candidate's campaign for nomination at a primary or election, unless, as a disclaimer, (A) at the end of such advertising there appears simultaneously, for a period of not less than four seconds, (i) a clearly identifiable photographic or similar image of the candidate making such expenditure, (ii) a clearly readable printed statement identifying such candidate, and indicating that such candidate has approved the advertising, and (iii) a simultaneous, personal audio message, in the following form: “I am .... (candidate's name) and I approved this message”, and (B) the candidate's name and image appear in, and the candidate's voice is contained in, the narrative of the advertising, before the end of such advertising;
(2) No candidate or candidate committee or exploratory committee established by a candidate shall make or incur any expenditure for radio advertising or Internet audio advertising, which promotes the success of such candidate's campaign for nomination at a primary or election or the defeat of another candidate's campaign for nomination at a primary or election, unless, as a disclaimer, (A) the advertising ends with a personal audio statement by the candidate making such expenditure (i) identifying such candidate and the office such candidate is seeking, and (ii) indicating that such candidate has approved the advertising in the following form: “I am .... (candidate's name) and I approved this message”, and (B) the candidate's name and voice are contained in the narrative of the advertising, before the end of such advertising; and
(3) No candidate or candidate committee or exploratory committee established by a candidate shall make or incur any expenditure for automated telephone calls which promote the success of such candidate's campaign for nomination at a primary or election or the defeat of another candidate's campaign for nomination at a primary or election, unless the candidate's name and voice are contained in the narrative of the call, before the end of such call.
(c) No business entity, organization, association, committee, or group of two or more individuals who have joined solely to promote the success or defeat of a referendum question shall make or incur any expenditure for any written, typed or other printed communication which promotes the success or defeat of any referendum question unless such communication bears upon its face, as a disclaimer, the words “paid for by” and the following: (1) In the case of a business entity, organization or association, the name of the business entity, organization or association and the name of its chief executive officer or equivalent, and in the case such communication is made during the ninety-day period immediately prior to the referendum, such communication shall also bear on its face the names of the five persons who made the five largest aggregate covered transfers to such business entity, organization or association during the twelve-month period immediately prior to such referendum. The communication shall also state that additional information about the business entity, organization or association making such communication may be found on the State Elections Enforcement Commission's Internet web site; (2) in the case of a political committee, the name of the committee and the name of its treasurer; (3) in the case of a party committee, the name of the committee; or (4) in the case of such a group of two or more individuals, the name of the group and the name and address of its agent.
(d) The provisions of subsections (a), (b) and (c) of this section do not apply to (1) any editorial, news story, or commentary published in any newspaper, magazine or journal on its own behalf and upon its own responsibility and for which it does not charge or receive any compensation whatsoever, (2) any banner, (3) political paraphernalia including pins, buttons, badges, emblems, hats, bumper stickers or other similar materials, or (4) signs with a surface area of not more than thirty-two square feet.
(e) The treasurer of a candidate committee which sponsors any written, typed or other printed communication for the purpose of raising funds to eliminate a campaign deficit of that committee shall include in such communication a statement that the funds are sought to eliminate such a deficit.
(f) The treasurer of an exploratory committee or candidate committee established by a candidate for nomination or election to the office of Treasurer which committee sponsors any written, typed or other printed communication for the purpose of raising funds shall include in such communication a statement concerning the prohibitions set forth in subsection (n) of section 1-84, subsection (e) of section 9-612 and subsection (f) of section 9-613.
(g) In the event a treasurer of a candidate committee is replaced pursuant to subsection (c) of section 9-602, nothing in this section shall be construed to prohibit the candidate committee from distributing any printed communication subject to the provisions of this section that has already been printed or otherwise produced, even though such communication does not accurately designate the successor treasurer of such candidate committee.
(h) (1) No person shall make or incur an independent expenditure for any written, typed or other printed communication, including on a billboard, or any web-based, written communication, unless such communication bears upon its face, as a disclaimer, the words “Paid for by” and the name of such person and the following statement: “This message was made independent of any candidate or political party.”. In the case of a person making or incurring such an independent expenditure during the ninety-day period immediately prior to the primary or election for which the independent expenditure is made, such communication shall also bear upon its face the names of the five persons who made the five largest aggregate covered transfers to the person making such communication during the twelve-month period immediately prior to such primary or election, as applicable. The communication shall also state that additional information about the person making such communication may be found on the State Elections Enforcement Commission's Internet web site.
