§ 21-A §1014 — Publication or distribution of political public communications

1.
Authorized by candidate.
Whenever a person makes an expenditure to finance a public communication expressly advocating the election or defeat of a clearly identified candidate, the public communication, if authorized by a candidate, a candidate's authorized political committee or a candidate's or a candidate's authorized political committee's agents, must clearly and conspicuously state that the public communication has been so authorized and must clearly state the name and address of the person who made or financed the expenditure for the public communication. A public communication financed by a candidate or the candidate's committee is not required to state the address of the candidate or committee that financed the public communication. If a public communication that is financed by someone other than the candidate or the candidate's authorized committee is broadcast by radio, only the city and state of the address of the person who financed the public communication must be stated.
2.
Not authorized by candidate.
If a public communication described in subsection 1 is not authorized by a candidate, a candidate's authorized political committee or a candidate's or a candidate's authorized political committee's agents, the public communication must clearly and conspicuously state that the public communication is not authorized by any candidate and state the name and address of the person who made or financed the expenditure for the public communication, except that a public communication broadcast by radio is only required to state the city and state of the address of the person that financed the public communication. If the public communication is in written form, the public communication must contain at the bottom of the public communication in print that is no smaller in size than 12-point bold print, Times New Roman font, the words "NOT PAID FOR OR AUTHORIZED BY ANY CANDIDATE."
2-A.
Other public communications.
Whenever a person makes an expenditure to finance a public communication that names or depicts a clearly identified candidate and that is disseminated during the 28 days, including election day, before a primary election, during the 35 days, including election day, before a special election or during the period of time from Labor Day to the election day for a general election, the public communication must state the name and address of the person who made or financed the public communication and a statement that the public communication was or was not authorized by the candidate, except that a public communication broadcast by radio is only required to state the city and state of the address of the person that financed the public communication. The disclosure is not required if the public communication was not made for the purpose of influencing the candidate's nomination for election or election.
2-B.
Top 3 funders; independent expenditures.
A public communication that is funded by an entity making an independent expenditure as defined in section 1019‑B, subsection 1 must conspicuously include the following statement:
3.
Broadcasting prohibited without disclosure.
A person operating a broadcast, cable or satellite system within this State may not broadcast any public communication, as described in subsections 1 to 2‑A, without an oral or written visual announcement of the disclosure required by this section.
3-A.
In-kind contributions of printed materials.
A candidate, political committee or political action committee shall report on the campaign finance report as a contribution to the candidate, political committee or political action committee any contributions of in-kind printed materials to be used in the support of a candidate or in the support or defeat of a ballot question. Any in-kind contributions of printed materials used or distributed by a candidate, political committee or political action committee must include the name or title of that candidate, political committee or political action committee as the authorizing agent for the printing and distribution of the in-kind contribution.
3-B.
Newspapers.
A newspaper may not publish a public communication described in subsections 1 to 2‑A without including the disclosure required by this section. For purposes of this subsection, "newspaper" includes any printed material intended for general circulation or to be read by the general public, including a version of the newspaper displayed on a website owned or operated by the newspaper. When necessary, a newspaper may seek the advice of the commission regarding whether or not a communication requires the disclosure.
4.
Enforcement.
A violation of this section may result in a civil penalty of no more than 100% of the amount of the expenditure in violation, except that an expenditure for yard signs lacking the required information may result in a maximum civil penalty of $200. In assessing a civil penalty, the commission shall consider, among other things, how widely the public communication was disseminated, whether the violation was intentional, whether the violation occurred as the result of an error by a printer or other paid vendor and whether the public communication conceals or misrepresents the identity of the person who financed it. If the person who financed the public communication or who committed the violation corrects the violation within 10 days after receiving notification of the violation from the commission by adding the missing information to the public communication, the commission may decide to assess no civil penalty.
5.
Telephone calls.
5-A.
Text messages.
Text messages sent with the assistance of mass distribution technology that is paid for by a person must clearly and conspicuously state the name of the person who made or financed the expenditure if:
5-B.
Websites of candidate or political committee.
A website or other Internet application available to the general public that is established by a party committee or a person that is required to register with the commission as a candidate or political action committee and that expressly advocates for the election or defeat of a candidate or that names a clearly identified candidate during the 28 days, including election day, before a primary election, during the 35 days, including election day, before a special election or during the period of time from Labor Day to the election day for a general election must state the name and address of the person who made or financed the expenditure for the website or other Internet application and state that the website or other Internet application was or was not authorized by the candidate.
6.
Exclusions.
The requirements of this section do not apply to:

Legislative History

PL 1985, c. 161, §6 (NEW). PL 1987, c. 188, §17 (AMD). PL 1989, c. 504, §§5,6,31 (AMD). PL 1991, c. 466, §37 (AMD). PL 1991, c. 839, §§8-10 (AMD). PL 1995, c. 483, §6 (AMD). PL 2003, c. 302, §1 (AMD). PL 2003, c. 510, §F1 (AMD). PL 2003, c. 510, §F2 (AFF). PL 2003, c. 599, §15 (AFF). PL 2005, c. 301, §§10-12 (AMD). PL 2005, c. 308, §1 (AMD). PL 2005, c. 542, §1 (AMD). PL 2007, c. 443, Pt. A, §9 (AMD). PL 2009, c. 183, §1 (AMD). PL 2009, c. 190, Pt. A, §§2, 3 (AMD). PL 2009, c. 652, Pt. A, §20 (AMD). PL 2011, c. 360, §1 (AMD). PL 2011, c. 389, §§10-13 (AMD). PL 2013, c. 362, §§1-3 (AMD). PL 2013, c. 494, §§1-3 (AMD). IB 2015, c. 1, §§3, 4 (AMD). PL 2019, c. 323, §§5, 6 (AMD). PL 2021, c. 132, §§5, 6 (AMD). PL 2023, c. 324, §8 (AMD). PL 2025, c. 224, §7 (AMD).