Amendments Adopted September 19, 2007
SECRETARY OF STATE
[8 CCR 1505-6]
RULES CONCERNING CAMPAIGN AND POLITICAL FINANCE 

Rule 1.4 is amended as follows:
1.4	“Corporation”, as used in Article XXVIII, shall have the same meaning as set forth in section 1-45-103(7), C.R.S. 
New Rule 1.6 is adopted as follows:

1.6	“Issue”, as used in Article XXVIII of the Colorado Constitution and Article 45 of Title 1, C.R.S., shall mean a “ballot issue” or “ballot question” as such terms are defined in section 1-1-104(2.3) and (2.7), C.R.S.  For the purposes Article XXVIII, section 2(10)  of the Colorado Constitution, a matter shall be considered an “issue” at the earliest of the following:

	a. 	It has had a title designated and fixed in accordance with law;

	b.	It has been referred to the voters by a governing board or the general assembly; 

	c.	In the case of a citizen referendum petition, it has been submitted for format approval in accordance with law;

	d.	a petition has been circulated and signed by at least one person; except that, where a matter becomes an “issue” upon such signing, a person or persons opposing such issue shall not be considered an “issue committee” until one such person knows or has reason to know of the circulation; or

Succeeding subsections of Rule 1 are renumbered accordingly

Rule 2.2 is amended as follows:
2.2 	A candidate may serve as the candidate committee’s registered agent or appoint someone to be the registered agent. The candidate and the registered agent shall sign the candidate committee registration form, and only the registered agent or the candidate may sign the contribution and expenditure report. The registered agent for any issue committee, political committee, small donor committee, or political party shall sign the committee’s registration form and all disclosure reports.  [1-45-108(3)(b)]

Rule 2.5 is amended as follows:
2.5	An issue committee may support or oppose more than one issue without having to open numerous campaign accounts and file numerous committee registration forms if the following conditions are met: the specific issues are included on the committee registration form at such time as an issue meets the provisions of Rule 1.5; no generic phraseology may be used once such an issue is known (i.e.: Support or oppose issues affecting the basic rights of cattle); and the registration form states whether the committee will be supporting or opposing said issues. [Article XXVIII, Section 2(10)(a)(I) and (2)(10)(a)(II)] 

Rule 2.8 is amended as follows:
2.8	A political committee that is subject to reporting pursuant to both section 1-45-108, C.R.S., and the “Federal Election Commission Act of 1971” may file with the appropriate officer a copy of the registration filed with the federal election commission and, insofar as such registration contains substantially the same information required by subsection (3) of section 1-45-108, C.R.S., the political committee shall be considered to have registered with the appropriate officer for purposes of subsection (3) of section 1-45-108, C.R.S.. The political committee shall not be required to file disclosure reports if copies of the reports required to be filed with the Federal Election Commission pursuant to the “Federal Election Commission Act of 1971”, as amended, are filed with the appropriate officer or are electronically available in the office of the appropriate officer and if such reports include the information required by section 1-45-108, C.R.S.

Rule 2.10 is amended as follows:
2.10	In accordance with the procedures set out in the “State Administrative Procedure Act” (Article 4 of Title 24, Colorado Revised Statutes), the secretary of state may close an inactive committee after two years of non-reporting. A committee shall be deemed inactive for the purpose of this rule after such committee has failed to file any reports with the appropriate filing officer for two consecutive years. [Article XXVIII, Section 2(3), and 24-4-105]  
2.10.1	A county clerk and recorder or municipal clerk designated as a committee’s appropriate filing officer pursuant to section 1-45-109, C.R.S., may request the secretary of state to close a committee pursuant to this Rule.  Such request shall be submitted in writing and contain a statement from the county clerk and recorder or municipal clerk that no disclosure reports have been received for at least two years either manually or electronically from such committee, and any other information that is relevant. 

