Wash. Admin. Code § 390-16-043 - Candidates and political committees-Public inspection of books of account
(1)RCW
42.17A.005 defines "books of account" for
candidates and political committees as "a ledger or similar listing of
contributions, expenditures, and debts, such as a campaign or committee is
required to file regularly with the commission, current as of the most recent
business day."
(2)RCW
42.17A.225 and
42.17A.235 require that candidates
and political committees participating in an election as defined in
RCW
42.17A.005, must make their books of account
available for public inspection. The public inspection of books of account is
not intended to be an exhaustive audit of all contributions received and
expenditures made.
(3) Any
individual who requests to publicly inspect the books of account of a candidate
or political committee, must make the request during the period beginning 10
calendar days before a primary, general, or special election, by contacting the
filer's email address listed on the C-1 report for a candidate, or the C-1pc
report for a political committee.
(4) The inspection of the books of account
may occur on weekdays, unless the treasurer for the candidate or committee
agrees otherwise, beginning on the eighth day before the election, excluding
legal holidays, for at least two consecutive hours between 9:00 a.m. and 5:00
p.m. at a location that is agreed upon by the treasurer and the individual
requesting the inspection. If the treasurer and requestor are unable to agree
on a location and the treasurer has not provided digital access to the books of
account, the default location for an appointment must be a place of public
accommodation selected by the treasurer within a reasonable distance from the
treasurer's office. However, if the treasurer is located out-of-state, the
default location must be within the state of Washington and reasonably
accessible to both parties. The inspection must be allowed within 48 hours of
the date and time the request was made at the agreed-upon location, provided
that if the request is not made by 3:00 p.m. on the third day preceding an
election, the candidate or political committee need only make best efforts to
accommodate the request.
(5) The
treasurer for the candidate or committee may make the books of account
available electronically, in lieu of scheduling an in-person inspection, or if
a location cannot be agreed upon by both parties. If the campaign's only copy
of its books of account is maintained electronically with security protections,
the person requesting the inspection must be given sufficient instruction to
allow the inspection to proceed.
(6) The books of account, ledger and other
supporting documentation must be maintained by the treasurer and kept current
within one business day. The books of account of a candidate or political
committee include the following: A ledger, spreadsheet, or similar listing of
contributions, expenditures, loans, debts and obligations to substantiate the
information disclosed on the PDC campaign finance reports. The books of account
must include the underlying source documents such as receipts, invoices, copies
of contribution checks, copies of canceled checks for expenditures, digital
transactions, notes, or other documentation concerning expenditures, orders
placed, and loans. The campaign or committee is not required to provide the
name and address of contributors who gave $100 or less in the aggregate in
total contributions.
(7) The
candidate or political committee is not required to make copies of its books of
account for the requestor. Videorecording, photographing, or photocopying of
the records is not required to be permitted but may be agreed to by both
parties during or in advance of the inspection.
(8) At the time of making the appointment,
the person requesting to inspect the books of account must provide the name(s)
and contact information for all individuals who will be in attendance for the
inspection. The requestor(s) must show photo identification prior to the
inspection beginning, and the candidate or political committee may deny the
inspection from occurring if photo identification is not provided.
(9) The records required by this section must
be available for audit or examination by the PDC at any time upon request from
the PDC.
Notes
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