Blackwell Reference Online

Extract

(7 February 1972) This law (as amended in 1974, 1976, and 1979) regulates all federal elections and provides public financing for presidential candidates through the Federal Election Commission. Campaign contributions by individuals are limited to $1,000 per candidate per election, and no individual can make total donations exceeding $25,000 in one year. Political action committees (PACs) cannot give over $5,000 to one candidate per election, but have no limit on their total donations. No spending limit exists on candidates for Congress, but presidential candidates cannot spend more than $20,200,000 on primaries and their parties may not spend more than two cents per voter in their behalf (about the total spent in the primaries). Independent or third-party candidates can receive federal matching funds for primaries once they raise over $100,000 in voluntary contributions; they can be reimbursed for general election costs if they win at least 5 percent of the vote. ... log in or subscribe to read full text