New Rule 2.11 is adopted as follows:

2.11	The “appropriate filing officer” for a political committee whose purpose is to support school board candidates or an issue committee whose purpose is to support or oppose a ballot issue, question, or measure for a school district not wholly contained within a single county shall be the county clerk and recorder of the county where the school district administrative offices are located. 

New Rule 3.10 is adopted as follows:
3.10	Disposition of debt in anticipation of committee termination
a.	Notwithstanding any negative balance for a prior election cycle, all contributions received by a candidate committee in the current election cycle shall be subject to the limits on contributions set forth in section 3 of Article XXVIII of the Colorado Constitution and shall be reported accordingly.
b.	Any financial obligations incurred by a candidate committee in an election cycle that are not paid within a commercially reasonable period of time, not to exceed six (6) months after the close of that election cycle, shall be treated as “contributions” from the service provider or vendor extending credit.  
c.	In accordance with Article XXVIII, section 10(1) of the Colorado Constitution, where the treatment of such financial obligations as “contributions” results in a violation of any limit on contributions, a candidate shall be personally liable for any penalties imposed upon the committee.  
d.	Any service provider or vendor extending credit who has made a commercially reasonable attempt to collect such debt shall not be considered to have made a “contribution.”  An attempt to collect such debt shall be considered commercially reasonable if the service provider or vendor has pursued its remedies as vigorously as it would pursue its remedies against a nonpolitical debtor in similar circumstances. 

Rule 4.7 is repealed and succeeding subsections of Rule 4 are renumbered accordingly.

Rule 4.10 is amended as follows:

4.9	Disclosure of Occupation and Employer

4.9.1	The requirement to disclose the occupation and employer of a contributor in Article XXVIII, section 7 of the Colorado Constitution and section 1-45-108, C.R.S., applies to any one-time contribution of $100 or more, and not to aggregate contributions totaling $100 or more.

4.9.2	If occupation and employer information as required by Article XXVIII, Section 7 is not provided, and the committee is unable to gather the information within 30 days after receipt of the contribution, the contribution shall be returned to the contributor no later than the 31st day after receipt.

New Rule 4.17 is adopted as follows:

4.17	The unexpended balance shall be reported as the ending balance throughout the election cycle.  Unexpended balances from the final report filed thirty days after the applicable election shall be reported as the beginning balance in the next election cycle.

New Rule 4.18 is adopted as follows:

4.18  	In accordance with Article XXVIII, section 3(9) of the Colorado Constitution, the requirement that committee funds be deposited into “a financial institution” shall not mean that all committee funds must be deposited into one single bank, credit union, or other commercial financial institution.

New Rule 4.19 is adopted as follows:
4.19	Investment of funds
4.19.1	A candidate committee, issue committee, political committee, small donor committee, or political party may invest the committee’s funds in any type of account or instrument of a government regulated financial institution.  
4.19.2 	Any change in the balance of funds resulting solely from the accrual of interest or dividends to the account and/or the automatic deduction of periodic service fees is not a contribution or an expenditure and shall not be subject to contribution limits, but shall be disclosed as miscellaneous income or expense on any disclosure report for which the interest, dividend, or service fee was received or charged.

New Rule 4.20 is adopted as follows:
4.20	Political organizations.  In the case of political organizations as defined in section 1-45-103(14.5), C.R.S.:

	4.20.1	The political organization shall report any contributions accepted of twenty dollars ($20) or more during a reporting period and funds expended of twenty dollars ($20) or more during a reporting period for the purpose of “influencing or attempting to influence the selection, nomination, election, or appointment of any individual to any state or local public office.”  

	4.20.2	Political organizations shall file according to the filing schedules set forth in section 1-45-108(2), C.R.S.  

		a.	For the purposes of this Rule, “off-election year” for a political organization shall mean every odd numbered year.

		b.	For the purposes of this Rule, “major election” shall mean an election held in November of an even numbered year.

	4.20.3	Political organizations shall not be required to file disclosure reports for reporting periods when no contributions of twenty dollars ($20) or more were received and spending was less than twenty dollars ($20).

