Section 68A.401. Reports filed with board.

  1.  All statements and reports required to be filed under this chapter shall be filed with the board as provided in this section and section 68A.402, subsection 1. The board shall post on its internet site all statements and reports filed under this chapter. For purposes of this section, the term “statement” does not include a bank statement.

  a.  A state statutory political committee, a county statutory political committee, a political committee expressly advocating for or against the nomination, election, or defeat of a candidate for statewide office or the general assembly, and a candidate’s committee of a candidate for statewide office or the general assembly shall file all statements and reports in an electronic format by 4:30 p.m. of the day the filing is due and according to rules adopted by the board.

  b.   Any other candidate or committee involved in a county, city, school, or other political subdivision election that accepts monetary or in-kind contributions in excess of two thousand dollars, or incurs indebtedness in excess of two thousand dollars in the aggregate in a calendar year, or makes expenditures in excess of two thousand dollars in a calendar year to expressly advocate for or against a clearly identified candidate or ballot issue shall file all statements and reports in an electronic format by 4:30 p.m. of the day the filing is due and according to rules adopted by the board. The committee shall continue to file subsequent statements and reports in an electronic format until being certified as dissolved under section 68A.402B.

  c.   Effective January 1, 2016, any other candidate or political committee not described in paragraphs “a” and “b” shall file all statements and reports in an electronic format by 4:30 p.m. of the day the filing is due according to rules adopted by the board pursuant to chapter 17A.

  d.  If the board determines that a violation of this subsection has occurred, the board may impose any of the remedies or penalties provided for under section 68B.32D, except that the board shall not refer any complaint or supporting information of a violation of this section to the attorney general or any county attorney for prosecution.

  2.  The board shall retain filed statements and reports for at least five years from the date of the election in which the committee is involved, or at least five years from the certified date of dissolution of the committee, whichever date is later.

  3.  The candidate of a candidate’s committee, or the chairperson of any other committee, is responsible for filing statements and reports under this chapter. The board shall send notice to a committee that has failed to file a disclosure report at the time required under section 68A.402. A candidate of a candidate’s committee, or the chairperson of any other committee, may be subject to a civil penalty for failure to file a disclosure report required under section 68A.402.

  4.  Political committees expressly advocating the nomination, election, or defeat of candidates for both federal office and any elected office created by law or the Constitution of the State of Iowa shall file statements and reports with the board in addition to any federal reports required to be filed with the board. However, a political committee that is registered and filing full disclosure reports of all financial activities with the federal election commission may file verified statements as provided in section 68A.201A.

[S13, §1137-a1, -a3; C24, 27, 31, 35, 39, §974, 975; C46, 50, 54, 58, 62, 66, 71, 73, §56.3, 56.4; C75, 77, 79, 81, §56.4;

81 Acts, ch 35, §4

]

87 Acts, ch 112, §4

; 93 Acts, ch 163, §33

; 95 Acts, ch 198, §4

; 99 Acts, ch 136, §3, 17

; 2002 Acts, ch 1073, §3, 11

; 2003 Acts, ch 40, §9

; 2003 Acts, ch 44, §28

2007 Acts, ch 14, §5

; 2007 Acts, ch 80, §1, 2, 5

; 2009 Acts, ch 8, §1, 2

; 2010 Acts, ch 1024, §3

; 2011 Acts, ch 34, §17

; 2011 Acts, ch 131, §53, 158

; 2013 Acts, ch 90, §257

; 2015 Acts, ch 54, §7, 8

2007 amendment adding paragraphs a and d to subsection 1 applies to committees that file a statement of organization on or after January 1, 2010, and to all committees, regardless of when they file statements of organization, on January 1, 2012;

2007 Acts, ch 80, §5

Subsection 1, unnumbered paragraph 1 amended

Subsection 1, paragraph a amended

Subsection 1, paragraph b stricken

Subsection 1, paragraphs c and d amended and redesignated as b and c

Subsection 1, paragraph e redesignated as d