2020 Candidates: Upcoming Pre-General Election and 24-hour Reporting

The General Election is 2 weeks from Tuesday, October 20, 2020. Tuesday, October 20, 2020 begins the General Election Pre-Election Reporting Schedule. All 2020 Candidate Committees required to register in The Guardian System have at least one report due.  Additional reporting may be required for the committees of those candidates whose name is on the general election ballot (24 Hour/CRC Reports). More information on these reports, and helpful resources are below.

Pre-General Report of Contributions and Expenditures

     **REQUIRED OF ALL 2020 CANDIDATE COMMITTEES** Required to register in The Guardian System

• October 20, 2020 - October 26, 2020: Pre-General Election Contributions and Expenditures Reports Due.
• Required by all candidates who are or should be registered in The Guardian System, regardless of whether the candidate is on the general election ballot. 
• Committees are required to register in The Guardian System within 10 days of spending or receiving in excess of $1,000 (this includes the candidate’s personal funds spent on the campaign).

Continuing Reports of Contributions and Expenditures

General Election Participating Candidates Only

• October 20, 2020 - November 1, 2020: Continuing Reports of Contributions due within 24 hours of a Committee accepting contributions in excess of $1,000 in the aggregate from a single contributor, and each additional contribution from that source regardless of amount.
• "Contribution" includes: 
• monetary contributions,
• in-kind contributions, and
• loans (including loans from the candidate, or candidate’s friends & family).

Reporting Tips:

Continuing Reports of Contributions and Expenditures

(24-Hour Reports):

1. Chronological Entry of Data: Enter accepted contributions in chronological order from oldest to newest.
2. Daily Entries during final two weeks before the election: Enter accepted contributions daily during the last two weeks before the general election.
   • The Guardian System will automatically notify you when contributions are entered if a contribution has exceeded the  threshold for the 24-hour report & will add the report to your account.
   • The Guardian System will not trigger a report until the transaction is entered in the system.
3. 24-Hour/CRC Reports are due only if contributions (including loans) exceed $1,000: Reports will only trigger in The Guardian System once in excess of $1,000 is accepted from a single contributor and the transaction(s) is/are reported in the system.  

Candidates who did not participate in the August 25, 2020 Runoff Election

The Guardian System has no way of knowing which candidate participates in which election. As a result when a candidate committee enters contributions to include on the Pre-General Contributions and Expenditures Report certain contributions accepted during the 2 weeks before the runoff election will trigger 24Hr/CRC Reports in The Guardian System. 

• Candidate's whose name was on the Runoff Election Ballot: These 24hr/CRC reports are required and must be filed, even though the reports are past due.
• Candidate's whose name was not on the Runoff Election Ballot. These 24hr/CRC reports are not required to be filed and the following steps should be followed: 

1. When a transaction from August is entered and shows a 24 hour/CRC report as due prior to the runoff election do the following:
   • Verify the transaction is correct and click "continue" on the warning screen so it will be included on the Pre-General Contributions and Expenditures Report.
   • Do not file the Pre-Runoff Election 24hr/CRC reports. 
2. File the Pre-General Election Report due between October 20 and October 26 and any Pre-General election 24hr/CRC reports due from October 20 to November 1, 2020.
3. Contact Ethics Commission staff to remove the 24hr/CRC reports that are not required from your filing schedule by: 

• E-Mail: ethics@ethics.ok.gov with subject line "Non-Runoff Candidate CRC Report Removal".  Include the committee name and ethics ID number. 
  • Commission staff will verify the candidate did not participate in the Runoff Election and will remove the report. 
  • Due to limited resources and helping candidates file required pre-general reports, the 24 hr/CRC reports for the runoff election will be removed as staff is available and may not occur until after the general election. 

What happens if a 24 hr/CRC report is filed but was not required? It will be maintained on The Guardian System with all other filings.

Resources:

State Candidate Page

Includes, many helpful resources, including:

• Contribution Charts
• Reporting Calendars,
• Checklists
• Guide for State Candidates

 Need Assistance? Have Questions?

If a report  is required for the committee, but not showing when logged in to the committee’s account, the committee either:

• Has information to correct on the Statement of Organization or the registration fee to pay; or
• The Committee filed its Statement of Organization after the timeframe to be included on the report was completed.
• Contact the office at ethics@ethics.ok.gov for assistance with getting the report added to your account.

Commission staff is available 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Monday through Friday. 

Call: (405) 521-3451

Email: ethics@ethics.ok.gov

Website: www.ethics.ok.gov

Follow us on Twitter: @EthicsOKgov

Find us on Facebook: www.facebook.com/ethicsOKgov