(2) In addition to the requirements of subdivision (1) of this subsection, no person shall make or incur an independent expenditure for a video broadcast by television, satellite or Internet, unless at the end of such advertising there appears for a period of not less than four seconds as a disclaimer, the following as an audio message and a written statement: “This message was paid for by (person making the communication) and made independent of any candidate or political party.”. In the case of a person making or incurring such an independent expenditure during the ninety-day period immediately prior to the primary or election for which the independent expenditure is made, such communication shall also list the names of the five persons who made the five largest aggregate covered transfers to the person making such communication during the twelve-month period immediately prior to such primary or election, as applicable. The communication shall also state that additional information about the person making such communication may be found on the State Elections Enforcement Commission's Internet web site.
(3) In addition to the requirements of subdivision (1) of this subsection, no person shall make or incur an independent expenditure for an audio communication broadcast by radio, satellite or Internet, unless the advertising ends with a disclaimer that is a personal audio statement by such person's agent (A) identifying the person paying for the expenditure, and (B) indicating that the message was made independent of any candidate or political party, using the following form: “I am .... (name of the person's agent), .... (title), of .... (the person). This message was made independent of any candidate or political party.”. In the case of a person making or incurring such an independent expenditure during the ninety-day period immediately prior to the primary or election for which the independent expenditure is made, such communication shall state the names of the five persons who made the five largest aggregate covered transfers to the person making such communication during the twelve-month period immediately prior to such primary or election, as applicable. The communication shall also state that additional information about the person making such communication may be found on the State Elections Enforcement Commission's Internet web site.
(4) In addition to the requirements of subdivision (1) of this subsection, no person shall make or incur an independent expenditure for telephone calls, unless the narrative of the telephone call identifies the person making the expenditure and during the ninety-day period immediately prior to the primary or election for which the independent expenditure is made, such communication shall state the names of the five persons who made the five largest aggregate covered transfers to the person making such communication during the twelve-month period immediately prior to such primary or election, as applicable. The communication shall also state that additional information about the person making such communication may be found on the State Elections Enforcement Commission's Internet web site.
(i) In any print, television or social media promotion of a slate of candidates by a party committee, the party committee shall use applicable disclaimers pursuant to the provisions of this section for such promotion, and no individual candidate disclaimers shall be required.
(j) (1) Except as provided in subdivisions (2) and (3) of this subsection, if any person whose name is included on a disclaimer of a communication pursuant to the provisions of this section, as a person who made a covered transfer to the maker of the communication, is also a recipient of a covered transfer, the maker of the communication, as part of any report filed pursuant to section 9-601d associated with the making of such communication, shall include the names of the five persons who made the top five largest aggregate covered transfers to such recipient during the twelve-month period immediately prior to the primary or election, as applicable.
(2) The name of any person who made a covered transfer to a tax-exempt organization recognized under Section 501(c)(4) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, or any subsequent corresponding internal revenue code of the United States, as amended from time to time, that has not had its tax exempt status revoked, shall not be disclosed pursuant to the provisions of subdivision (1) of this subsection.
(3) The name of any person who made a covered transfer to a person whose name is included on a disclaimer pursuant to the provisions of this section shall not be disclosed pursuant to the provisions of subdivision (1) of this subsection if the recipient of such covered transfer accepts covered transfers from at least one hundred different sources, provided no such source accounts for ten per cent or more of the total amount of covered transfers accepted by the recipient during the twelve-month period immediately prior to the primary or election, as applicable.
(k) Any disclaimer required to be on the face of a written, typed or other printed communication pursuant to the provisions of this section shall be printed in no smaller than eight-point type of uniform font when such disclaimer is on a communication contained in a flyer or leaflet, newspaper, magazine or similar literature, or that is delivered by mail.
(l) Notwithstanding the provisions of this section, no person making an independent expenditure for a communication shall be required to list as part of any disclaimer pursuant to this section any person whose covered transfers to the maker of the communication are not in an aggregate amount of five thousand dollars or more during the twelve-month period immediately prior to the primary or election, as applicable, for which such independent expenditure is made.
(m) Notwithstanding the provisions of this section, any disclaimer required to be on the face of any Internet text advertisement communication (1) that appears based on the result of a search conducted by a user of an Internet search engine, and (2) the text of which contains two hundred or fewer characters, shall not be required to list the names of the five persons who made the top five largest aggregate covered transfers to the maker of such communication, as otherwise required by this section, if such disclaimer (A) includes a link to an Internet web site that discloses the names of such five persons, and (B) otherwise contains any statement required pursuant to the provisions of this section.
