Washington Administrative Code › Title 390 - Public Disclosure Commission › Chapter 390-16 - Campaign finance reporting › Section 390-16-043 - Candidates and political committees-Public inspection of books of account

Current through Register Vol. 24-14, July 15, 2024
(1)RCW
			  42.17A.005 defines "books of account" for
			 candidates and political committees as "a ledger or similar listing of
			 contributions, expenditures, and debts, such as a campaign or committee is
			 required to file regularly with the commission, current as of the most recent
			 business day."
(2)RCW
			  42.17A.225 and
			 42.17A.235 require that candidates
			 and political committees participating in an election as defined in
			 RCW
			  42.17A.005, must make their books of account
			 available for public inspection. The public inspection of books of account is
			 not intended to be an exhaustive audit of all contributions received and
			 expenditures made.
(3) Any
			 individual who requests to publicly inspect the books of account of a candidate
			 or political committee, must make the request during the period beginning 10
			 calendar days before a primary, general, or special election, by contacting the
			 filer's email address listed on the C-1 report for a candidate, or the C-1pc
			 report for a political committee.
(4) The inspection of the books of account
			 may occur on weekdays, unless the treasurer for the candidate or committee
			 agrees otherwise, beginning on the eighth day before the election, excluding
			 legal holidays, for at least two consecutive hours between 9:00 a.m. and 5:00
			 p.m. at a location that is agreed upon by the treasurer and the individual
			 requesting the inspection. If the treasurer and requestor are unable to agree
			 on a location and the treasurer has not provided digital access to the books of
			 account, the default location for an appointment must be a place of public
			 accommodation selected by the treasurer within a reasonable distance from the
			 treasurer's office. However, if the treasurer is located out-of-state, the
			 default location must be within the state of Washington and reasonably
			 accessible to both parties. The inspection must be allowed within 48 hours of
			 the date and time the request was made at the agreed-upon location, provided
			 that if the request is not made by 3:00 p.m. on the third day preceding an
			 election, the candidate or political committee need only make best efforts to
			 accommodate the request.
(5) The
			 treasurer for the candidate or committee may make the books of account
			 available electronically, in lieu of scheduling an in-person inspection, or if
			 a location cannot be agreed upon by both parties. If the campaign's only copy
			 of its books of account is maintained electronically with security protections,
			 the person requesting the inspection must be given sufficient instruction to
			 allow the inspection to proceed.
(6) The books of account, ledger and other
			 supporting documentation must be maintained by the treasurer and kept current
			 within one business day. The books of account of a candidate or political
			 committee include the following: A ledger, spreadsheet, or similar listing of
			 contributions, expenditures, loans, debts and obligations to substantiate the
			 information disclosed on the PDC campaign finance reports. The books of account
			 must include the underlying source documents such as receipts, invoices, copies
			 of contribution checks, copies of canceled checks for expenditures, digital
			 transactions, notes, or other documentation concerning expenditures, orders
			 placed, and loans. The campaign or committee is not required to provide the
			 name and address of contributors who gave $100 or less in the aggregate in
			 total contributions.
(7) The
			 candidate or political committee is not required to make copies of its books of
			 account for the requestor. Videorecording, photographing, or photocopying of
			 the records is not required to be permitted but may be agreed to by both
			 parties during or in advance of the inspection.
(8) At the time of making the appointment,
			 the person requesting to inspect the books of account must provide the name(s)
			 and contact information for all individuals who will be in attendance for the
			 inspection. The requestor(s) must show photo identification prior to the
			 inspection beginning, and the candidate or political committee may deny the
			 inspection from occurring if photo identification is not provided.
(9) The records required by this section must
			 be available for audit or examination by the PDC at any time upon request from
			 the PDC.