Payment, etc., of money, etc., to aid nomination, etc. Promise, etc., of appointment, etc., to aid nomination or election, etc. Payment, etc., of money, etc., to aid election, regulated. Personal expenses. not to be included in statement. CHAPTER 416. AN ACT TO PREVENT CORRUPT PRACTICES IN ELECTIONS AND Be it enacted, etc., as follows: SECTION 1. No person shall, in order to aid or promote his own nomination as a candidate for public office, by a caucus, convention or nomination paper, directly or indirectly, by himself or through another person, or by a political committee, give, pay, expend or contribute, or promise to give, pay, expend or contribute, any money or other valuable thing, except for personal expenses as hereinafter provided. SECT. 2. No person shall, in order to aid or promote his own nomination or election to a public office, directly or indirectly, by himself or through another person, promise to appoint, or promise to secure or assist to secure the appointment, nomination or election of another person to a public position or to a position of honor, trust or emolument, except that he may announce or define his own choice or purpose in relation to an election in which he may be called to take part, if he shall himself be elected to the public office for which he is a candidate.. SECT. 3. No person shall, in order to aid or promote his own election to a public office, directly or indirectly, by himself or through another person, give, pay, expend or contribute, or promise to give, pay, expend or contribute, any money or other valuable thing, except as hereinafter provided, for personal expenses and to a political committee. SECT. 4. A candidate for nomination or for election to a public office, and any other person, may incur and pay, in connection with such nomination or election, his own personal expenses for travelling and purposes properly incidental to travelling; for writing, printing and preparing for transmission any letter, circular or other publication which is not issued at regular intervals, whereby he may make known his own position or views upon public or other questions; for stationery and postage, for telegraph, telephone and other public messenger service, and for other petty personal purposes; but all such expenses shall be limited to those which are directly incurred and paid by him; and no person shall be required to include such personal expenses in any statement which may be required of him under this act. ment, etc., of political com SECT. 5. A person who is nominated as a candidate for Voluntary paypublic office, by a caucus, convention or nomination paper, and money to a any person who shall with his own assent be voted for for mittee. public office, may make a voluntary payment of money or a voluntary and unconditional promise of payment of money to a political committee, as hereinafter defined, for the promotion of the principles of the party which the committee represents, and for the general purposes of the committee. committee " committee, SECT. 6. The term "political committee ", under the pro- Term " political visions of this act, shall apply to every committee or combina- defined. tion of three or more persons who shall aid or promote the success or defeat of a political party or principle in a public election, or shall aid or take part in the nomination, election or defeat of a candidate for public office. Every such committee Treasurer of shall have a treasurer, who is a legal voter of the Commonwealth, accounts. and shall cause to be kept by him detailed accounts of all money, and the equivalent of money, which shall be received by or promised to the committee, or any person acting under its authority or in its behalf, and of all expenditures, disbursements and promises of payment or disbursement which shall be made by the committee or any person acting under its authority and in its behalf; and no person, acting under the Receipt or disauthority or in behalf of such committee, shall receive any money prohibmoney, or equivalent of money, or expend or disburse the same, treasurer is until the committee has chosen a treasurer to keep its accounts as herein provided. bursement of ited until chosen. in Agent of com or mittee to give treasurer ac count, etc., of receipts, expen ditures, etc. SECT. 7. A person who, acting under the authority or behalf of a political committee, shall receive any money equivalent of money or promise of the same, or shall expend any money or its equivalent, or shall incur any liability to pay money or its equivalent, shall at any time thereafter on demand of the treasurer of such committee, and in any event within fourteen days after such receipt, expenditure, promise or liability, give to such treasurer a detailed account of the same, with all vouchers required by this act; and such account shall constitute To be in treasa part of the accounts and records of such treasurer. urer's accounts, etc. statement, etc., exceeds twenty SECT. 8. The treasurer of every political committee which Treasurer to file shall receive or expend or disburse any money or equivalent of when account money, or incur any liability to pay money, in connection with dollars. any election, if the aggregate of such receipts or of such expenditures, disbursements and liabilities shall exceed twenty Contents of statement. Time of filing. dollars, shall within thirty days after such election file a statement setting forth all the receipts, expenditures, disbursements and liabilities of the committee, and of every officer and other person acting under its authority and in its behalf. Such statement shall include the amount in each case received, the name of the person or committee from whom it was received, and, so far as practicable, the date of its receipt, and shall also include the amount of every expenditure or disbursement, the name of the person or committee to whom the expenditure or disbursement was made, and, so far as practicable, the date of every such expenditure and disbursement; and, except where such expenditure or disbursement was made to another political committee, shall clearly state the purpose for which it was expended or disbursed. The statement shall also give the date and amount of every existing unfulfilled promise or liability, both to and from such committee, remaining uncancelled and in force at the time the statement is made, with the name of the person or committee to or from whom the unfulfilled promise or liability exists, and clearly state the purpose for which the promise or liability was made or incurred. Person who receives, expends, etc., exceeding twenty dollars subject to requirements of this act. Receipt, expen. diture, etc., of money, etc., by