Any political committee, except that of a political party, must register with the Secretary of State not later than 24 hours after receiving any contribution in excess of $500 OR before making an expenditure in excess of $500, but in no event later than 14 days after the formation of the committee.
Candidate committees must include a written consent from the candidate or the candidate's fiscal agent.
The fee for registration for any committee (not of a candidate or of a political party) is $50.
Each political committee must have a treasurer or agent who is a resident of New Hampshire.
The committee registration must indicate whether the committee will be making independent expenditures and must state the purpose of the committee.
Termination of Political Committees.
Political committee registrations
are valid for any election up until 10 days after the election for which they
are registered,
unless terminated previously by the committee. However, any committee which has a
continuing obligation to report as required under RSA 664:6 shall continue to exist for
the purpose of making such reports.
Late Filing of Reports.
Reports filed late during the election cycle are
subject to the following fine schedule determined by the date of receipt at the Office of
the Secretary of State.
| Political Action Committee $25/day |
| Governor $25/day |
| Executive Council $25/day |
| County Officers $25/day |
| State Senate $5/day |
| State Representative $5/day |
What must be reported and when?
Political Committees must report at the next applicable reporting date when they have either
received or spent an aggregate total of more than $500.
Candidates and political party committees must report at the next applicable reporting date when they have spent more than $500.
Reporting of Contributions.
Reports by Political Committees and Candidates must include all contributions.
Contributions under $25.00 may be listed as unitemized.
All contributions of $25.00 and over must be listed alphabetically by the contributor's name.
When any contributor has given an aggregate of more than $100. for either the primary or the general election, that person's name, home address, occupation, employer's name, and city or town of business must be included.
Reporting of Expenditures.
All expenditures must be listed with the name
and address of persons or other entities paid, the election for which the expenditure was
made, the date paid, and the nature and amount of each expenditure.
Prohibited Contributions.
Candidates and Political Action Committees which support, or oppose candidates, cannot
accept contributions made directly from labor unions. They
may accept voluntary contributions from corporate employees or members of
unions. Corporations may contribute amounts in the same manner as a person. (See
Kennedy v. Gardner)
Corporations or labor unions may form Political Action Committees to accept voluntary contributions.