Campaign finance requirements in Mississippi

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Mississippi 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, in Mississippi, campaign contributions were only limited for corporations, which could give up to $1,000 per year to individual candidates and party committees. However, there was no limit for corporate contributions to PACs or ballot measures. Individuals, candidate committees, PACs, political parties, Super PACs, and unions could make unlimited contributions.

Background

Seal of the United States Federal Election Commission

The Federal Election Commission (FEC) is the independent regulatory agency responsible for administering and enforcing federal campaign election laws. The FEC is responsible for disclosing campaign finance information, enforcing limits and prohibitions on contributions and the oversight of the public funding of presidential elections. According to the FEC, an individual becomes a federal candidate, and must begin to report their campaign finances, once he or she has either raised or spent $5,000 in pursuit of his or her campaign. Within fifteen days of this benchmark for status as a candidate, the candidate must register with the FEC and designate an official campaign committee, to be 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 the committee. Detailed financial reports are then made to the FEC every financial quarter after the individual is registered with the FEC. Reports are also made before primaries and before the general election.

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. 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, remain constitutional. In 2014's McCutcheon v. Federal Election Commission decision, the court overturned biennial aggregate campaign contribution limits, and held that individuals may now contribute to as many federal candidates as they want, but may only contribute up to the federal limit in each case.

While the FEC governs federal election campaigns and contribution limits, individual states require their own level of regulation and reporting. The amount of regulation required differs by state, as do the 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 Mississippi as of May 2015. The uppermost row of the table indicates the contributor, while the leftmost column indicates the recipient.

Mississippi contribution limits as of May 2015
	Individuals	Single candidates committees	Legislative campaign committees	PACs (state and federal)	Political party	Super PACs	Corporations	Unions
Statewide candidate (inc governor)	unlimited	unlimited	N/A	unlimited	unlimited	unlimited	$1,000	unlimited
Senate	unlimited	unlimited	N/A	unlimited	unlimited	unlimited	$1,000	unlimited
Assembly	unlimited	unlimited	N/A	unlimited	unlimited	unlimited	$1,000	unlimited
PAC	unlimited	unlimited	N/A	unlimited	unlimited	unlimited	unlimited	unlimited
Party committees	unlimited	unlimited	N/A	unlimited	unlimited	unlimited	$1,000	unlimited
Ballot measures	unlimited	unlimited	N/A	unlimited	unlimited	unlimited	unlimited	unlimited
Sources: Secretary of State, Mississippi, "2015 Campaign Finance Guide," accessed May 21, 2015

Candidate requirements

Seal of Mississippi

See statutes: Title 97, Chapter 13, Section 15 of the Mississippi Code

All candidates are required by law to submit regular campaign finance disclosure reports. A candidate is defined as any person who has filed qualifying papers or has spent or received over $200 in aggregate for the purposes of an election campaign. Once the filing deadline has passed, everyone who has submitted qualifying papers is considered a candidate, regardless of the amount spent or received on the campaign.

If a candidate opts to authorize a political committee to act on his or her behalf, the committee must file a statement of organization within 10 days of receiving or spending more than $200. The Statement of Organization must include the following information:

1. names and addresses of the committee members and all officers
2. must designate a director and treasurer
3. must include the name, office sought, and party affiliation (if applicable) of the candidate

The form of the statement is prescribed by the Mississippi Secretary of State.

All reports must include the following types of information:

• Aggregate year-to-date totals: grand totals of contributions received and grand totals of expenditures and disbursements made
• Contributions: itemized listing of every person, business or entity contributing aggregate year-to-date totals of more than $200; information must include the name, address, occupation and employer of the contributor, as well as the date and amount of the contribution
• Disbursements: itemized listing of every person, business or entity receiving aggregate year-to-date totals of more than $200; information must include the name and address of the recipient, as well as the date and amount of the expenditure

In addition to regularly scheduled disclosure reports, candidates and committees must report contributions of more than $200 received between the 10th day and 48 hours before 12:01 a.m. on the date of the election.

Candidates for statewide and state legislative office submit reports to the Mississippi Secretary of State.

Candidates and committees must file regular reports until they file termination reports. A termination report can be filed when contributions are no longer being accepted, expenditures are no longer being made, and there are no outstanding debts or obligations associated with the candidate's or committee's activities.

Campaign finance legislation

The following is a list of recent campaign finance bills that have been introduced in or passed by the Mississippi 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 Mississippi ballot measures

Ballotpedia has tracked 3 statewide ballot measures relating to elections and campaigns.

1. Mississippi Voter Identification Amendment, Initiative 27 (2011)
2. Mississippi Candidate Districts, Amendment 5 (1987)
3. Mississippi Election of the Governor, Amendment 2 (1982)

Election-related agencies

See also: Campaign finance agencies in Mississippi and State election agencies

Candidates running for office may require some form of interaction with the following agencies:

• Mississippi Secretary of State
  

Why: This agency provides and processes qualifying paperwork (for independent candidates; partisan candidates submit to their parties).

Physical address: Heber Ladner Building, 401 Mississippi Street, Jackson, Mississippi 39201-1004

Mailing address: P. O. Box 136, Jackson, MS 39205-0136

Telephone: 601.576.2550

Toll-free: 1.800.829.6786

Fax: 404-651-9531

http://www.sos.ms.gov/elections.aspx

• Mississippi Ethics Commission

Why: This agency administers the state's campaign finance reporting laws.

Physical address: 660 North Street, Suite 100-C, Jackson, MS 39202

Mailing address: P.O. Box 22746, Jackson, MS 39225-2746

Telephone: (601) 359-1285

Fax: (601) 359-1292

Email: info@ethics.state.ms.us

http://www.ethics.state.ms.us/

Recent news

The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms Mississippi campaign finance. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.

Campaign finance requirements in Mississippi - Google News

See also

• Campaign finance regulation
• Ballot access requirements for political candidates in Mississippi
• Mississippi