Michigan Democratic Party fined $27K for late refunds on excessive contributions
The Michigan Democratic Party (MDP) failed to refund excessive contributions received in 2020 on time and agreed to pay the Federal Election Commission (FEC) a $27,000 fine for the late refunds, according to an agreement between the commission and the party recently made public.
During the last presidential election cycle, the Michigan Democratic State Central Committee, the committee name for MDP's main fundraising account, received $154,410.33 in excessive contributions with the bulk coming from individual donors who gave more than $10,000 annual limit, according to a agreement. The party refunded the excessive contributions but did so after the 60-day deadline passed.
MDP said the excessive contributions stemmed from joint fundraising activities and that the party has taken action to ensure timely action to address excessive contributions in the future, according to the conciliation agreement.
"This is an issue from three years ago regarding money raised from joint-fundraising accounts," said MDP spokesperson Christian Slater in an email. "The MDP has returned the money and partnered with the FEC to ensure compliance with campaign finance rules." The FEC received the $27,000 civil penalty payment las week, a press officer for the commission confirmed in an email.
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A lawyer representing MDP said the party's process to avoid late refunds broke down in 2020. "Although the Michigan Democratic State Central Committee had procedures in place to handle such situations, a series of miscommunications during a period of unprecedented high volume of contributions caused a delay in processing refunds to these donors," MDP counsel Neil Reiff wrote in a April 2022 letter to the FEC.
The party must also require its treasurer and other personnel responsible for complying with federal campaign finance laws and policies to attend an FEC-sponsored conference.
State party committees can accept up to $10,000 in individual contributions each year and up to $5,000 from multi-candidate political committees. The excessive contributions MDP received in 2020 included $151,901.33 from 29 individuals and $2,500 from a multi-candidate committee, according to the FEC agreement.
The commission became aware of the excessive contributions during routine reviews of state party finances and initiated action against MDP, the agreement states. The FEC alleged that the party violated a federal law barring political committees from knowingly accepting contributions above the legal limit. MDP entered into a conciliation agreement with the commission voluntarily to settle the matter.
Michigan Democrats secured major electoral victories in 2020. President Joe Biden carried the state and U.S. Sen. Gary Peters won reelection.
Clara Hendrickson fact-checks Michigan issues and politics as a corps member with Report for America, an initiative of The GroundTruth Project. Make a tax-deductible contribution to support her work at bit.ly/freepRFA. Contact her at chendrickson@freepress.com or 313-296-5743. Follow her on Twitter @clarajanehen.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Michigan Democratic Party fined $27K by FEC for late refunds
