Candidates and political action committees (PACs) are responsible for ensuring their compliance with federal and state laws governing campaign finance. 

Federal candidates open their committees and file their finance reports with the Federal Election Commission. Statewide and state legislative candidates open their committees and file their finance reports with the Indiana Election Division. Judicial officers, countywide, local officials and school board candidates in Monroe County open their finance committees and file their campaign finance reports with the Monroe County Voter Registration Office.

A campaign finance committee may be opened at any time by using a CFA-1.

Please Note: do not confuse opening a campaign finance committee – whether it’s an exploratory committee or you’ve declared for an office – with filing your declaration of candidacy.

These are two separate and distinct actions. Opening a campaign finance committee means you have committed to raising or spending the threshold amount under state law triggering the filing of campaign finance reports. Once the committee is opened, the campaign finance reporting schedule must be followed until the committee is closed.

The candidate filing period occurs at very specific times each election cycle and requires candidates to file specific forms for their name to appear on the ballot in a primary or general election. Again, do not confuse opening a campaign finance committee with filing a declaration of candidacy. The former means money is being raised and/or spent to seek the office; the latter is a request for a name to appear on the ballot.

If there is an open committee for an office that is on the ballot in the current election cycle, please refer to the state's election calendar for the appropriate campaign finance deadlines.  If there is an open committee for an office but it is not on the ballot in the current election cycle, only the annual CFA-4 report is due.

Check out the Indiana Campaign Finance Manual.  It gives greater insights to all these details.

Monroe County candidates and those political action committees required to file with the Monroe County Election Board can file their report in one of the following ways:

• Mail – 401 W 7th St, Ste 100, Bloomington, IN 47404
  
• Hand-Deliver (during regular business hours) – 401 W 7th St, Ste 100, Bloomington, IN 47404
  
• Fax – 812-330-6460
• On-line, call 812-349-2690 for more information

Though deadline dates may vary throughout the year, campaign finance filing dates close promptly at NOON (12PM) on the deadline day. Open committees that do not timely file are subject to a $50 a day fine, which begins at 12:01 PM on the deadline date, up to a maximum of $1,000. Committees are notified of any fines accrued as a result of non-compliance with the deadline. Committees can choose to pay their fines in the full amount, reach a settlement agreement with the Election Board or ask the board to waive their fines by attending the Election Board meeting where these hearings are scheduled.

Please note: This information is not intended to be or replace legal advice. Whenever your important legal rights are at issue, please seek the advice of an attorney.