Virginia Code 24.2-948.5: Reviews of campaign finance reports and records.
A. The Department shall have the authority to review the reports and records of the campaign committees. The purposes of the review shall be to (i) reconcile the balance in the campaign depository with the amounts reported in the candidate‘s reports of receipts and expenditures and (ii) review the reports for mathematical accuracy and facial completeness including the reporting of specific information required by law. In the performance of its review, the Department is authorized to request the production of monthly bank statements for, and copies of checks issued on, campaign depositories and itemized bills, invoices, and receipts for any expenditure of campaign funds in an amount greater than $500.
Terms Used In Virginia Code 24.2-948.5
- Board: means the State Board of Elections. See Virginia Code 24.2-101
- Campaign committee: means the committee designated by a candidate to receive all contributions and make all expenditures for him or on his behalf in connection with his nomination or election. See Virginia Code 24.2-945.1
- Candidate: means "candidate" as defined in § Virginia Code 24.2-945.1
- Department: means the state agency headed by the Commissioner of Elections. See Virginia Code 24.2-101
- Election: means a general, primary, or special election. See Virginia Code 24.2-101
- Expenditure: means money and services of any amount, and any other thing of value, paid, loaned, provided, or in any other way disbursed by any candidate, campaign committee, political committee, or person for the purpose of expressly advocating the election or defeat of a clearly identified candidate or by any inaugural committee for the purpose of defraying the costs of the inauguration of a Governor, Lieutenant Governor, or Attorney General. See Virginia Code 24.2-945.1
- State: when applied to a part of the United States, includes any of the 50 states, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, and the United States Virgin Islands. See Virginia Code 1-245
- Statewide office: means the office of Governor, Lieutenant Governor, or Attorney General. See Virginia Code 24.2-945.1
B. The Department shall review the reports and records of the campaign committees within 180 days following the general election. The Department shall review the reports and records of all of the campaign committees for candidates, including losing primary candidates, for statewide office; 10 percent of the campaign committees for candidates, including losing primary candidates, for the Senate and House of Delegates; and one percent of candidates, including losing primary candidates, for all other offices in any year in which such offices are elected. The State Board shall meet publicly to select the campaign committees to be reviewed by a drawing that ensures selection on a random basis.
C. No review shall be conducted of a campaign committee for any office that has received less than $25,000 in contributions during the campaign, including the transfer of surplus funds from a prior campaign. Campaign committees for candidates that are exempt from review pursuant to this subsection shall not be included in the drawing provided for in subsection B or counted in determining the number that equals the relevant percentage of the campaign committees to be reviewed.
D. In the performance of its duties under this section, the Department may employ the services of additional personnel to the extent that appropriated funds are available to the Department for such purpose.
E. The Department shall make a report of the results of its reviews available to the State Board, the Governor, and the General Assembly by July 1 of each year following the election year for the office to which the review pertains and the same shall be posted to the Department’s website.
2022, c. 258.