Federal Election Commission Main Page
Washington, DC 20463
November 18, 1996
CERTIFIED MAIL
RETURN RECEIPT REQUESTED
ADVISORY OPINION 1996-35
Betty K. Wood, Clearinghouse Coordinator
Greens/Green Party USA
P.O. Box 100
Blodgett Mills, NY 13738
Dear Ms. Wood:
This refers to your letter dated August 2, 1996, and
subsequent submissions requesting an advisory opinion
regarding whether the Greens/Green Party USA ("the Green
Party") is a "national committee" of a political party for
purposes of the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971, as
amended ("the Act"), and Commission regulations.
You state that your organization is recognized
throughout the U.S. as the national representative
organization of the Green Party movement.1 You state that
the Green Party is mounting a national presidential campaign
with Ralph Nader as its candidate. According to publicly
available sources, Mr. Nader is on the ballot as a candidate
of the Green Party or its affiliates in 16 states.2 Your
party is also running 8 candidates for the U.S. Congress in
5 states.3
Besides the involvement of the Green Party in electoral
contests, you cite various other elements of party building
activity which you present to support a claim to national
committee status. Among these elements are: the affiliation
of the Green Party with 14 state organizations, the
publication of party journals, the maintenance of a website
on the internet, and the holding of party conventions.4 The
Party has also established national headquarters located in
Blodgett Mills, NY.5
The term "national committee" is defined by the Act as
"the organization which, by virtue of the bylaws of a
political party, is responsible for the day-to-day operation
of such political party at the national level, as determined
by the Commission." 2 U.S.C. 431(14). See also 11 CFR
100.13. The term "political party" is defined by the Act
"as an association, committee, or organization which
nominates a candidate for election to any Federal office
whose name appears on the election ballot as the candidate
of such association, committee, or organization." 2 U.S.C.
431(16).
Therefore, to determine whether the Green Party is
eligible for national committee status, the Commission must
first determine whether the Party qualifies as a "political
party" under the Act. You have provided documentation
consisting of correspondence from state authorities
verifying that the Party's Congressional candidates achieved
ballot access in several states under the designation of
either the Green Party or a state affiliate. Secondary
information (publicly available) confirms their ballot
status. On this basis, the Commission concludes that the
Green Party would be a political party for purposes of the
Act. See Advisory Opinions 1995-16, 1992-44 and 1992-30.
The Commission has applied a number of criteria to
determine whether a political party or its committees have
demonstrated sufficient activity on a national level to
attain national committee status. A committee demonstrates
that it is a national committee of a political party by the
nomination of candidates for various Federal offices in
numerous states; by engaging in certain activities on an
ongoing basis (rather than with respect to a particular
election) such as supporting voter registration and get-out-
the-vote drives; and by publicizing issues of importance to
the party and its adherents throughout the nation. Other
indicia include the holding of a national convention, the
establishment of a national office and the establishment of
state affiliates. See Advisory Opinions 1995-16, 1992-44,
1992-30, 1988-45, 1980-131, 1980-121, 1980-96, 1980-3, 1978-
58, 1976-96 and 1975-129.
A committee or political party will not qualify for
national committee status if its activity is focused solely
on the Presidential and Vice Presidential election (Advisory
Opinions 1980-131 and 1978-58), or if it is limited to one
state (Advisory Opinion 1976-95), or if it currently has
only a limited number of Federal candidates on state ballots
(Advisory Opinion 1992-44, 1988-45).
The most important element in determining the extent of
a committee or party's national activity is the degree to
which the organization successfully attains ballot access
for its Presidential and Congressional candidates. Every
determination made by the Commission regarding a party's
national committee status has involved a political entity
that had, at a minimum, nominated and secured ballot access
for its Presidential candidates in a significant number of
states. See, for example, Advisory Opinions 1995-16, 1992-
44, 1992-30, 1980-131 and 1978-58. While ballot access for
Presidential candidates will not alone qualify an
organization as a national committee, the Commission
concludes that this element is a necessary prerequisite.
The Commission notes the success of the Party in attaining
ballot access for Mr. Nader as its candidate for President.
However, there is a unique and problematic aspect to
accepting Mr. Nader's campaign as a Presidential candidacy
for national committee purposes. Both your request and
publicly available information attest to Mr. Nader's
determination to keep his spending within the limits that
would avoid his qualifying as a candidate under the Act.6
This intention is based on his stated desire to avoid the
registration and reporting obligations that apply to Federal
candidates under the Act and Commission regulations.7
However, if Mr. Nader is not a candidate for purposes of the
Act, it follows he could not be considered a candidate for
purposes of 2 U.S.C. 431(16) and 431(14).8
The Green Party's efforts on behalf of its other
Federal candidates also indicate the limited extent of the
Party's efforts both in terms of the number of States and
number of candidates. For example, in the 1996 general
election, the Party had achieved ballot access in only five
states for only eight of its candidates seeking election to
the U.S. House or Senate.9 Considering all these factors
together, the Commission concludes that Greens/Green Party
USA, at this time, has not manifested sufficient national
activity to qualify as the national committee of a political
party under the Act. The Commission's determination does
not preclude the attainment by the Green Party of national
committee status at a future date pursuant to another
advisory opinion request. See Advisory Opinion 1992-44
(U.S. Taxpayers Party denied national committee status) and
Advisory Opinion 1995-16 (U.S. Taxpayers Party granted
national committee status).
