Sec. 9-621. (Formerly Sec. 9-333w). Political advertising.
Sec. 9-621. (Formerly Sec. 9-333w). Political advertising. (a) No individual shall
make or incur any expenditure with the cooperation of, at the request or suggestion of,
or in consultation with any candidate, candidate committee or candidate's agent, and
no candidate or committee shall make or incur any expenditure including an organization
expenditure for a party candidate listing, as defined in subparagraph (A) of subdivision
(25) of section 9-601, for any written, typed or other printed communication, or any web-based, written communication, which promotes the success or defeat of any candidate's
campaign for nomination at a primary or election or solicits funds to benefit any political
party or committee unless such communication bears upon its face (1) the words "paid
for by" and the following: (A) In the case of such an individual, the name and address
of such individual; (B) in the case of a committee other than a party committee, the
name of the committee and its campaign treasurer; or (C) in the case of a party committee,
the name of the committee, and (2) the words "approved by" and the following: (A) In
the case of an individual making or incurring an expenditure with the cooperation of,
at the request or suggestion of, or in consultation with any candidate, candidate committee or candidate's agent, the name of such individual; or (B) in the case of a candidate
committee, the name of the candidate.
(b) In addition to the requirements of subsection (a) of this section:
(1) No candidate or candidate committee or exploratory committee established by
a candidate shall make or incur any expenditure for television advertising or Internet
video advertising, which promotes the success of such candidate's campaign for nomination at a primary or election or the defeat of another candidate's campaign for nomination at a primary or election, unless (A) at the end of such advertising there appears
simultaneously, for a period of not less than four seconds, (i) a clearly identifiable photographic or similar image of the candidate making such expenditure, (ii) a clearly readable
printed statement identifying such candidate, and indicating that such candidate has
approved the advertising, and (iii) a simultaneous, personal audio message, in the following form: "I am .... (candidate's name) and I approved this message", and (B) the candidate's name and image appear in, and the candidate's voice is contained in, the narrative
of the advertising, before the end of such advertising;
(2) No candidate or candidate committee or exploratory committee established by
a candidate shall make or incur any expenditure for radio advertising or Internet audio
advertising, which promotes the success of such candidate's campaign for nomination
at a primary or election or the defeat of another candidate's campaign for nomination
at a primary or election, unless (A) the advertising ends with a personal audio statement
by the candidate making such expenditure (i) identifying such candidate and the office
such candidate is seeking, and (ii) indicating that such candidate has approved the advertising in the following form: "I am .... (candidate's name) and I approved this message",
and (B) the candidate's name and voice are contained in the narrative of the advertising,
before the end of such advertising; and
(3) No candidate or candidate committee or exploratory committee established by
a candidate shall make or incur any expenditure for automated telephone calls which
promote the success of such candidate's campaign for nomination at a primary or election or the defeat of another candidate's campaign for nomination at a primary or election, unless the candidate's name and voice are contained in the narrative of the call,
before the end of such call.
(c) No business entity, organization, association, committee, or group of two or
more individuals who have joined solely to promote the success or defeat of a referendum
question and is required to file a certification in accordance with subsection (d) of section
9-605, shall make or incur any expenditure for any written, typed or other printed communication which promotes the success or defeat of any referendum question unless
such communication bears upon its face the words "paid for by" and the following: (1)
In the case of a business entity, organization or association, the name of the entity,
organization or association and the name of its chief executive officer; (2) in the case
of a political committee, the name of the committee and the name of its campaign treasurer; (3) in the case of a party committee, the name of the committee; or (4) in the case
of such a group of two or more individuals, the name of the group as it appears on the
certification filed in accordance with subsection (d) of section 9-605, and the name and
address of its agent.
(d) The provisions of subsections (a), (b) and (c) of this section do not apply to (1)
any editorial, news story, or commentary published in any newspaper, magazine or
journal on its own behalf and upon its own responsibility and for which it does not charge
or receive any compensation whatsoever, (2) any banner, (3) political paraphernalia
including pins, buttons, badges, emblems, hats, bumper stickers or other similar materials, or (4) signs with a surface area of not more than thirty-two square feet.
(e) The campaign treasurer of a candidate committee which sponsors any written,
typed or other printed communication for the purpose of raising funds to eliminate a
campaign deficit of that committee shall include in such communication a statement
that the funds are sought to eliminate such a deficit.
