1. File your initial documents with the Georgia State Ethics Government Transparency and Campaign Finance Commission and/or your local filing office.
Before you can accept contributions for your campaign, you are required to register a campaign committee with the Commission. Section 21-5-30(g) of the Ethics in Government Act states:
Neither a candidate who is not a public officer nor his or her campaign committee may lawfully accept a campaign contribution until the candidae has filed with the commission a declaration of intention to accept campaign contributions which shall include the name and address of the candidate and the names and address of his or her campaign committee officer….
The way you do this is by filling out Form DOI, the Declaration of Intention to Accept Campaign Contributions. This can get a little bit tricky. For “State Level Filers,” the Form DOI says on its face that you file it with the Commission. For “Local Level Filers,” the form states that you file with your “local filing entity.”
How do you tell if you’re a State Level or Local Level candidate for filing your DOI form? If you’re running for County Commission, Coroner, Sheriff, Board of Education, Probate Judge, etc., you will file your DOI and all other ethics filings with the county elections superintendent. If you are running for State Court Judge or Solicitor, you will file at the county level. If you are running for Mayor, City Council, or other municipal office, you file with the City Clerk if there is one, and if there is no clerk, with the chief executive officer of the municipality.
State level offices include all statewide elected officials, state House of Representatives and state Senate, Superior Court Judges and District Attorneys.
My advice for your initial filings is to personally deliver the documents, and take an extra copy with you. When you file your documents, ask to have the extra copy stamped or signed by the clerk with a notation that they were filed and the date. This way, if the documents you filed ever go missing, you’ll have your own copy to prove you filed properly.
While you are filing with the Ethics Commission or your local filing officer, we recommend also filing the Form RC, Registration for a Candidate Campaign Committee. This may come in handy when you get to the next section, where you need to open a campaign bank account. It also allows you to designate someone else to sign checks or file documents on behalf of the campaign. I recommend keeping it simple and using “[YOUR NAME] for [OFFICE].” So if I were running for King of Georgia, my campaign committee would be Todd Rehm for King of Georgia.
When you’re filling out those forms, many candidates get caught in the issue of who should serve as their campaign chair and treasurer. For starters, the candidate himself can serve both functions. Often, candidate prefer to have a recognized politico or community leader serving as Chairman, but it’s not necessary. For Treasurer, keep in mind that he or she will likely be filing campaign disclosures on your behalf, and may have access to the campaign checkbook. It’s nice to have an accountant or banker as your treasurer if you have a friend who is willing to serve. But the most important trait I look for in a treasurer is trust and accountability. The campaign disclosures are not complicated, but they require an eye for detail and a passion for filing on time.