ARA-13.04 - Campaign Finance: Disclosure Requirements

Background:

These rules are based on a voter-approved Charter amendment, related City Code, and subsequent court rulings.

A. Disclosure Requirements

1. Portland City Code Section 2.10.030. requires all communications to voters related to a City of Portland candidate election to prominently disclose the true original sources of the money used to either provide or present the communication.
2. The following types of communications are exempt from City disclosure requirements:
   1. Communications by unpaid volunteers with customized, personalized, or individualized content in the body of the message that is prepared without the use of templates.
   2. Communications that cost less than $250 to create. For purposes of this rule, “create” is meant to be read broadly to encompass one or more of: designing, producing, providing, presenting, hosting, and distributing a communication.

B. Digital Communication

1. With the exception of videos, the following digital communications may satisfy the disclosure requirements in City Code 2.10.030 by (1) identifying on the communication the names of any Individuals or Entities that paid to either provide or present the communication, and (2) providing a link to an active website that prominently displays all additional required information specified in City Code 2.10.030:
   1. Digital communications on social media platforms where the message content is character-limited to 1,000 or fewer characters, or
   2. Digital communications where to Prominently Disclose the information in Code Sections 2.10.030 A.2., 2.10.030 A.3., or 2.10.030 B. on the communication itself would occupy 40% or more of the message space.
2. If an individual or entity that pays to either provide or present a digital communication covered by Subsections (B)(1)(a) or (B)(1)(b) of this rule elects to comply with the disclosure obligations by providing a link to an active website that prominently displays all additional required information specified in City Code 2.10.030:
   1. The website must be kept current to within 5 business days of the initial transmission of the communication. Transmission of a communication may include, but is not limited to, posting an online advertisement or submitting necessary information to circulate a scheduled online advertisement.
   2. Whenever disclosure information on a website is updated, the individual or entity must do the following:
      1. Archive a copy of the website disclosures, with information about the dates the disclosure was posted online.
      2. Retain a copy of the archived disclosure information for a period of one year following the end of the Election Cycle.
      3. Make the archived website and date of posting information available to the Auditor’s Office at the Auditor’s Office request.  

C. Order of Top Dominant Contributors and Dominant Independent Spenders

1. The top five dominant contributors or dominant independent spenders disclosed on a communication to voters must be listed in decreasing order based on amount spent, with the largest dominant contributor or dominant independent spender listed first.
2. If two or more of the top five dominant contributors or dominant independent spenders donated the same amount of money or in-kind goods or services in an election cycle, the contributor or spender who made the most recent contribution or expenditure should be listed first.
3. The communication need only list a total of five dominant contributors or dominant independent spenders. If there are more than five qualifying dominant contributors or dominant independent spenders for any communication, the five that must be listed on the communication should be chosen based on the following:
   1. If two or more of the qualifying dominant contributors or dominant independent spenders donated the same amount of money or in-kind goods or services in an election cycle, and to name all the top contributors or spenders would require naming more than five contributors or spenders, then the contributors or spenders who made the most recent contribution or expenditure should be listed first, and the communication need not list more than five.
   2. As an example, if 10 (and only 10) individuals make equal contributions to a Political Committee that funds a communication, the communication need not disclose all ten individuals. Instead, the communication need only disclose the five most recent contributors to the Political Committee, with the contributor who made the most recent contribution listed first.

D. Order of Top Funders of Political Committee or Nonprofit

1. Where a dominant contributor or a dominant independent spender listed on a communication is also a political committee (other than a small donor committee) or nonprofit organization, the top three funders of that political committee or nonprofit must also be disclosed on the communication to voters with the funders listed in decreasing order, including the largest funder listed first.
2. If two or more of the top three funders donated the same amount of money in an election cycle, the funder who provided the most recent funding should be listed first.
3. The communication need only list three funders per political committee or nonprofit. If there are more than three qualifying funders, the three funders that must be listed on the communication should be chosen based on the following:
   1. If two or more of the top funders donated the same amount of money in an election cycle, and to name all the top funders would require naming more than three funders, then the funders who provided the most recent funding should be listed first, and the communication need not list more than three.
   2. As an example, if five (and only five) individuals provide equal funds to a political committee that is a dominant contributor to an entity that pays to either provide or present a communication to voters, the communication need not disclose all five individuals. Instead, the communication need only disclose the three most recent funders to the political committee, with the funder who made the most recent payment listed first.

Questions

Questions about this administrative rule may be directed to the City Elections Office.