1. (a) True and accurate reports shall be filed with the commission on or before the due dates specified in this part. The commission may assess a fine against a person that is required to file a report under this part if the report is not filed by the due date or if the report is substantially defective or deficient, as determined by the commission.

2. (b) The fine for not filing a report by the due date, if assessed, shall not exceed $50 per day for the first seven days, beginning with the day after the due date of the report, and shall not exceed $200 per day thereafter; provided that:

   1. (1) In aggregate, the fine shall not exceed twenty-five per cent of the total amount of contributions or expenditures, whichever is greater, for the period covered by the report; and
   2. (2) The minimum fine for a report filed more than four days after the due date, if assessed, shall be $200.

3. (c) Subsection (b) notwithstanding, if a candidate committee does not file the preliminary primary report that is due ten calendar days prior to a primary, initial special, or initial nonpartisan election, or the preliminary general report that is due ten calendar days prior to a general, subsequent special, or subsequent nonpartisan election; or if a noncandidate committee does not file the preliminary primary report that is due ten calendar days prior to a primary, special, or nonpartisan election, or the preliminary general report that is due ten calendar days prior to a general election by the due date, the fine, if assessed, shall not exceed $300 per day; provided that, in aggregate:

   1. (1) The fine shall not exceed twenty-five per cent of the total amount of contributions or expenditures, whichever is greater, for the period covered by the report; and
   2. (2) The minimum fine, if assessed, shall be $300.

4. (d) If the commission determines that a report is substantially defective or deficient, the commission shall notify the candidate committee by first class mail that:

   1. (1) The report is substantially defective or deficient; and
   2. (2) A fine may be assessed.

5. (e) If the corrected report is not filed with the commission's electronic filing system on or before the fourteenth day after the notice of defect or deficiency has been mailed, the fine, if assessed, for a substantially defective or deficient report shall not exceed $50 per day for the first seven days, beginning with the fifteenth day after the notice was sent, and shall not exceed $200 per day thereafter; provided that:

   1. (1) In aggregate, the fine shall not exceed twenty-five per cent of the total amount of contributions or expenditures, whichever is greater, for the period covered by the report; and
   2. (2) The minimum fine for not filing a corrected report more than eighteen days after the notice, if assessed, shall be $200.

6. (f) The commission shall publish on its website the names of all candidate and noncandidate committees that have failed to:

   1. (1) File a report; or
   2. (2) Correct a report within two weeks from the notice to correct provided by the commission.
7. (g) All fines collected under this section shall be deposited into the general fund.

[L 2010, c 211, pt of §2; am L 2013, c 112, §8; am L 2017, c 108, §1 and c 109, §1; am L 2021, c 204, §1]