Virginia Code 24.2-947.3: Campaign committee treasurer requirements and responsibilities.
A. Upon meeting any of the requirements of subsection A of § 24.2-947.1, the candidate shall appoint a single campaign treasurer who shall be a registered voter in Virginia. Every treasurer so appointed shall accept the appointment, in writing on the statement of organization, prior to the filing thereof. No individual shall act as treasurer unless the required statement of appointment has been filed. The same person may serve as campaign treasurer for more than one candidate.
Terms Used In Virginia Code 24.2-947.3
- 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
- Contribution: includes money, services, or things of value in any way provided by a candidate to his own campaign and the payment by the candidate of a filing fee for any party nomination method. See 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
- General registrar: means the person appointed by the electoral board of a county or city pursuant to § Virginia Code 24.2-101
- in writing: include any representation of words, letters, symbols, numbers, or figures, whether (i) printed or inscribed on a tangible medium or (ii) stored in an electronic or other medium and retrievable in a perceivable form and whether an electronic signature authorized by Virginia Code 1-257
- Independent expenditure: includes an expenditure made by a candidate campaign committee (i) that is not related to the candidate's own campaign and (ii) that is not made to, controlled by, coordinated with, or made with the authorization of a different candidate, his campaign committee, or an agent of that candidate or his campaign committee. See Virginia Code 24.2-945.1
- Jurisdiction: (1) The legal authority of a court to hear and decide a case. Concurrent jurisdiction exists when two courts have simultaneous responsibility for the same case. (2) The geographic area over which the court has authority to decide cases.
- Person: means any individual or corporation, partnership, business, labor organization, membership organization, association, cooperative, or other like entity. See Virginia Code 24.2-945.1
- Registered voter: means any person who is maintained on the Virginia voter registration system. See Virginia Code 24.2-101
- 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
- sworn: means "affirm" or "affirmed. See Virginia Code 1-250
B. In the event of the death, resignation, removal, or change of the treasurer, the candidate shall designate a successor and file the name and address of the successor within 10 days of the change with the State Board, general registrar, or both, as provided in subsection B of § 24.2-947.1.
C. Any candidate who fails to appoint a treasurer or successor treasurer shall be deemed to have appointed himself treasurer and shall comply as such with the provisions of this chapter.
D. All contributions and expenditures received or made by any candidate, or received or made on his behalf or in relation to his candidacy by any person, except independent expenditures, shall be paid over or delivered to the candidate’s treasurer or shall be reported to the treasurer in such detail and form as to allow him to comply fully with this chapter. An independent expenditure shall be reported pursuant to § 24.2-945.2 in lieu of being reported to the candidate’s treasurer.
E. The candidate or his treasurer shall keep detailed and accurate accounts of all contributions turned over to and expenditures made by the candidate or his treasurer on behalf of the candidate or his campaign committee, or reported to any candidate or his treasurer pursuant to this article. Such account shall set forth the date of the contribution or expenditure, its amount or value, the name and address of the person or committee making the contribution or to whom the expenditure was made, and the object or purpose of the contribution or expenditure. Such books and records may be destroyed or discarded at any time after (i) one year from the date of filing the final report required by § 24.2-948.4 or (ii) three years after the December 31 immediately following the election, whichever last occurs, unless a court of competent jurisdiction shall order their retention for a longer period.
F. The treasurer shall be responsible for retaining all bank statements for, and copies of checks issued on, the campaign depository and bills, invoices, and receipts for any expenditure greater than $500. The treasurer for a nonincumbent candidate shall retain such records and materials for a period starting from the date of the designation of the campaign depository for the campaign through July 1 of the year immediately following the year of the election. The treasurer for incumbent candidates shall retain such records and materials for a period starting from the date that the incumbent was sworn into office for the term being served at the time of the election through July 1 of the year immediately following the year of the election. The treasurer shall make such records and materials available to the Department or its designee upon request pursuant to the provisions of § 24.2-948.5.
G. It shall be unlawful for any candidate, his treasurer, or any person receiving contributions or making expenditures on a candidate’s behalf or in relation to his candidacy, to fail to report every contribution and expenditure as required by this article.
1970, c. 462, §§ 24.1-253, 24.1-254, 24.1-255, 24.2-256; 1971, Ex. Sess., c. 222; 1972, cc. 620, 622; 1975, c. 515; 1978, c. 778; 1981, c. 425; 1983, c. 119; 1984, c. 480; 1988, c. 616; 1990, c. 976; 1991, c. 9; 1993, cc. 641, 776, 921, §§ 24.2-904, 24.2-906, 24.2-907; 1996, c. 405; 2003, c. 248; 2004, cc. 441, 480; 2006, cc. 787, 892; 2015, cc. 644, 645; 2022, c. 258.