A step-by-step guide to organizing a committee is now available.

All political committees must have an appointed treasurer to accept contributions or make expenditures.  Click here for more information about how to select and appoint a new treasurer.

OCPF has a memorandum available for candidates who are currently organized and reporting with OCPF that now wish to run for a municipal office.  The memorandum outlines the steps that a candidate's committee must take with their local election official to organize with the municipality and commence their campaign reporting for the local office sought.

OCPF has a memorandum available for candidates who are currently organized and reporting with their local election officials that now wish to run for a county or state office.  The memorandum outlines the steps that the candidate's committee must take organize with OCPF and commence campaign reporting and electronic filing for the new office sought.

Click here to find out how and when to dissolve a political committee.

A political committee is a committee that raises money for a specific political purpose, such as:

• The election of a single candidate (candidate's committee);
• The election or defeat of one or more candidates (political action committee);
• The promotion of a particular party (state and local party committees); or
• The passage or defeat of a ballot question (ballot question committee).

Before it can raise funds for its specified purpose, a committee must be properly organized with OCPF or, if applicable, a local election official.

In general, organizations that are not political committees may spend money for political purposes, such as contributions to candidates or PACs or expenditures to support or oppose ballot questions, without having to organize as a political committee.  Click here for more information.

Candidates for statewide or county office, Governor's Council, and mayor or city council in Boston, Cambridge, Lowell, Springfield and Worcester must conduct their campaign finance activity through a depository bank account, with their financial institutions filing regular reports with OCPF.  All other candidates are legally required to segregate their campaign funds from their personal funds.  While a bank account is not explicitly required by the campaign finance law, candidates and committees are advised to open a checking account to conduct campaign activity.  To open a bank account, you will need a Taxpayer Identification Number (TIN).

For more information, visit our step-by step guides for setting up committees.

Most e-filers submit their reports using the free Reporter filing and recordkeeping software, which they download here.  Reporter is for PCs only.  Financial institutions, Mac users and others use the online Web Reporter tool, which does not store data or the Reporter program on their computers.  E-filers need a CPF ID number and password to access the Electronic Filing System to file their reports.

A step-by-step guide is now available to explain how legislative and non-depository municipal candidates should report campaign expenditures made using their personal funds.

A step-by-step guide is now available to show how to calculate a depository filer's estimated cash-on-hand from the most current report information on the EFS.

All public records are available for inspection or copying.  Click here to make a request.

OCPF issues opinions concerning prospective activities in response to questions by candidates, committees and the public.  Click here to request an advisory opinion.

OCPF welcomes all inquiries regarding campaign finance activities.  In addition, individuals with information concerning possible violation of the campaign finance laws may file a written request for a review of their issues of concern. Read more...

OCPF regularly schedules seminars to assist new candidates and committees with understanding the requirements and restrictions of campaign finance law.  OCPF also provides seminars to interested parties on a variety of campaign finance topics and schedules individual training sessions for candidates and committees.  Click here for more information about OCPF's training and seminar options.

Click here to get helpful tips on locating reports and navigating around the EFS.

The candidates and committees that file campaign finance reports with OCPF include:

• Candidates for the six statewide offices (Governor, Lieutenant Governor, Attorney General, Treasurer, Secretary and Auditor);
• Candidates for the Governor's Council;
• Candidates for county office (District Attorney, Sheriff, County Commissioner, Clerk of Court, Register of Deeds and Register of Probate) and other regional offices such as Barnstable Assembly of Delegates and county charter commissions;
• Candidates for the Legislature (State Senator and State Representative);
• Candidates for mayor and city council in the five most populous cities (pop. 100,000+):  Boston, Cambridge, Lowell, Springfield and Worcester;
• Candidates for mayor in the cities with populations of 40,000 to 100,000;
• Political action committees (including people's committees, a form of PAC);
• State and local party committees; and
• Committees supporting or opposing questions put to voters on the state ballot.

OCPF maintains an online database of all candidates and committees organized with the office.  OCPF also maintains an online database of newly organized candidates and committees which is updated daily.

All candidates and committees that register with OCPF are issued a five-digit CPF ID number, which is available for viewing on OCPF's online database.

OCPF's database includes all those who have run for each specific office and have not dissolved their committee, including those who may not have run in the most recent election.  For an official list of candidates in a specific election, contact the Secretary of the Commonwealth's Elections Division at (617) 727-2828 or (800) 462-VOTE or, in the case of municipal candidates, the applicable local election official.

Most candidates and committees e-file their reports on OCPF's Electronic Filing System.  Paper reports are filed by some other candidates, especially those who have not been on the ballot in recent years, and committees, such as those whose activity falls below the statutory e-file thresholds.

The mayoral and city council candidates in Boston, Cambridge, Lowell, Springfield and Worcester, and the mayoral candidates in cities with populations of 40,000 to 100,000, file their campaign finance reports with OCPF.  All other candidates for office in cities and towns file with their respective local election officials (city or town clerk or election commission).  Also filing locally are municipal ballot question committees and municipal PACs.

The mayoral and city council candidates reporting to OCPF file electronic reports that are available for viewing on OCPF's Electronic Filing System.

The other municipal candidates and committees file paper reports which are available for viewing on the website or at the office of the local election officials with whom they file.  You should contact your local election officials for more information about these reports.

NOTE:  Those running for representative town meeting member or those seeking local party committee office are not considered candidates for the purposes of the campaign finance law and therefore are not required to file campaign finance reports.

OCPF oversees the campaign finance reporting and disclosure requirements of state, county and some municipal candidates.  OCPF's Electronic Filing System contains the reports for only those candidates and committees registered with our office.

Candidates for Congress (House of Representatives) file their reports directly with the Federal Election Commission (FEC) in Washington.  Candidates for the U.S. Senate file their reports with the Secretary of the Senate, who provides copies to the FEC.  The FEC maintains a searchable online database containing reports from all federal candidates and committees.

If you would like information about any federal candidate or committee, you should visit the website of the Federal Election Commission.