Arkansas Administrative Code › Agency 153 - Arkansas Ethics Commission › Rule 153.00.03-001 - Rules on Campaign Finance & Disclosure

Current through Register Vol. 49, No. 6, June, 2024
§ 200
Definitions
(a) "Approved political action committee"
		  means any person who receives contributions from one or more persons in order
		  to make contributions to candidates; does not accept any contribution or
		  cumulative contributions in excess of five thousand dollars ($5,000) from any
		  person in any calendar year; and has been registered with the Secretary of
		  State pursuant to Ark. Code Ann. §
								7-6-215
		  for at least four (4) continuous months prior to making contributions to
		  candidates. Approved political action committee does not include political
		  parties, the candidate's own campaign committee or an exploratory
		  committee.
(b) "Candidate" means
		  any person who has knowingly and willingly taken affirmative action, including
		  solicitation of funds, for the purpose of seeking nomination for or election to
		  any public office.1
(c) "Contribution" means, whether direct or
		  indirect, advances, deposits, or transfers of funds, contracts, or obligations,
		  whether or not legally enforceable, payments, gifts, subscriptions,
		  assessments, payment for services, dues, advancements, forbearance, loans,
		  pledge or promise of money or anything of value, whether or not legally
		  enforceable, to a candidate, committee, or holder of elective office, made for
		  the purpose of influencing the nomination or election of any candidate;
"Contribution" includes the purchase of tickets for events such
			 as dinners, luncheons, rallies, and similar fund-raising events; the granting
			 of discounts or rebates by television stations, radio stations, and newspapers
			 not extended on an equal basis to all candidates for the same office; and any
			 payments for the services of any person serving as an agent of a candidate or
			 committee by a person other than the candidate or committee or persons whose
			 expenditures the candidates or committee must report under this subchapter. The
			 term "contribution" further includes any transfer of anything of value received
			 by a committee from another committee; "Contribution" shall not include
			 noncompensated, nonreimbursed, volunteer personal services or
			 travel.2
(d) "Carryover funds" means the amount of
		  campaign funds retained from the last election by the candidate for future use
		  but not to exceed the annual salary, excluding expense allowances, set by
		  Arkansas law for the office sought.3
(e) "Election" means each election to be held
		  to nominate or elect a candidate to any public office, including school
		  elections. For the purposes of these rules, a preferential primary election, a
		  runoff election, a special election, and a general election shall each
		  constitute a separate election.4
(f) "Expenditure" means a purchase, payment,
		  distribution, gift, loan, or advance of money or anything of value, and a
		  contract, promise, or agreement to make an expenditure, made for the purpose of
		  influencing the nomination or election of any
		  candidate.5
(g) "Exploratory committee" means a person
		  who receives contributions which are held to be transferred to the campaign of
		  a single candidate in an election.
"Exploratory committee" shall not include an organized political
			 party as defined in Ark. Code Ann. §
									7-1-101(16)
			 or the candidate's own campaign committee.6 For a
			 more detailed description of an "exploratory committee" and its duties,
see
§§ 251-252 herein.
(h) "Fair market value" means the price the
		  good or service would bring between a willing seller and a willing buyer in the
		  open market after negotiations.
See
Minerva Enterprises, Inc.
		  v. Howlett, 308 Ark. 291, 824 S.W.2d 377 (1992).
(i) "Financial institution" means any
		  commercial bank, savings and loan, mutual savings bank or savings bank, credit
		  union, insurance company, brokerage house, or any corporation that is in the
		  business of lending money that is subject to state or federal
		  regulation.7
(j) "Guarantor" means a person who makes a
		  guaranty for a debt, the liability for which does not begin until the principal
		  debtor is in default.
(k) "In-kind
		  contribution" means a contribution of goods, services, or any other thing of
		  value, or its use, other than money and includes an agreement made or other
		  obligation incurred, whether legally enforceable or not, to make such a
		  contribution in the future. The term does not include direct campaign
		  contributions. For a more detailed discussion of in-kind contributions,
see
§ 205 of these rules.
(l) "Person" means any individual,
		  proprietorship, firm, partnership, joint venture, syndicate, labor union,
		  business trust, company, corporation, association, committee, or any other
		  organization or group of persons acting in concert. It shall also include
		  organized political parties as defined in Ark. Code Ann. §
								7-1-101(16).8
(m) "Political party" means any group of
		  voters which, at the last-preceding general election, polled for its candidate
		  for Governor in the state or nominees for presidential electors at least three
		  percent (3%) of the entire vote cast for the office; or which files with the
		  Secretary of State a petition signed by qualified electors equal in number to
		  at least three percent (3%) of the total vote cast for the Office of Governor
		  or nominees for presidential electors at the last-preceding election, declaring
		  their intention of organizing a political party, the name of which shall be
		  stated in the declaration, and of participating in the next-succeeding general
		  election.
The petition shall be filed with the Secretary of State not later
			 than the first Monday in May before the general election in which the political
			 party filing the petition desires to participate. No group of electors shall
			 assume a name or designation which is so similar, in the opinion of the
			 Secretary of State, to that of an existing political party as to confuse or
			 mislead the voters at an election.
When any political party fails to obtain three percent (3%) of
			 the total votes cast at an election for the Office of Governor or nominees for
			 presidential electors, it shall cease to be a political
			 party.9
(n) "Prohibited political action committee"
		  means any person who receives contributions from one or more persons in order
		  to make contributions to candidates but who does not meet the requirements of
		  an approved political action committee or a small donor political action
		  committee. "Prohibited political action committee" shall not include an
		  organized political party as defined in Ark. Code Ann. §
								7-1-101(16),
		  the candidate's own campaign committee, or an exploratory
		  committee.10
(o) "Public office" means any office created
		  by or under authority of the laws of the State of Arkansas, or of a subdivision
		  thereof, that is filled by the voters, except a federal
		  office.11
(p) "Small donor political action committee"
		  means any person who receives contributions from one or more individuals in
		  order to make contributions to candidates; does not accept any contribution or
		  cumulative contributions in excess of twenty-five dollars ($25) from any
		  individual in any calendar year; and has been registered with the Secretary of
		  State pursuant to Ark. Code Ann. §
								7-6-215
		  prior to making contributions to candidates. Small donor political action
		  committee does not include political parties, the candidate's own campaign
		  committee or an exploratory committee.12
(q) "Surplus campaign funds" means any
		  balance of campaign funds over expenses incurred as of the day of the election
		  except for:
(A) Carryover funds; and
(B) Any funds required to reimburse the
		  candidate for personal funds contributed to the campaign or to repay loans made
		  by financial institutions to the candidate and applied to the
		  campaign.13