(P.A. 86-99, S. 24, 34; P.A. 91-159, S. 1; 91-351, S. 18, 28; P.A. 92-246, S. 4, 5; P.A. 94-143, S. 5, 6; P.A. 95-188, S. 4; 95-276, S. 2, 3; P.A. 96-119, S. 13, 14; P.A. 05-188, S. 4; Oct. 25 Sp. Sess. P.A. 05-5, S. 39; P.A. 06-196, S. 55; P.A. 08-2, S. 14; P.A. 10-187, S. 10; P.A. 13-180, S. 9.)
History: P.A. 91-159 added banners to list of items to which section does not apply; P.A. 91-351 amended Subsec. (a) by applying disclosure requirements to incurring expenditures for a communication and to a communication soliciting funds to benefit a political party or committee and by adding Subdiv. (4) re disclosure for individuals who join to promote success or defeat of referendum question and file certification; P.A. 92-246 amended Subsec. (a) by inserting new Subdiv. (3) requiring communication paid for or sponsored by party committee to bear only the name of the committee and relettering former Subdivs. (3) and (4) accordingly; P.A. 94-143 amended Subsec. (a) by specifying that campaign literature must contain the words “paid for by” or “sponsored by”, amended Subsec. (b) by changing “this section does not apply” to “the provisions of subsection (a) of this section do not apply”, deleting “lawn or yard signs” from Subdiv. (3) and adding new Subdiv. (4) re signs, and added new Subsec. (c) re raising funds to eliminate a campaign deficit, effective January 1, 1995, and applicable to elections conducted on or after that date; P.A. 95-188 added Subsec. (d), subsequently relettered by the Revisors as Subsec. (e), re contents of advertising for funds for candidates for Treasurer; P.A. 95-276 amended Subsec. (a) and added Subsec. (b) to exempt certain individuals from the disclosure requirements of the section and relettered the remaining Subsecs. accordingly, effective July 6, 1995; P.A. 96-119 added new Subsec. (f) re distribution of printed communication that does not accurately designate successor campaign treasurer, effective January 1, 1997; P.A. 05-188 amended Subsec. (a) by adding “or any web-based, written communication”, adding new Subdiv. (2) re requirement that printed or written communications include the words “approved by” and the name of the individual making or incurring the expenditure for the communication or the name of the candidate, and making conforming changes, added new Subsec. (b) re requirement that television, Internet video, radio and Internet audio advertising include identifying information and a statement approving the message, and redesignated existing Subsecs. (b) to (f) as Subsecs. (c) to (g), effective January 1, 2006; Oct. 25 Sp. Sess. P.A. 05-5 amended Subsec. (a) to prohibit candidate mailing expenditure unless the mailing contains candidate's name and photograph, amended Subsec. (b)(1) and (2) by prohibiting candidate television, radio or Internet audio or video advertising expenditure unless candidate's name, voice and image are used in the advertising, as appropriate, and by making technical changes therein and added Subsec. (b)(3) prohibiting automated telephone call expenditure unless candidate's name and voice contained in the call, effective December 31, 2006, and applicable to elections held on or after that date; P.A. 06-196 made technical changes in Subsec. (b), effective December 31, 2006, and applicable to elections held on or after that date; Sec. 9-333w transferred to Sec. 9-621 in 2007; P.A. 08-2 amended Subsec. (a) to include provision re organization expenditure for party candidate listing and eliminate requirement that mailings to promote success or defeat of a candidate in election or primary contain candidate's photograph and name, effective April 7, 2008; P.A. 10-187 amended Subsec. (a) by replacing “cooperation of, at the request or suggestion of” with “consent of, in coordination with”, adding provisions re groups receiving funds or making expenditures not exceeding $1,000, inserting “or promotes or opposes any political party” and, in Subdiv. (2)(A), inserting “group or committee other than a candidate committee”, amended Subsec. (c) by deleting provisions re certification requirement in Sec. 9-605 and by making technical changes and added Subsec. (h) re requirements for independent expenditures, effective June 8, 2010; P.A. 13-180 added “as a disclaimer”, replaced “campaign treasurer” with “treasurer”, substantially revised Subsecs. (c) and (h) by replacing provisions re attribution scheme with new provisions, replaced “entity” with “person” and added reference to billboard in Subsec. (h), added Subsec. (i) re slate of candidates, added Subsec. (j) re covered transfers, added Subsec. (k) re disclaimers on written, typed or other printed communication, added Subsec. (l) re covered transfers that do not exceed $5,000 in the aggregate, added Subsec. (m) re Internet text advertisement communication, and made technical and conforming changes, effective June 18, 2013.
Annotation to former section 9-333w:
Subsec. (a):
Is narrowly tailored to serve compelling state interests and is valid and enforceable. 255 C. 78.