persons not voters. Payment, etc., to be in name of payer, etc. SECT. 9. Every person who, acting otherwise than under the authority and in behalf of a political committee having a treasurer as herein before provided, receives money or the equivalent of money, or expends or disburses, or promises to expend or disburse money or its equivalent, to an amount exceeding twenty dollars, for the purpose of aiding or promoting the success or defeat of a political party or principle in a public election, or of aiding or taking part in the nomination, election or defeat of a candidate for public office, shall file such statement as is herein required to be filed by a treasurer of a political committee, in the town or city in which he is a legal voter, and shall be subject to all the requirements of this act, the same as a political committee and the treasurer thereof; but no person other than a legal voter of the Commonwealth shall receive, expend or disburse any money or equivalent of money, or promise to expend or disburse the same, for either of the purposes above-named, except for personal expenses as is herein provided, or under the authority and in behalf of a political committee. SECT. 10. No person shall, directly or indirectly, by himself or through another person, make a payment or promise of pay ment to a political committee or to an officer or other person acting under its authority or in its behalf, in any other than his own name; nor shall such committee, officer or other person knowingly receive a payment or promise of payment, or enter or cause the same to be entered in the accounts or records of such committee, in any other name than that of the person by whom such payment or promise of payment is made. payment, etc., of money from a candidate, etc. SECT. 11. No political committee, and no person acting Soliciting, etc., under the authority or in behalf of a political committee, shall demand, solicit, ask or invite a payment of money or promise of payment of money to be used in an election, from a person who has been nominated by a caucus, convention or nomination paper, as a candidate for public office in such election; and no Payment by person so nominated shall make any such payment in an election solicited, etc. in which he is a candidate for public office, to a political committee or to any person acting under the authority or in the behalf of a political committee, if such committee or any such person has demanded, solicited, asked or invited from him any such payment or promise of payment. candidate when statements to be filed with cer tain city or town clerks. SECT. 12. The statement required by this act to be filed by Treasurer's a treasurer of a political committee shall be filed with the clerk of the town or city in which the treasurer is a legal voter, except that, in case a political committee has its headquarters in some other town or city than that in which the treasurer is a legal voter, the treasurer shall file the statement required of him with the clerk of the town or city in which such headquarters are maintained at the time of the election to which the statement relates. A statement relating to any other than a municipal Duplicate state. election, or than an election on the part of a city council or of send one to either branch thereof, shall be filed in duplicate, and one copy filing. shall be forthwith forwarded by the town or city clerk receiving the same to the secretary of the Commonwealth, by whom it shall be placed on file. SECT. 13. The supreme judicial court and the superior court shall have full equity powers to compel any person who fails to file a statement required by this act, or who files a statement which does not conform to the provisions of this act in respect to sufficiency in detail, conformity to the truth or otherwise, to comply with the provisions of this act by filing such a statement as is required, and may compel such compliance, upon the petition of any candidate voted for or of any five persons qual ments, clerk to secretary for Equity powers of supreme judicial court and superior court; proceed ings, etc. Judicial proceedings. Witness not liable to crimi etc. ified to vote at the election on account of which the expenditures, or a part thereof, were or are alleged to have been made. No such petition shall be brought later than sixty days after such election, against any one who has filed his account within the thirty days required, excepting that a petition may be brought within thirty days of any payment which was not stated in the statement so filed. Proceedings under this section shall be advanced upon the dockets of said courts, if requested by either party, so that they may be tried and decided with as little delay as possible. No petition brought under this act shall be withdrawn or discontinued without the consent of the attorney general. SECT. 14. No person called to testify in any proceedings nal prosecution, under the preceding section shall be liable to criminal prosecution under this act or otherwise, for any matters or causes in respect of which he shall be examined or to which his testimony shall relate, except to prosecution for perjury committed in such testimony. Duty of clerk, when statements are not as required by law. Oath to be made to statement. Statements open to public inspection, etc. Secretary to furnish approved blank forms. Clerks receipts statements. SECT. 15. If any statements which are filed under this act shall apparently fail to be in conformity with the requirements thereof, it shall be the duty of the clerk with whom any such statement is filed, forthwith to notify the person making the same, of such failure, and to request him to amend and correct the same. SECT. 16. Every person making a statement required by this act shall make oath that the same is in all respects correct and true to the best of his knowledge and belief. SECT. 17. All statements which are filed in accordance with the provisions of this act shall be preserved for not less than fifteen months from the time of the election to which they relate, and shall during that period be open to public inspection, under reasonable regulations. SECT. 18. The secretary of the Commonwealth shall, at the expense of the Commonwealth, provide every city and town with blank forms suitable for such statements and receipts for statements as are required under this act. Said blank forms shall be approved by the secretary, treasurer and auditor of the Commonwealth, or by a majority of them. SECT. 19. A clerk of a town or city shall give a receipt for any statement which may be filed with him in accordance with the provisions of this act, at the request of the person filing the same. |