Compliance Connections

Ohio held the state’s second Primary Election on August 2, 2022, featuring partisan primaries for State House and Senate candidates and also central committee seats for state political parties. As expected, turnout was low at only 7.93 percent according to the Ohio Secretary of State’s unofficial tallies. For more, read the full article. 

Please be reminded that because of Ohio’s bifurcated Primary Elections, today is the Pre-Primary campaign finance filing deadline for the August 2 Primary Election,  to disclose activity through July 13, 2022. If your political action committee (PAC) engaged in any activity related to the primary elections for State House or State Senate, you may need to file a report by the end of business today, July 21, 2022. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact us.

As the world emerges from the COVID-19 pandemic and returns to the new normal, in-person conferences have also returned from their hiatus. Accordingly, it is an appropriate time to review ethics laws regarding public officials and employees at conferences. For more, read the full article.

In its 2021 Annual Report, the Ohio Ethics Commission provides statistics and lists on several of the Commission’s activities for the year including a breakdown of the top five categories for investigations last year. For more, read the full article. 

The Ohio General Assembly finished the first half of 2022 with a rush of lawmaking, appropriating billions of dollars in infrastructure spending, and making policy changes in a range of subjects. Initially, the legislature’s pace slowed on key legislation, like the capital budget, due to redistricting litigation. Ohio held its statewide and congressional primary elections on May 4, 2022, but the General Assembly maps remained unclear after maps were rejected five different times by the Ohio Supreme Court in 4-3 decisions led by Chief Justice Maureen O’Connor (R). On May 27, 2022, a three judge panel on the Sixth Circuit Southern District ordered that the election go forward using the third map and a Primary Election held on August 2, 2022, ending the impasse. Once the state legislative districts were settled, the General Assembly quickly finished work on policy priorities for the first half of 2022.

For more, read the full article. 

On Tuesday, May, 3, 2022, Ohioans cast their ballots in the state’s Primary Election. May’s Primary Election did not include candidates for state legislative districts, due to the ongoing litigation regarding the new maps for state legislators created through the redistricting process. Candidates for state legislative districts will have a separate primary, likely held with the already scheduled special election on August 2, 2022.

For more, read the full article.

With a busy state and federal election cycle coming up this year, spring is an ideal time to give your Political Action Committee (PAC) a thorough cleaning. These checklist items should be part of your regular PAC maintenance. If you haven’t asked yourself these questions in a while, now is an ideal time. 

For more, read the full article. 

If you are thinking about using Venmo to accept campaign donations, you now have guidance from the Ohio Elections Commission to permissibly do so. 

The Ohio Elections Commission advised that the use of peer-to-peer payment systems such as Venmo are permissible under Ohio’s campaign finance laws. However, to comply with Ohio Revised Code §3517.10(D)(3), the peer-to-peer account needs to be specifically set up for the campaign committee and separate from the personal account of the possible beneficiary of the campaign fund.

In its January 26, 2022, press release, the Ohio Ethics Commission is urging the Ohio General Assembly to enact enhanced penalties for persons or entities convicted of giving unlawful gifts or payments to any public official or employee in Ohio state or local government. 

For more, read the full article. 

The Ohio Elections Commission recently issued an advisory opinion addressing whether a foreign national can contribute to a ballot issue political action committee (PAC) in Ohio.

The Ohio Elections Commission determined that R.C. 3517.13 (W) prohibits a foreign national from contributing to a ballot issue PAC in Ohio. This question was raised due to a recent decision from the Federal Elections Commission (FEC), in which it dismissed the pending matter because it did not have enough linkage between an election involving a candidate that sufficiently invoked the FEC jurisdiction. However, Ohio law differs, and therefore the Ohio Elections Commission jurisdiction differs from the FEC’s jurisdiction.