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Hawaii campaign finance requirements govern the following:
- how much money candidates may receive from individuals and organizations,
- how much and how often they must report those contributions, and
- how much individuals, organizations and political parties may contribute to campaigns.
In addition to direct campaign contributions, campaign finance laws also apply to third-party organizations and nonprofit organizations that seek to influence elections through independent expenditures or issue advocacy.
| As of May 2015, individuals, corporations, and unions were all limited in their contributions to individual candidates: they could contribute no more than $6,000 to candidates for Governor, $4,000 to candidates for the State Senate, and $2,000 to candidates for the State House of Representatives. All of these donors could make unlimited contributions to ballot measure campaigns. |
Background
The Federal Election Commission (FEC) is the independent regulatory agency that administers and enforces federal campaign election laws. The FEC is responsible for disclosing campaign finance information, enforcing limits and prohibitions on contributions and overseeing public funding of presidential elections.[1] According to the FEC, an individual becomes a federal candidate and must begin reporting campaign finances once he or she has either raised or spent $5,000 in his or her campaign. Within fifteen days of this benchmark, the candidate must register with the FEC and designate an official campaign committee, which is responsible for the funds and expenditures of the campaign. This committee must have an official treasurer and cannot support any candidate but the one who registered it. Detailed financial reports are then made to the FEC every financial quarter after the individual is registered. Reports are also made before primaries and before the general election.[2]
The rules governing federal election campaigns and contributions have evolved over the past generation as result of a number of Supreme Court decisions. In the 2010 Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission decision, the court held that corporate funding of independent political broadcasts in candidate elections cannot be limited. The court's decision also overturned the ban on for-profit and not-for-profit corporations and unions broadcasting electioneering communications in the 30 days before a presidential primary and in the 60 days before a general election.[3] In the SpeechNOW.org v. Federal Election Commission decision, the first application of the Citizens United decision, the court held that contribution limits on what individuals could give to independent expenditure-only groups, and the amount these organizations could receive, were unconstitutional. Contribution limits on donations directly to candidates, however, remained unchanged.[4][5] In 2014's McCutcheon v. Federal Election Commission decision, the court overturned biennial aggregate campaign contribution limits, and held that individuals may contribute to as many federal candidates as they want, but may only contribute up to the federal limit in each case.[6]
While the FEC governs federal election campaigns and contribution limits, individual states enforce their own regulation and reporting requirements. Regulations vary by state, as do limits on campaign contributions and third-party activities to influence elections.
Contribution limits
The table below details contribution limits as they applied to various types of individuals and groups in Hawaii as of May 2015. The uppermost row of the table indicates the contributor, while the leftmost column indicates the recipient.[7]
| Hawaii contribution limits as of May 2015
|
|
|
Individuals
|
Single candidates committees
|
PACs
|
Political party
|
Super PACs
|
Corporations
|
Unions
|
| Governor |
$6,000 |
$0 |
$6,000 |
$6,000 |
$0 |
$6,000 |
$6,000
|
| Senate |
$4,000 |
$0 |
$4,000 |
$4,000 |
$0 |
$4,000 |
$4,000
|
| House |
$2,000 |
$0 |
$2,000 |
$2,000 |
$0 |
$2,000 |
$2,000
|
| PAC |
$1000 |
$0 |
$1000 |
$1000 |
$0 |
$1000 |
$1000
|
| Party committees |
$25,000 |
$25,000 |
$25,000 |
$25,000 |
$0 |
$25,000 |
$25,000
|
| Ballot measures |
unlimited |
unlimited |
unlimited |
unlimited |
0 |
unlimited |
unlimited
|
Sources: State of Hawaii Campaign Spending Commission, "Guidebook for Candidate Committees," accessed May 21, 2015
State of Hawaii Campaign Spending Commission, "Guidebook for Noncandidate Committees," accessed May 21, 2015
|
Candidate requirements
See statutes: Chapter 11, Part XIII of the Hawaii Revised Statutes (Campaign Spending Law)
General requirements
Each candidate must register a candidate committee with the Hawaii Campaign Spending Commission within 10 days of either filing nomination papers for a state or local office with the Hawaii Office of Elections or county clerk's office or receiving contributions or making expenditures in an aggregate amount of more than $100.[8][9]
The registration process begins by completing the "Candidate Committee Electronic Filing Form" and submitting it to the commission's office. The form is available on the commission's website. The candidate, chairperson, and treasurer of the committee must sign the form. The commission will send a website username and password to the committee. After gaining access to the website, the candidate must continue by completing an Organizational Report, which must include the following:[8][10]
- the name and mailing address of the candidate and candidate committee
- the name and signature of a chairperson and deputy chairperson
- the name and signature of a campaign treasurer and deputy campaign treasurer
- committee depository (bank) to deposit contributions and to make expenditures
Reporting requirements
Complete records of campaign contributions and expenditures must be maintained for at least five years.[8]
By law, a candidate who runs for office in Hawaii is required to file reports electronically even if the candidate raises or spends no money. The candidate
and treasurer must file preliminary and final reports that disclose the following information:[11]
- the candidate committee's name and address
- the cash on hand at the beginning of the reporting period and election period
- the reporting period and election period aggregate totals for contributions, expenditures, other receipts, and loans
- the cash on hand at the end of the reporting period
- the surplus or deficit at the end of the reporting period
Campaign finance legislation
The following is a list of recent campaign finance bills that have been introduced in or passed by the Hawaii state legislature. To learn more about each of these bills, click the bill title. This information is provided by BillTrack50 and LegiScan.