This conclusion means that the Green Party may not
accept contributions for its Federal account in amounts
greater than $5,000 per year, per donor. See 2 U.S.C.
441a(a)(1)(C), 441a(a)(2)(C). Furthermore, the Party and
its committees may not make expenditures pursuant to 2
U.S.C. 441a(d). Since no specific transaction or activity
relating to Chapters 95 or 96 of the Internal Revenue Code
of 1954 was presented, this opinion does not reach any
issues as to the eligibility of the Greens/Green Party USA's
Presidential candidate(s) to receive Federal matching funds
under 26 U.S.C. 9031-9042 for use in the primary
elections, nor as to entitlement to general election funding
under 26 U.S.C. 9001-9012. Similarly, this opinion does
not reach the issue of entitlement of the Green Party to
receive convention financing under 26 U.S.C. 9008.
This response constitutes an advisory opinion
concerning the application of the Act, or regulations
prescribed by the Commission, to the specific transaction or
activity set forth in your request. See 2 U.S.C. 437f.
Sincerely,
(signed)
Lee Ann Elliott
Chairman
Enclosure (AOs 1995-16, 1992-44, 1992-30, 1988-45, 1980-
131,1980-121, 1980-96,
1980-3, 1978-58, 1976-112, 1976-95 and 1975-129)
_______________________________
1 As part of your request, you have provided copies of the
Party's Bylaws and Articles of Incorporation. These
indicate that the Green Party is organized as an
incorporated nonprofit membership organization in the State
of Missouri. Its purpose is listed in Article V of the
Articles of Incorporation as promoting conduct and political
action within the context of the ten "key values":
ecological wisdom, grassroots democracy, social justice,
nonviolence, decentralization, community based economics,
feminism, respect for diversity, personal and global
responsibility and future focus/sustainability. These ten
values are repeated in the Green Party Bylaws, sections 1.2
and 1.3.
Various factions within the decentralized Green Movement
strongly contest the claim of the Green Party to represent
the movement. This is illustrated in a September 9, 1996,
comment to the request made by Mr. Hank Chapot, a leader of
the Green movement in California. Your original request and
your response to Mr. Chapot's comment concede that not all
Green organizations and Green state parties support, or are
part of, the Greens/Green Party USA. In considering the
claim of the Green Party to national committee status, this
opinion will only consider political activity which,
according to the submitted materials and other public
sources, is linked to individuals or parties affiliated with
Greens/Green Party USA. See footnotes two and three below.
2 Mr. Nader is on the ballot as a presidential candidate in
a total of 22 states. However, in five of these states he
is listed as an independent candidate and in Oregon he is
listed as the candidate of a party (the Pacific Party) that
does not seem to be affiliated with the Green Party.
3 These states are: Alaska, California, Massachusetts, New
Mexico, and New York. Again, the candidates running in
these states are either themselves members of the Green
Party or are members of state parties that are affiliated
with Greens/Green Party USA.
4 The Green Party held its first nominating National
Convention as part of its annual party meeting on August 19,
1996, in Los Angeles California.
5 Mr. Chapot's comment challenged the existence of a
national office for the Green Party. However, the facts of
the opinion indicate that Blodgett Mills is the location of
the Greens/Green Party USA Clearinghouse which serves as the
Party Secretariat. See Green Party Bylaws, sections 3.3
.2.4; 4.2.1; and 5.2. The highest legislative body of the
Green Party is its Green Congress which meets during the
Party's annual convention. See Green Party Bylaws, section
3.1. The Green Congress, in turn elects portions of the
membership of the Green National Committee, which serves as
its chief executive body. Other members of the Green
National Committee are selected from the various Party
caucus and state or local Party organizations. See Green
Bylaws, section 3.3.
6 2 U.S.C. 431(2) and 11 CFR 100.3 provide, in part, that
candidate means an individual who seeks nomination for
election, or election, to Federal office. An individual
becomes a candidate for Federal office whenever any one of
several events occur. One such event is when the individual
has received contributions aggregating in excess of $5,000
or made expenditures in excess of $5,000.
7 Under the Act and Commission regulations, a Federal
candidate must designate a principal campaign committee
which itself must register and file reports with the
Commission. See 2 U.S.C. 432(e), 433(a) and 434(a)(3);
and 11 CFR 101.1(a), 102.1(a) and 104.1.
8 The Commission assumes that Mr. Nader intends to restrict
his campaign contributions and expenditures to a level below
the financial threshold for candidate status. This
assumption is accepted for the limited purpose of this
opinion only and without regard to any factual determination
or findings that might be made as part of any other
Commission process. See 2 U.S.C. 437g.
9 This level of activity is distinguishable from the
situation in Advisory Opinion 1995-16, where the Commission
granted national committee status to the U.S. Taxpayers
Party following the denial of such status in Advisory
Opinion 1992-44. At the time of its second request, the
U.S. Taxpayers Party had obtained ballot access for 14 of
its candidates for the U.S. Congress or Senate in six
States. The current situation of the Green Party would seem
closer to that of the U.S. Taxpayers Party in its first
request in Advisory Opinion 1992-44. The Commission, in
denying the Party's first request for national committee
status, found that the US Taxpayers Party had obtained
ballot access for nine Congressional candidates in three
States. The Commission also notes that in both requests,
the candidate status of the U.S. Taxpayers party's
Presidential candidate did not contain the problematic
aspects found in Mr. Nader's candidacy.