	4.20.4	Political organizations shall file all applicable disclosure reports required by section 1-45-103(14.5), C.R.S., with the appropriate filing officer.  For the purposes of this rule, the appropriate filing officer shall be the same for political organizations as for political committees as outlined in section 1-45-109, C.R.S.
		[1-45-108.5]

New Rule 4.21 is adopted as follows:

4.21	Disclosure of contributions by Limited Liability Companies (LLCs).  [1-45-103.7(5), (6), (7), and (8)]

4.21.1	The written affirmation provided by an LLC in accordance with section 1-45-103.7, C.R.S., shall include the names and addresses of the LLC’s members and describe how the contribution is to be attributed to the LLC’s members.

	4.21.2	The affirmation shall include the occupation and employer of any member to whom a contribution of one hundred dollars ($100) or more is attributed.

4.21.3 	A committee that receives a permissible contribution from an LLC that is attributed to one or more of the LLC’s members shall report the contributor as the member or members to whom the contribution was attributed.  The contributor shall not be reported as the LLC if the contribution is attributed to one or more of the LLC’s members.

	4.21.4	Any contributions received by a committee from an LLC that does not comply with the affirmation requirements set forth in section 1-45-103.7, C.R.S., and this Rule 4.21 shall be returned to the contributor within thirty (30) days.
	
New Rule 4.22 is adopted as follows:
4.22	In accordance with Article XXVIII, sections 2(8), 2(9), and 3(4)(a) of the Colorado Constitution, corporations or labor organizations shall not make expenditures, including independent expenditures, that expressly advocate the election or defeat of a candidate.

New Rule 4.23 is adopted as follows:

4.23	Redaction of Personal Sensitive Information from Disclosure Reports

4.23.1 Any person who believes their safety or the safety of an immediate family member may be in jeopardy as a result of information disclosed on any campaign finance report filed with the Secretary of State pursuant to Title 1, Article 45, C.R.S., may apply to the Secretary of State to redact sensitive personal information from the online versions of such report(s).  The Secretary of State, upon a showing of good cause, may redact the minimum amount of sensitive information necessary to protect the safety of such person or his or her immediate family.  If the Secretary of State redacts sensitive information disclosed on a campaign finance report, the original unredacted report shall remain a public record pursuant to Title 24, Article 72, C.R.S.

4.23.2  Applications for redaction of sensitive information shall be submitted in writing and shall include the requestor’s name, the identified entry(s) of concern, a justification for the application, and the committee to whom the contribution(s) was made or expenditure(s) received.  

Rule 5.6 is amended as follows:
5.6	Reports filed electronically.
a.	Reports filed electronically are due on the same date as manually filed reports and are due no later than close of business pursuant to section 1-45-109(2), C.R.S.  Close of business for the purpose of electronic filing shall mean 11:59 p.m.
b.	If the electronic filing system is unavailable for filing for a total of more than one hour after 4:00 p.m. on the due date for filing a report, the secretary of state may extend the due date for an additional day for electronically filed reports.  [1-45-108(2.3), 1-45-109(6)]

Rule 5.10 is amended as follows:
5.10	For purposes of section 1-45-108(2)(d), which exempts a candidate committee for a former officeholder or person not elected to office from reporting if there is no change in the balance of funds maintained by such committee and if certain other conditions are met, a change in the balance of funds resulting solely from the accrual of interest or dividends to the account and/or the automatic deduction of periodic service fees does not subject such candidate committee to the reporting requirements of section 1-45-108,  C.R.S., except that such candidate committee shall file an annual report for each calendar year.  State candidate committees shall file such report not later than January 15th of the following year, and county and municipal candidate committees shall file such report in accordance with section 1-45-108(2)(a)(II), C.R.S.  Candidate committees that choose this option must notify, in writing, the appropriate filing officer of their intent. [1-45-108(2)(c) and (2)(d)]

Rule 5.11 is repealed and succeeding subsections of Rule 5 are renumbered accordingly.

