FEC Post-General Reports Due December 3

November 2020

All federally registered PACs and party committees and all federal campaign committees for candidates participating in the 2020 general election are required to file Post-General Reports with the FEC by midnight EST on Thursday, December 3.

The Post-General Report will cover activity between October 1 and November 23 for PACs and party committees that were not required to file a Pre-General Report. The report will cover activity between October 15 and November 23 for PACs and party committees that were required to file a Pre-General Report and federal campaign committees for candidates participating in the 2020 general election.

Common Errors on Post-General Reports

• Coverage dates. As is noted above, coverage dates for the report differ depending on whether the filer was required to submit a Pre-General Report. Ensure that the correct coverage dates are used so that the reports do not have a gap in coverage dates or overlapping coverage dates.
• Election state. In the “Election in the State Of” field on the cover page of the report, campaign committees should list the state in which the candidate ran for office. PACs can leave this field blank or list the state in which the PAC is based.
• Contribution date. Note that PACs may not contribute to a campaign for an election that has already occurred unless that campaign has net debts outstanding related to that election. PAC filers should ensure that contributions for the 2020 general were made prior to election day or were made for debt retirement. If a PAC made a contribution for 2020 general debt retirement, “debt retirement” should be noted on the entry disclosing the contribution and the PAC should obtain written verification from the recipient campaign that it had sufficient net debts outstanding to accept the contribution.
• Plan report preparation in advance. There are only 10 days between the close of books on Monday, November 23, and the due date on Thursday, December 3. Note that Thanksgiving is on Thursday, November 26.