Beware Regulatory Pitfalls in Your Political Campaign
We strongly suggest if your budget permits, that you retain an attorney or at least consult with one regarding your campaign. I am not an attorney, nor do I give legal advice but with many years of campaign experience I can point out some common mistakes that campaigns make, and how to avoid them.
- Make sure you check residency requirements for the office you are seeking. These requirements vary for example for some state offices you do not have to live in the district until you are sworn in, but they vary from 6 months to a year prior to qualifying for other county or municipal offices. Check with your county elections supervisor or city clerk for exact requirements before filing.
- When considering a treasurer there are some accounting firms that provide this service, if you have the budget, you should contact one of these. If you do not have an ample budget then you might consider a friend or family member that has a grasp of math and finance, is detail oriented and reliable. The reports themselves are not overly complicated, but you will need some understanding of rules/laws and be familiar with required reporting dates.
- Disclaimers are required on everything that you print (except for wearables) .There are different disclaimers depending on whether its coming directly from your campaign, political committee, or electioneering communication Organization. Wording for different disclaimers are available on handbooks made available by the Florida Division of Elections (see links below)
Federal election rules are different and harder to navigate than state rules, for example while coordination between PACs and campaigns are permitted with very few exceptions in local and state races, it is strictly prohibited and enforced in federal campaigns.
These are the basics and there are obviously more rules/laws that you should be familiar with so as we have suggested you should consult an attorney familiar with election laws or if that’s not feasible you can consult handbooks (Below) provided by the Florida Division of Elections and Federal Elections Commission