New Developments at FEC Announced in Time for 2012 Election Season

The Federal Election Commission (FEC or  Commission) has been busy developing new ways to keep committees informed in 2012 by releasing updates to the way the Commission handles enforcement matters and also by making additions to its website.

On January 12, 2012, the FEC announced an important change to the conciliation stage of certain enforcement matters.  Under this new policy, the FEC will begin the conciliation stage by informing respondents as to how the Commission determined its opening settlement offer.  This notification will be included in the proposed conciliation agreement that is provided to respondents.  Because of this change, the FEC will have to document the past precedent involved in levying fines against a committee during the conciliation process.

The FEC also introduced a new webpage for the Reports Analysis Division (RAD).  RAD and its analysts review the FEC reports of political action, candidate, and political party committees and correspond with committees in an effort to gain additional information or clarification.  RAD analysts also are available to assist committees by phone.  The new RAD webpage includes information for each type of committee, including frequently asked questions, filing schedules and information concerning requests for additional information.  This new webpage can be found here.