(a) Mandatory.

(1) Political committees and other persons required by the Act to file reports with the Commission, as provided in 11 CFR parts 101, 102, 104, 105, 107, and 109, must do so in an electronic format that meets the requirements of this section if—

(i) The political committee or other person has received contributions or has reason to expect to receive contributions aggregating in excess of $50,000 in any calendar year; or

(ii) The political committee or other person has made expenditures or has reason to expect to make expenditures aggregating in excess of $50,000 in any calendar year.

(2) Once any political committee or other person described in paragraph (a)(1) of this section exceeds or has reason to expect to exceed the appropriate threshold, the political committee or person must file electronically all subsequent reports covering financial activity for the remainder of the calendar year. All electronically filed reports must pass the Commission's validation program in accordance with paragraph (e) of this section. Reports filed on paper do not satisfy a political committee's or other person's filing obligations.

(3) Have reason to expect to exceed.

(i) A political committee or other person shall have reason to expect to exceed the threshold stated in paragraph (a)(1) of this section for two calendar years following the calendar year in which the political committee or other person exceeds the threshold unless—

(A) The committee is an authorized committee, and has $50,000 or less in net debts outstanding on January 1 of the year following the general election, and anticipates terminating prior to January 1 of the next election year; and

(B) The candidate has not qualified as a candidate for the next election and does not intend to become a candidate for federal office in the next election.

(ii) New political committees or other persons with no history of campaign finance activity shall have reason to expect to exceed the threshold stated in paragraph (a)(1) of this section within the calendar year if—

(A) It receives contributions or makes expenditures that exceed one quarter of the threshold amount in the first calendar quarter of the calendar year; or

(B) It receives contributions or makes expenditures that exceed one-half of the threshold amount in the first half of the calendar year.

(b) Voluntary. A political committee or other person who files reports with the Commission and who is not required to file electronically under paragraph (a) of this section, may choose to file its reports in an electronic format that meets the requirements of this section (internet forms included). If a political committee or other person chooses to file its reports electronically, all electronically filed reports must pass the Commission's validation program in accordance with paragraph (e) of this section. The committee or other person must continue to file in an electronic format all reports covering financial activity for that calendar year, unless the Commission determines that extraordinary and unforeseeable circumstances have made it impracticable for the political committee or other person to continue filing electronically.

(c) Definition of report. For purposes of this section, report means any statement, designation or report required by the Act to be filed with the Commission.

(d) Format specifications. Reports filed electronically shall conform to the technical specifications described in the Federal Election Commission's Electronic Filing Specifications Requirements. The data contained in the computerized magnetic media provided to the Commission shall be organized in the order specified by the Electronic Filing Specifications Requirements.

(e) Acceptance of reports filed in electronic format; validation program.

(1) Each political committee or other person who submits an electronic report shall check the report against the Commission's validation program before it is submitted, to ensure that the files submitted meet the Commission's format specifications and can be read by the Commission's computer system. Each report submitted in an electronic format under this section shall also be checked upon receipt against the Commission's validation program. The Commission's validation program and the Electronic Filing Specification Requirement are available on request and at no charge.

(2) A report that does not pass the validation program will not be accepted by the Commission and will not be considered filed. If a political committee or other person submits a report that does not pass the validation program, the Commission will notify the political committee or other person that the report has not been accepted.

(f) Amended reports. If a political committee or other person files an amendment to a report that was filed electronically, the political committee or other person shall also submit the amendment in an electronic format. The political committee or other person shall submit a complete version of the report as amended, rather than just those portions of the report that are being amended. In addition, amendments must be filed in accordance with the Electronic Filing Specification Requirements.

(g) Signature requirements. The political committee's treasurer, or any other person having the responsibility to file a designation, report or statement under this subchapter, shall verify the report in one of the following ways: by submitting a signed certification on paper that is submitted with the computerized media; or by submitting a digitized copy of the signed certification as a separate file in the electronic submission; or by submitting a signed certification on a Commission internet form. Each verification submitted under this section shall certify that the treasurer or other signatory has examined the report or statement and, to the best of the signatory's knowledge and belief, it is true, correct and complete. Any verification under this section shall be treated for all purposes (including penalties for perjury) in the same manner as a verification by signature on a report submitted in a paper format.

(h) Schedules and forms with special requirements.

(1) The following are schedules and forms that require the filing of additional documents and that have special signature requirements:

(i) Schedules C-1 and C-P-1, Loans and Lines of Credit From Lending Institutions (see 11 CFR 104.3(d)); and

(ii) Form 8, Debt Settlement Plan (see 11 CFR 116.7(e)).

(2) If a person files a report electronically by submitting a diskette to the Commission and is required to file any of the schedules or forms listed in paragraph (h)(1) of this section, the person shall file a paper copy of the required schedule or form with the electronic submission, or a digitized version as a separate file in the electronic submission, by the close of business on the prescribed filing date.

(3) If a person files a report electronically by uploading the data to the Commission's electronic filing system and is required to file any schedules or forms listed in paragraph (h)(1) of this section, the person shall file a paper copy or a digitized version of the required schedule or form by the close of business on the prescribed filing date.

(i) Preservation of reports. For any report filed in electronic format under this section, the treasurer or other person required to file any report under the Act shall retain a machine-readable copy of the report as the copy preserved under 11 CFR 104.14(b)(2). In addition, the treasurer or other person required to file any report under the Act shall retain the original signed version of any documents submitted in a digitized format under paragraphs (g) and (h) of this section.

[65 FR 38423, June 21, 2000, as amended at 67 FR 12840, Mar. 20, 2002; 81 FR 34863, June 1, 2016; 84 FR 18700, May 2, 2019]