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FEC Compliance Guide

Overview

This comprehensive guide covers all Federal Election Commission (FEC) compliance requirements implemented in the POWERBACK platform, including donation limits, donor validation, email disclaimers, and audit requirements.

Table of Contents

Donation Limits and Tiers

Compliance Tiers

Guest Tier

  • Per-donation limit: $50
  • Annual cap: $200 across all candidates
  • Required information: Basic account information only
  • Use case: Low-value contributions with minimal compliance requirements

Compliant Tier

  • Per-election limit (UI): $3,500 per candidate per election (used for client‑side gating and messaging)
  • Authoritative cap (server): $3,500 across all candidates per election (backend is the final gate for compliance)
  • Required information:
    • Name (first + last)
    • Mailing address (street, city, state, ZIP)
    • Occupation and Employer
  • Use case: High-value contributions requiring full compliance

Limit Enforcement

The system enforces these limits in two layers:

  • Frontend (UI hints): Components and contexts (e.g. DonationLimitsContext, ComplianceTierContext) gate per-donation amounts and, for the Compliant tier, surface a per-candidate per-election $3,500 cap in the interface.
  • Backend (authoritative): Server‑side validation treats $3,500 as an across‑all‑candidates per‑election cap and is the final source of truth. If there is any disagreement between UI hints and backend validation, backend wins and the client surfaces the server error.

Donor Information Requirements

Required Fields by Tier

Guest Tier

  • No additional donor information required beyond account setup

Compliant Tier

  • Name: First name + last name
  • Mailing Address: Complete address as above
  • Occupation: Current job title or status
  • Employer: Company name or "Self-employed" or "Not employed"

Data Validation

The system validates donor information using comprehensive rules:

Name Validation

  • Required: First and last name for Compliant tier
  • Format: Title case with proper handling of prefixes (Mc, O', Van, Von)
  • Flags: Single names, initials only, placeholder content, profanity

Address Validation

  • Required: Complete mailing address for Compliant tier
  • Format: Standard USPS format with valid state codes
  • Flags: Missing fields, impossible locations, placeholder content

Employment Validation (Compliant Tier Only)

  • Occupation: Current job title or status
  • Employer: Company name or employment status
  • Flags: Generic occupations, missing information, inconsistencies

Data Capture and Storage

All donor information is captured at the time of donation and stored in the Celebration model:

donorInfo: {
  // Basic identification
  firstName: String,
  lastName: String,

  // Address information
  address: String,
  city: String,
  state: String,
  zip: String,
  country: String,

  // Employment information (compliant tier)
  occupation: String,
  employer: String,
  isEmployed: Boolean,

  // Compliance tracking
  compliance: String, // 'guest', 'compliant'
  locked: Boolean,    // Prevents modification after donation
  understands: Boolean // User acknowledgment of requirements
}

Email Communication Compliance

FEC Disclaimer Requirements

All political communications must include the required disclaimer:

"Paid for by POWERBACK. Not authorized by any candidate or candidate's committee."

Implementation

The disclaimer is automatically added to all outgoing emails:

// Email template with FEC disclaimer
const createFecDisclaimer = () => `
  <div style="
    background-color: #000000;
    border: 2px solid #007bff;
    border-radius: 4px;
    padding: 15px;
    margin: 20px 0;
    text-align: center;
    color: #ffffff;
    font-weight: bold;
    font-size: 14px;
  ">
    Paid for by POWERBACK. Not authorized by any candidate or candidate's committee.
  </div>
`;

Compliance Rules

  • Visibility: Disclaimer must be clearly visible in email body
  • Legibility: Text must be easy to read and not obscured
  • Consistency: Same text must appear in all communications
  • Automatic: No manual intervention required

Audit Trail Requirements

Data Integrity

The system maintains complete audit trails for compliance verification:

  1. Historical Accuracy: Donor information is captured at donation time
  2. Immutable Records: Donation records cannot be modified after creation
  3. Complete Documentation: All required information is stored permanently
  4. Compliance Tracking: Tier and limit information is preserved

Record Keeping

Required Records

  • Donation Amount: Exact amount contributed
  • Donor Information: All required fields based on tier
  • Timing: Date and time of contribution
  • Recipient: Which candidate/committee received the funds
  • Status: Escrow, delivered (by operator), accepted, or refunded

Retention Requirements

  • Duration: 3 years from date of contribution
  • Format: Electronic records with backup
  • Access: Available for FEC audit upon request
  • Integrity: Tamper-evident storage with version control

Validation Audit Trail

All validation decisions are logged for audit purposes:

// Example audit log entry
{
  timestamp: "2026-01-15T10:30:00Z",
  donationId: "don_123456789",
  donorInfo: { /* normalized donor data */ },
  validationResult: {
    flags: [],
    summary: {
      totalFlags: 0,
      isCompliant: true
    }
  },
  complianceTier: "compliant",
  auditor: "system"
}

Compliance Monitoring

In-App Compliance Checks

The system performs continuous in-app compliance monitoring (no automated FEC filing or fund delivery):

  1. Limit Enforcement: Real-time checking against FEC limits
  2. Data Validation: Automatic validation of donor information
  3. Tier Compliance: Ensuring appropriate information is collected
  4. Audit Logging: Comprehensive logging of all compliance decisions

Reporting

Compliance Reports

  • Donation Summaries: By tier, amount, and recipient
  • Validation Statistics: Flag rates and compliance percentages
  • Limit Tracking: Usage against annual and per-candidate limits
  • Audit Trails: Complete transaction history

FEC Filing Support (Data Only; Filing Is Manual)

The system does not file with the FEC. It provides data exports so the recipient committee or PAC operator can file manually:

  • Donor Information: Formatted for FEC reporting requirements
  • Contribution Details: Amount, date, and recipient information
  • Compliance Status: Validation results and flag information

Actual FEC filing and delivery of funds to campaigns are performed manually by the PAC operator, not by automated backend systems.

Best Practices

  1. Regular Review: Monthly review of compliance statistics
  2. Data Quality: Continuous monitoring of validation accuracy
  3. Limit Management: Proactive tracking of approaching limits
  4. Audit Preparation: Regular backup and verification of records

FEC Resources

  • Remedying an excessive contribution – FEC guidance on refund, redesignation, and reattribution when a committee receives an excessive contribution; useful background on contributor-directed reassignment of intent and recordkeeping.

Related Documentation