Board of Elections

Education and Training

The Compliance Unit is responsible for assisting treasurers and candidates the entire way through the campaign financial disclosure process. This is accomplished in a variety of ways. The Compliance Unit has a dedicated Call Center which is vital in helping candidates and treasurers navigate registration, contribution limits, filing, seminars, continuing legal education, continuing professional education for accountants and webinars on a variety of Campaign Finance topics. This is done to better educate filers on campaign finance obligations. The Unit also conducts compliance reviews on all itemized filings.

Campaign Finance Compliance Webinar

The link below is a 48-minute audio PowerPoint presentation on the topics of The Law; Who Must File and How to Register; When to File; Contributions and Limits; and Electronic Filing System Software, Schedules, and Compliance

Campaign Finance Compliance Webinar (WMV 88MB)

Campaign Finance Call Center

The Unit provides filers with a Call Center that can answer a variety of Election Law and campaign finance questions. This is a very useful tool for candidates and treasurers. The call center is operational Monday through Friday, 9:00 A.M. to 4:45 P.M.

ITU Help Desk

NYSBOE has an ITU help desk that can assist filers experiencing software issues. The ITU help desk is operational Monday through Friday, 9:00 A.M. to 4:45 P.M.

Continuing Education

The Unit travels the State and provides seminars, continuing education and webinars to filers looking for information on campaign financial disclosure requirements. Please check our website at www.elections.ny.gov for the latest schedule of trainings.

Compliance Reviews

The Unit examines all itemized reports and assists treasurers with meeting reporting obligations. The Unit analysis statistics on the most common reporting errors and updates its Compliance training series to highlight that information.

Top Compliance Issues

Our Unit has compiled the top 5 errors that are made on itemized reports:

  • Reimbursements are made to Individuals or credit cards without proper itemization. Each transaction in a reimbursement must be individually itemized.
  • A negative opening or closing balance. The Committee will be notified of having a negative balance and would be required to reconcile their reports.
  • Missing data. A missing date, name, address, city, state, zip code, or type of payment may generate a deficiency.
  • Loan documentation. Every time a committee receives a loan or forgives a loan, the Committee must supply a copy of the letter of indebtedness or letter of forgiveness to NYSBOE. In addition, every loan must be carried over onto the next report until it is paid back or forgiven.
  • Conducting Raffles. The NYS Gaming Commission prohibits political committees from conducting raffles. The monies received from a raffle must be refunded to participants (if known) or to the Office of the State Comptroller if the participants are unknown.