Who must file campaign disclosure reports?
Any individual, trust, partnership, committee, association, corporation, or any
other organization or group of persons which receives or spends more than
$3,000 on behalf of or in opposition to a candidate or question of public
policy, meets the definition of a political committee and must comply with all
provisions of the Illinois Campaign Financing Act, including the filing of
campaign disclosure reports. The $3,000 threshold does not apply to political party committees.
In addition, any entity other than a natural person that makes expenditures of any kind in an aggregate
amount during any 12-month period supporting or opposing a public official or candidate must organize
as a political committee.
If a candidate funds his campaign entirely with his own personal funds, is he
required to file campaign disclosure reports?
Yes, if he spends more than $3,000.
Are the campaign disclosure forms available on the State Board of Elections
website?
Yes. The forms may be obtained from the State Board of Elections or they may be
downloaded from
the Campaign Disclosure Forms section of our website.
Yes. These publications are available from the State Board of Elections. You may download manuals and
brochures from our site.
Yes, as of January 1, 2011, contribution limits are in effect for all political committees registered
with the Illinois State Board of Elections. The limits vary based upon the type of political committee,
and if a candidate political committee, the office sought.
Are political contributions to Illinois candidates and political committees tax
deductible?
No.
Does the Illinois Campaign Finance Act place any limitations on how campaign
funds may be expended?
Can corporations and unions contribute to Illinois candidates, and if so, what
are their filing obligations?
Corporations and unions may contribute from their treasuries in amounts not to exceed established contribution limits and
have no filing obligations. However, if political contributions are solicited by
the corporations and unions,
filing obligations apply once the $3,000 threshold is met. And if a corporation or union makes expenditures in
excess of $3,000 during any 12-month period in support of or opposition to and public official or candidate, it must
organize as a political committee.
Can a political committee conduct a raffle or other game of chance to raise
campaign funds?
Yes, if certain requirements are met. If a political committee is on file with
our office as a political committee, and has no outstanding civil penalties or
unfiled overdue reports, it may submit a notarized raffle application to the
Board for approval in order to conduct a raffle. The
License Application to Conduct a Raffle is available for download. For each raffle held by
a committee, a separate Raffle Report must be filed to document the gross
receipts, expense, and net proceeds from the raffle.
If such a committee exceeds the $3,000 filing threshold, it must file a
D-1 Statement of
Organization with the Illinois State Board of Elections. It is not required to
file any other disclosure documents.
It is a voluntary statement that candidates and political committees may file
prior to an election stating that they will conduct a positive campaign. State
candidates file it with the Board of Elections. Local candidates file it with
their local county clerk. The
Code of Fair Campaign
Practices is available for download.
Electronic filing is required for all political committees that during a
reporting period (i) had at any time a balance or an accumulation of
contributions of $10,000 or more, (ii) made aggregate expenditures of $10,000
or more, or (iii) received loans of an aggregate of $10,000 or more. Once a
committee exceeds the threshold that requires it to report electronically, it
must continue thereafter to report electronically until it dissolves, whether
or not its accumulation, receipts or expenditures fall beneath the levels set
by statute for mandatory electronic filing.
If a political committee has not exceeded the mandatory filing threshold, can
it voluntarily file its reports electronically?
Yes, voluntary electronic filing is encouraged.
Does the State Board of Elections provide filing software?
Yes, the Illinois Disclosure Information System (IDIS v2.0) program is available at
no cost from the Board of Elections on cdrom or as a
download from the website.
The IDIS software is primarily a record-keeping and reporting program. Campaign
management software is available for purchase from several private vendors.
Does the Board conduct training sessions in the use of the IDIS program?
Yes, these training sessions are ongoing. Training is hands-on and
each attendee works at his own computer. Pre-registration is required. For more
information contact the
State Board of Elections.
Yes, the data is available in a searchable format. It may be accessed in a
number of ways by selecting from the different
search options available.
Search tips are provided for each type of search.
In addition, all itemized receipts for statewide candidates, legislative
candidates, and legislative leadership committees for the period from July 1,
1994 through December 31, 1998, may be searched.
Contribution and expenditure data may be downloaded in either a Tab-Delimited Text File or
XML file. The data is also available at no cost from the Board on cdrom.
How can financial information for political committees not filing
electronically be obtained?
All disclosure reports may be viewed in either the Chicago or Springfield
offices. Reports may also be obtained by mail by contacting either office. In addition,
all reports, statements, and documents filed on paper beginning January 1, 2009 are being scanned
and may be viewed on the Board website.
Are summary totals available on the website?
Yes,
Summary totals are available
for all committees, not just those filing electronically.
The entire amount is reported as a contribution from the original source, not from the fundraising entity; any charge for the use of the service provided shall be reported separately as an expenditure.