Independent Expenditures are expenditures that are made to support or oppose one or more clearly identified candidates, without consultation or coordination with a candidate or agent of a candidate that the expenditure supports.
An Independent Expenditure Political Action Committee (IE PAC) is a political committee with the primary purpose to make independent expenditures supporting or opposing candidates.
Within 10 calendar days of the “first activity,” IE PACs must complete organization by filing certain paperwork with the State or County Board of Elections, depending on the type of candidates (State or County) being supported or opposed through independent expenditures.
The appointment of the treasurer is the first step along with the completion of the Statement of Organization – Independent Expenditure Political Committee (CRO-2100G) and the Certification of Financial Account Number Information (CRO-3500). Additional paperwork is necessary for the initial disclosure report that covers the first ten days of activity (Organizational Disclosure Report).
The first of the following activities by the independent expenditure political action committee starts the ten days:
Receiving money or an item of any value to the committee or
Spending money in support of the committee
Some examples may help clarify the idea of a “first activity” from a Campaign Finance perspective:
Ms. Skrilla and a group of friends are considering forming a group to support a candidate for NC House. They intend to do this independently and not make contributions to the candidate from this group. Up to this point, no “official action” has been taken, but one of the friends gives Ms. Skrilla a check for the new group. Ms. Skrilla didn’t open a bank account to deposit the funds until a week later. She figures that “nothing official” has happened until the check is deposited into that campaign finance account. She’s wrong. Her ten days started when she accepted her friend’s check, not when she deposited it into an account.
Mr. Bling agrees to help organize a local group to oppose a candidate for NC House. The group will raise money and run ads independently and not coordinate with the candidate that they support. He decides that he’ll make an announcement the following week. Mr. Bling, eager to get things started, rushes out that day and rents a post office box for the committee. Mr. Bling figures that until he receives a monetary contribution, nothing “official” has happened. He’s wrong. His ten days started when his committee received an item of value that was meant for his campaign (the P. O. Box). Mr. Bling’s spending funds to rent the P. O. Box constitutes what is called an in-kind contribution from him to the new committee.