Note: Due to the nature of the sorting process used to generate this list, some results may not be relevant to the topic. If no bills are displayed below, no legislation pertaining to this topic has been introduced in the legislature recently.
Election and campaign ballot measures
- See also: Elections and campaigns on the ballot and List of Hawaii ballot measures
Ballotpedia has tracked 5 statewide ballot measures relating to elections and campaigns.
- Hawaii Candidate Resignation, Amendment 5 (1978)
- Hawaii Campaign Finance, Amendment 6 (1978)
- Hawaii Unopposed Candidate Primary Elections, Amendment 3 (1988)
- Hawaii Primary Election Voting, Amendment 11 (1968)
- Hawaii Regarding Executive Positions, Amendment 15 (1968)
Election-related agencies
- See also: Campaign finance agencies in Hawaii and State election agencies
Candidates running for office may require some form of interaction with the following agencies:
Hawaii Office of Elections
- Why: This agency oversees candidate filing and election procedures.
- 802 Lehua Avenue
- Pearl City, Hawaii 96782
- Telephone: (808) 453-8683
- Toll-free: (800) 442-8683
- Fax: (808) 453-6006
- Email: elections@hawaii.gov
- http://hawaii.gov/elections/
Campaign Spending Commission
- Why: This agency oversees the campaign finance process by enforcing laws, administering public finances and training campaign committees.
- Leiopapa A Kamehameha Building
- 235 S. Beretania Street, Room 300
- Honolulu, HI 96813
- Telephone: (808) 586-0285
- Fax: (808) 586-0288
- http://ags.hawaii.gov/campaign/
Hawaii State Ethics Commission
- Why: This agency administers and enforces the governmental ethics and lobbying laws.
- Physical address: 1001 Bishop Street, Suite 970, Honolulu, HI 96813
- Mailing address: P.O. Box 616, Honolulu, HI 96809
- Telephone: (808) 587-0460
- Fax: (808) 587-0470
- http://hawaii.gov/ethics/
Recent news
The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms Hawaii campaign finance. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.
See also
- ↑ Federal Election Commission, "About the FEC," accessed June 27, 2012
- ↑ Federal Election Commission, "Candidate Registration Brochure," accessed December 7, 2012
- ↑ New York Times, "Justices, 5-4, Reject Corporate Spending Limit," January 21, 2010
- ↑ Federal Election Commission, "Speechnow.org v. FEC," April 7, 2014
- ↑ OpenSecrets, "Two Federal Court Rulings Could Change Campaign Finance Landscape," March 26, 2010
- ↑ Federal Election Commission, "Ongoing Litigation," accessed March 18, 2015
- ↑ State of Hawaii Campaign Spending Commission, "Guidebook for Noncandidate Committees," accessed May 21, 2015
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 Hawaii Campaign Spending Commission, "Candidate Committee Guidebook," accessed March 12, 2014
- ↑ Hawaii Revised Statutes, "Chapter 11, Part XIII, Section 321," accessed March 12, 2014
- ↑ Hawaii Revised Statutes, "Chapter 11, Part XIII, Section 322," accessed March 12, 2014
- ↑ Hawaii Revised Statutes, "Chapter 11, Part XIII, Section 333," accessed March 12, 2014
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