Alaska Stat. § 15.13.400

Current through Chapter 61 of the 2024 Legislative Session and 2024 Executive Orders 125, 133 through 135

Section 15.13.400 - Definitions

In this chapter,

(1) "candidate"

(A) means an individual who files for election to the state legislature, for governor, for lieutenant governor, for municipal office, for retention in judicial office, or for constitutional convention delegate, or who campaigns as a write-in candidate for any of these offices; and

(B) when used in a provision of this chapter that limits or prohibits the donation, solicitation, or acceptance of campaign contributions, or limits or prohibits an expenditure, includes

(i) a candidate's campaign treasurer and a deputy campaign treasurer;

(ii) a member of the candidate's immediate family;

(iii) a person acting as agent for the candidate;

(iv) the candidate's campaign committee; and

(v) a group that makes expenditures or receives contributions with the authorization or consent, express or implied, or under the control, direct or indirect, of the candidate;

(2) "commission" means the Alaska Public Offices Commission;

(3) "communication" means an announcement or advertisement disseminated through print or broadcast media, including radio, television, cable, and satellite, the Internet, or through a mass mailing, excluding those placed by an individual or nongroup entity and costing $500 or less and those that do not directly or indirectly identify a candidate or proposition, as that term is defined in AS 15.13.065(c);

(4) "contribution"

(A) means a purchase, payment, promise or obligation to pay, loan or loan guarantee, deposit or gift of money, goods, or services for which charge is ordinarily made, and includes the payment by a person other than a candidate or political party, or compensation for the personal services of another person, that is rendered to the candidate or political party, and that is made for the purpose of

(i) influencing the nomination or election of a candidate;

(ii) influencing a ballot proposition or question; or

(iii) supporting or opposing an initiative proposal application filed with the lieutenant governor under AS 15.45.020;

(B) does not include

(i) services provided without compensation by individuals volunteering a portion or all of their time on behalf of a political party, candidate, or ballot proposition or question;

(ii) ordinary hospitality in a home;

(iii) two or fewer mass mailings before each election by each political party describing members of the party running as candidates for public office in that election, which may include photographs, biographies, and information about the candidates;

(iv) the results of a poll limited to issues and not mentioning any candidate, unless the poll was requested by or designed primarily to benefit the candidate;

(v) any communication in the form of a newsletter from a legislator to the legislator's constituents, except a communication expressly advocating the election or defeat of a candidate or a newsletter or material in a newsletter that is clearly only for the private benefit of a legislator or a legislative employee;

(vi) a fundraising list provided without compensation by one candidate or political party to a candidate or political party; or

(vii) an opportunity to participate in a candidate forum provided to a candidate without compensation to the candidate by another person and for which a candidate is not ordinarily charged;

(5) "dark money" means a contribution whose source or sources, whether from wages, investment income, inheritance, or revenue generated from selling goods or services, is not disclosed to the public; notwithstanding the foregoing, to the extent a membership organization receives dues or contributions of less than $2,000 per person per year, the organization itself shall be considered the true source;

(6) "electioneering communication" means a communication that

(A) directly or indirectly identifies a candidate;

(B) addresses an issue of national, state, or local political importance and attributes a position on that issue to the candidate identified; and

(C) occurs within the 30 days preceding a general or municipal election;

(7) "expenditure"

(A) means a purchase or a transfer of money or anything of value, or promise or agreement to purchase or transfer money or anything of value, incurred or made for the purpose of

(i) influencing the nomination or election of a candidate or of any individual who files for nomination at a later date and becomes a candidate;

(ii) use by a political party;

(iii) the payment by a person other than a candidate or political party of compensation for the personal services of another person that are rendered to a candidate or political party;

(iv) influencing the outcome of a ballot proposition or question; or

(v) supporting or opposing an initiative proposal application filed with the lieutenant governor under AS 15.45.020;

(B) does not include a candidate's filing fee or the cost of preparing reports and statements required by this chapter;

(C) includes an express communication and an electioneering communication, but does not include an issues communication;

(8) "express communication" means a communication that, when read as a whole and with limited reference to outside events, is susceptible of no other reasonable interpretation but as an exhortation to vote for or against a specific candidate;

(9) "group" means

(A) every state and regional executive committee of a political party;

(B) any combination of two or more individuals acting jointly who organize for the principal purpose of influencing the outcome of one or more elections and who take action the major purpose of which is to influence the outcome of an election; a group that makes expenditures or receives contributions with the authorization or consent, express or implied, or under the control, direct or indirect, of a candidate shall be considered to be controlled by that candidate; a group whose major purpose is to further the nomination, election, or candidacy of only one individual, or intends to expend more than 50 percent of its money on a single candidate, shall be considered to be controlled by that candidate and its actions done with the candidate's knowledge and consent unless, within 10 days from the date the candidate learns of the existence of the group the candidate files with the commission, on a form provided by the commission, an affidavit that the group is operating without the candidate's control; a group organized for more than one year preceding an election and endorsing candidates for more than one office or more than one political party is presumed not to be controlled by a candidate; however, a group that contributes more than 50 percent of its money to or on behalf of one candidate shall be considered to support only one candidate for purposes of AS 15.13.070, whether or not control of the group has been disclaimed by the candidate; and

(C) any combination of two or more individuals acting jointly who organize for the principal purpose of filing an initiative proposal application under AS 15.45.020 or who file an initiative proposal application under AS 15.45.020;

(10) "immediate family" means the spouse, parent, child, including a stepchild and an adopted child, and sibling of an individual;

(11) "independent expenditure" means an expenditure that is made without the direct or indirect consultation or cooperation with, or at the suggestion or the request of, or with the prior consent of, a candidate, a candidate's campaign treasurer or deputy campaign treasurer, or another person acting as a principal or agent of the candidate;

(12) "individual" means a natural person;

(13) "issues communication" means a communication that

(A) directly or indirectly identifies a candidate; and

(B) addresses an issue of national, state, or local political importance and does not support or oppose a candidate for election to public office;

(14) "nongroup entity" means a person, other than an individual, that takes action the major purpose of which is to influence the outcome of an election, and that

(A) cannot participate in business activities;

(B) does not have shareholders who have a claim on corporate earnings; and

(C) is independent from the influence of business corporations.

(15) "outside-funded entity" means an entity that makes one or more independent expenditures in one or more candidate elections and that, during the previous 12-month period, received more than 50 percent of its aggregate contributions from true sources, or their equivalents, who, at the time of the contribution, resided or had their principal place of business outside Alaska;

(16) "person" has the meaning given in AS 01.10.060, and includes a labor union, nongroup entity, and a group;

(17) "political party" means any group that is a political party under AS 15.80.010 and any subordinate unit of that group if, consistent with the rules or bylaws of the political party, the unit conducts or supports campaign operations in a municipality, neighborhood, house district, or precinct;

(18) "publicly funded entity" means a person, other than an individual, that receives half or more of the money on which it operates during a calendar year from government, including a public corporation;

(19) "true source" means the person or legal entity whose contribution is funded from wages, investment income, inheritance, or revenue generated from selling goods or services; a person or legal entity who derived funds via contributions, donations, dues, or gifts is not the true source, but rather an intermediary for the true source; notwithstanding the foregoing, to the extent a membership organization receives dues or contributions of less than $2,000 per person per year, the organization itself shall be considered the true source.

AS 15.13.400

Amended by 2020 Ballot Measure 1, passed by voters in 11/3/2020 election, eff. 2/1/2021.

Amended by SLA 2014, ch. 9,sec. 4, eff. 4/22/2014.

Amended by SLA 2012, ch. 44,sec. 3, eff. 8/22/2012.