16-950. Qualification for clean elections funding

(Caution:  1998 Prop 105 applies)

A. A candidate who has made an application for certification may also apply, in accordance with subsection B of this section, to receive funds from the citizens clean elections fund, instead of receiving private contributions.

B. To receive any clean elections funding, the candidate must present to the secretary of state no later than one week after the end of the qualifying period a list of names of persons who have made qualifying contributions pursuant to section 16-946 on behalf of the candidate. The list shall be divided by county. At the same time, the candidate must tender to the secretary of state the original reporting slips identified in section 16-946, subsection C for persons on the list and an amount equal to the sum of the qualifying contributions collected. The secretary of state shall deposit the amount into the fund.

C. The secretary of state shall select at random a sample of five per cent of the number of nonduplicative names on the list for a candidate for a statewide office and twenty per cent of the number of nonduplicative names on the list for a candidate for legislative office and shall forward facsimiles of the selected reporting slips to the county recorders for the counties of the addresses specified in the selected slips. Within ten days, the county recorders shall provide a report to the secretary of state identifying as disqualified any slips that are unsigned or undated or that the recorder is unable to verify as matching a person who is registered to vote in the electoral district of the office the candidate is seeking on the date specified on the slip.  The secretary of state shall multiply the number of slips not disqualified by twenty for statewide candidates, and shall multiply the number of slips not disqualified by five for legislative candidates, and if the result is greater than one hundred ten per cent of the quantity required, shall approve the candidate for funds, and if the result is less than one hundred ten per cent of the quantity required, the secretary of state shall forward facsimiles of all of the slips to the county recorders for verification, and the county recorders shall check all slips in accordance with the process above. A county recorder shall not check slips already verified.  A county recorder shall report verified totals daily to the secretary of state until a determination is made that a sufficient number of verified slips has been submitted. If a sufficient number of verified slips has been submitted to one or more county recorders, the county recorders may stop the verification process.

D. To qualify for clean elections funding, a candidate must have been approved as a participating candidate pursuant to section 16-947 and have obtained the following number of qualifying contributions:

1. For a candidate for legislature, two hundred.

2. For candidate for mine inspector, five hundred.

3. For a candidate for treasurer, superintendent of public instruction or corporation commission, one thousand five hundred.

4. For a candidate for secretary of state or attorney general, two thousand five hundred.

5. For a candidate for governor, four thousand.

E. To qualify for clean elections funding, a candidate must have met the requirements of this section and either be an independent candidate or meet the following standards:

1. To qualify for funding for a party primary election, a candidate must have properly filed nominating papers and nominating petitions with signatures pursuant to chapter 3, articles 2 and 3 of this title in the primary of a political organization entitled to continued representation on the official ballot in accordance with section 16-804.

2. To qualify for clean elections funding for a general election, a candidate must be a party nominee of such a political organization.