New Rule 5.12 is adopted as follows: 
5.12	Once a committee has declared its committee status as active or inactive in a particular year, the committee shall follow the appropriate filing schedule for the remainder of that calendar year, except that an inactive committee may change its status to active at any time.

New Rule 6.4 is adopted as follows:

6.4	Political organizations. 

6.4.1 	If any person believes that a political organization has violated the provisions of section 1-45-108.5, C.R.S., the person may file a written complaint with the Secretary of State.

		a.	The complaint shall include the information required by, and shall be submitted in accordance with Rule 6.3.  

		b.	If the complaint is complete, the secretary of state shall promptly transmit the complaint to the Division of Administrative Hearings in the Department of Personnel and Administration for consideration by an administrative law judge in accordance with Rule 6.3. 

		c.	A political organization that has violated section 1-45-108.5, C.R.S. shall not be subject to fines, but shall be ordered to comply with the requirements of section 1-45-108.5, C.R.S.

Rule 8.1 is amended as follows:
8.1	The special district designated election official or, as applicable, the presiding officer or the secretary of the board of directors, under section 32-1-804.3(5), C.R.S., shall provide to the county clerk and recorder of the county in which the district court having jurisdiction over the special district pursuant to section 32-1-303, C.R.S., is located, the self-nomination and acceptance forms and letters, and affidavits of intent to be a write-in candidate no later than the date established for certification of the special district’s ballot pursuant to section 1-5-203(3)(a), C.R.S.

New Rule 8.4 is adopted as follows:
8.4	If the special district candidate affidavit, the filed self-nomination and acceptance form or letter, or the affidavit of intent to be a write-in candidate contains a statement substantially stating, “I shall not, in my campaign for this office, receive contributions or make expenditures exceeding twenty dollars ($20) in the aggregate, however, if I do so, I shall thereafter file all disclosure reports required under the fair campaign practices act,” then no filing of disclosure reports is required unless and until the twenty dollar ($20) threshold has been met. [Article XXVIII, Section 2(2) and 1-45-108(1)]

Rule 9.4 is repealed and new Rule 9.4 is adopted as follows:
9.4	Pursuant to the decisions of the Colorado Court of Appeals in the case of Harwood v.  Senate Majority Fund, LLC, 141 P.3d 962 (2006), and of the United States Supreme Court in the case of FEC v. Wisconsin Right to Life, 127 S. Ct. 2652 (2007), a communication shall be deemed an electioneering communication only if it is susceptible to no reasonable interpretation other than as an appeal to vote for or against a specific candidate.  In making this determination, (1) there can be no free-ranging intent-and-effect test; (2) there generally should be no discovery or inquiry into contextual factors; (3) discussion of issues cannot be banned merely because the issues might be relevant to an election; (4) in a debatable case, the tie is resolved in favor of not deeming a matter to be an electioneering communication.

Rule 11.1 is amended as follows:
11.1	All disclosure reports filed with the secretary of state pursuant to Article XXVIII of the Colorado Constitution and Article 45 of Title 1 of the Colorado Revised Statutes shall be filed electronically.  Reports required to be filed electronically with the secretary of state under this rule that are presented for manual filing shall not be accepted.  This Rule shall not apply to personal financial disclosure reports required by section 1-45-110, C.R.S.

Rule 11.3 is amended as follows:
11.3	For the purposes of this rule 11, “electronic filing” is defined as the filing of reports required by Article XXVIII of the Colorado Constitution and Article 45 of Title 1 of the Colorado Revised Statutes utilizing the internet system created by the secretary of state pursuant to section 1-45-109(6), C.R.S.

Rule 11.4 is amended as follows:
11.4	For the purposes of this rule 11, “entry” is defined as any contribution, expenditure, returned contribution, returned expenditure, loan, loan repayment, or in connection with a political organization, spending.