24.2-946.3 - Reporting of certain violations; penalties.
§ 24.2-946.3. Reporting of certain violations; penalties.
A. It shall be the duty of the State Board to report any violation of theprovisions of this chapter to the appropriate attorney for the Commonwealth.The State Board shall report to the attorney for the Commonwealth of the Cityof Richmond in the case of reporting requirements for campaign committees forstatewide office and to the attorney for the Commonwealth of the county orcity of the residence of a candidate for the General Assembly. For politicalcommittees, the State Board shall report the violation to the attorney forthe Commonwealth of the City of Richmond. If all the officers of a politicalcommittee are residents of one county or city as shown on the statement oforganization required by this chapter, the State Board shall reportviolations for that political committee to the attorney for the Commonwealthof that county or city.
B. It shall be the duty of the electoral board of a county or city to reportany violation of the provisions of this chapter relating to the filing ofcampaign finance reports required to be filed with the electoral board to theattorney for the Commonwealth for the county or city in which the electoralboard has jurisdiction.
C. In order to fulfill the duty to report violations pursuant to subsectionsA and B, the Board shall establish and implement a system for receiving,cataloging, and reviewing reports filed pursuant to the provisions of thischapter and for verifying that reports are complete and submitted on time. Aspart of the system referred to in this subsection, the general registrar foreach county and city, or the secretary of the electoral board in any countyor city in which the electoral board chooses to perform the duties stated inthis subsection, shall be required, in accordance with instructions providedby the Board, to receive, catalog, and review the reports filed with thelocal electoral board and to verify that the reports are complete andsubmitted on time.
D. The State Board, and the general registrar or secretary of the electoralboard in accordance with the instructions of the State Board, (i) shallassess and collect the civil penalties provided in Article 8 and (ii) ifunable to collect the penalty, shall report the violation to the appropriateattorney for the Commonwealth for enforcement.
E. The State Board, or the general registrar or secretary of the electoralboard in accordance with the instructions of the State Board, shall notify,no later than 21 days after the report due date, any person submitting anincomplete report of the need for additional information. The State Board, orthe general registrar or secretary of the electoral board in accordance withthe instructions of the State Board, may request additional information tocorrect obvious mathematical errors and to fulfill the requirements forinformation on the reports.
F. Upon notice of a violation of this chapter, the State Board or the generalregistrar or local electoral board, as appropriate, shall within 90 days ofthe report deadline notify the appropriate attorney for the Commonwealth, whoshall initiate civil proceedings to enforce the civil penalties assessed bythe State Board or the local electoral board as provided herein. Any civilpenalties collected pursuant to action by the State Board shall be payable tothe State Treasurer for deposit to the general fund, and any civil penaltiescollected pursuant to action by a general registrar or local electoral boardshall be payable to the treasurer of the locality for deposit to its generalfund.
G. In the case of any political committee that is required to file astatement of organization pursuant to this chapter, the State Board shall beauthorized to waive a penalty that has been assessed if the filerdemonstrates that there exists good cause to waive the penalty.
H. The State Board shall notify the public through its official Internetwebsite of any violation based on the failure to file a required report by acandidate for statewide office or the General Assembly and the identity ofthe violator.
I. The State Board shall determine the schedule of civil penalties requiredto be followed by its staff and local electoral boards in assessing penaltiesunder this chapter. No election official or staff may waive or reduce suchpenalties, except as provided in § 24.2-946.4.
(1975, c. 515, § 24.1-262; 1979, c. 370, § 24.1-263; 1990, c. 976; 1991, c.709; 1993, cc. 393, 641, §§ 24.2-928, 24.2-929; 1994, cc. 752, 903; 1995, c.785; 1996, cc. 395, 405; 1998, c. 153; 2000, cc. 511, 555; 2001, cc. 620,635, 648; 2002, c. 468; 2004, cc. 457, 480; 2005, cc. 9, 371, 676, 745;2006, cc. 787, 892.)