(f) The campaign treasurer of an exploratory committee or candidate committee
established by a candidate for nomination or election to the office of Treasurer which
committee sponsors any written, typed or other printed communication for the purpose
of raising funds shall include in such communication a statement concerning the prohibitions set forth in subsection (n) of section 1-84, subsection (f) of section 9-612 and
subsection (f) of section 9-613.
(g) In the event a campaign treasurer of a candidate committee is replaced pursuant
to subsection (c) of section 9-602, nothing in this section shall be construed to prohibit
the candidate committee from distributing any printed communication subject to the
provisions of this section that has already been printed or otherwise produced, even
though such communication does not accurately designate the successor campaign treasurer of such candidate committee.
(P.A. 86-99, S. 24, 34; P.A. 91-159, S. 1; 91-351, S. 18, 28; P.A. 92-246, S. 4, 5; P.A. 94-143, S. 5, 6; P.A. 95-188, S.
4; 95-276, S. 2, 3; P.A. 96-119, S. 13, 14; P.A. 05-188, S. 4; Oct. 25 Sp. Sess. P.A. 05-5, S. 39; P.A. 06-196, S. 55; P.A.
08-2, S. 14.)
History: P.A. 91-159 added banners to list of items to which section does not apply; P.A. 91-351 amended Subsec. (a)
by applying disclosure requirements to incurring expenditures for a communication and to a communication soliciting
funds to benefit a political party or committee and by adding Subdiv. (4) re disclosure for individuals who join to promote
success or defeat of referendum question and file certification; P.A. 92-246 amended Subsec. (a) by inserting new Subdiv.
(3) requiring communication paid for or sponsored by party committee to bear only the name of the committee and relettering
former Subdivs. (3) and (4) accordingly; P.A. 94-143 amended Subsec. (a) by specifying that campaign literature must
contain the words "paid for by" or "sponsored by", amended Subsec. (b) by changing "this section does not apply" to "the
provisions of subsection (a) of this section do not apply", deleting "lawn or yard signs" from Subdiv. (3) and adding new
Subdiv. (4) re signs, and added new Subsec. (c) re raising funds to eliminate a campaign deficit, effective January 1, 1995,
and applicable to elections conducted on or after that date; P.A. 95-188 added Subsec. (d), subsequently relettered by the
Revisors as Subsec. (e), re contents of advertising for funds for candidates for Treasurer; P.A. 95-276 amended Subsec.
(a) and added Subsec. (b) to exempt certain individuals from the disclosure requirements of the section and relettered the
remaining Subsecs. accordingly, effective July 6, 1995; P.A. 96-119 added new Subsec. (f) re distribution of printed
communication that does not accurately designate successor campaign treasurer, effective January 1, 1997; P.A. 05-188
amended Subsec. (a) by adding "or any web-based, written communication", adding new Subdiv. (2) re requirement that
printed or written communications include the words "approved by" and the name of the individual making or incurring
the expenditure for the communication or the name of the candidate, and making conforming changes, added new Subsec.
(b) re requirement that television, Internet video, radio and Internet audio advertising include identifying information and
a statement approving the message, and redesignated existing Subsecs. (b) to (f) as Subsecs. (c) to (g), effective January
1, 2006; Oct. 25 Sp. Sess. P.A. 05-5 amended Subsec. (a) to prohibit candidate mailing expenditure unless the mailing
contains candidate's name and photograph, amended Subsec. (b)(1) and (2) by prohibiting candidate television, radio or
Internet audio or video advertising expenditure unless candidate's name, voice and image are used in the advertising, as
appropriate, and by making technical changes therein and added Subsec. (b)(3) prohibiting automated telephone call
expenditure unless candidate's name and voice contained in the call, effective December 31, 2006, and applicable to
elections held on or after that date; P.A. 06-196 made technical changes in Subsec. (b), effective December 31, 2006, and
applicable to elections held on or after that date; Sec. 9-333w transferred to Sec. 9-621 in 2007; P.A. 08-2 amended Subsec.
(a) to include provision re organization expenditure for party candidate listing and eliminate requirement that mailings to
promote success or defeat of a candidate in election or primary contain candidate's photograph and name, effective April
7, 2008.
See Sec. 9-717 re effect of court of competent jurisdiction's prohibiting or limiting the expenditure of funds from the
Citizens' Election Fund established in Sec. 9-701.
Annotation to former section 9-333w:
Subsec. (a):
Is narrowly tailored to serve compelling state interests and is valid and enforceable. 255 C. 78.