Virginia State Board of Elections : Committee Types

Types of Political Committees

Political Action Committee

Political Party Committee

Referendum Committee

Inaugural Committee

Out-of-State Committee

Political Action Committee (PAC)

Any person, association, organization or group of individuals that anticipates receiving contributions and/or spending funds in excess of $200 for the purpose of influencing the outcome of any non-federal election in Virginia must register as a political committee with the SBE.

Corporations and unions that contribute from their direct operating funds are not subject to the requirements of the Act unless these organizations make an independent expenditure that benefits a non-federal Virginia candidate or political committee.

Any one of the following is considered a Political Action Committee if they are soliciting contributions, of which more than 75% of those funds will be used to influence the outcome of a non-federal Virginia election:

• Stock or non-stock corporation;

• Labor organization;

• Membership organization; or

• Cooperative or other group.

Federal PACs

Any political action committee that is registered with the Federal Election Commission is only required to file a Statement of Organization with SBE. For more information on the requirements of FEC PACs please see the Summary on the Laws and Policies for Out-of-State Political Committees.

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Political Party Committee

Any political party committee that anticipates receiving contributions and/or spending funds in excess of $200 in order to influence the outcome of any non-federal election in Virginia must register as a political party committee with the SBE.

Virginia recognizes only two political parties: Democrats and Republicans. All other party organizations are required to register as Political Action Committees. Please see the Summary on Laws and Policies for Political Action Committees for more information on their reporting requirements.

Local Party Exemptions

Any county, city or local district political party committees that do not raise or spend more than $15,000 in a calendar year are exempt from registering as a Party Committee in Virginia and are not required to file campaign finance reports. However, the exemption does not apply to county or city party committees which have a population of more than 100,000 according to the 2000 decennial census.

Types of Party Committees

A political party committee can be any of the following types of organizations:

• State Committee;

• City Party Committee;

• County Party Committee;

• Local District Party Committee;

• Congressional District Party Committee;

• State Legislative District Party Committee; or

• Organized Political Party Group of Elected Officials.

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Referendum Committee

Any organization (including 501 (c)(3), (c)(4) and (c)(6) organizations), person, group of persons, candidate campaign committee, or political committee that makes expenditures in a calendar year in excess of:

• $10,000 to advocate the passage or defeat of a statewide referendum;

• $5,000 to advocate the passage or defeat of a referendum being held in two or more counties and cities; or

• $1,000 to advocate the passage or defeat of a referendum held in a single county or city

are required to register as a referendum committee and begin filing campaign finance reports with SBE.

Any advertisement supporting or opposing a referendum on the ballot is exempt from Political Advertisement disclaimer requirements.

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Inaugural Committee

Any person, organization, or group of persons or political action committee that anticipates receiving contributions and/or spending funds, other than publicly appropriated funds, for the inauguration of the Governor, Lieutenant Governor, or Attorney General is required to submit a Statement of Organization and disclose its financial activity to the State Board of Elections.

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Out-of-State Committee

An out-of-state political committee is typically a § 527 organization or a political committee that is filing campaign finance reports with another state. “Out-of-State” is not a geographical determinant. Instead, it refers to any political organization that was organized for purposes other than to expressly advocate a candidate participating in a non-federal Virginia election. The term does not include political action committees registered with the Federal Election Commission, § § 501 (c)(4) or 501 (c)(6) organizations.

To qualify as an out-of-state political committee, the organization’s primary purpose must not be to expressly advocate the election or defeat of a non-federal candidate in Virginia. In other words, the committee must not have made contributions to non-federal candidates or political committees registered in Virginia which total more than 50% of their total expenditures. In other words, if your committee has made $100,000 in expenditures during the current year, and $50,000 or more of those expenditures were contributions to candidates or political committees in Virginia, then you qualify as PAC in Virginia and your committee should refer to the Summary of Laws and Policies for Political Action Committees (PACs). Otherwise, your committee should consider itself an out-of-state political committee.

The primary purpose of the committee is determined by reviewing the committee’s entire history of reporting and not simply reviewing the committee’s last report or even the committee’s current election cycle.

Virginia committees exceed $10,000 per year, then the committee must register with SBE and file a Statement of Organization. The threshold stated in this paragraph applies to all contributions and not just contributions to a single candidate or committee.

Corporations and unions that contribute from their direct operating funds are not subject to the requirements of the Act unless these organizations make an independent expenditure that benefit a non-federal Virginia candidate or political committee.

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