Ley 128 del 2001
Resumen
Esta ley enmienda la Ley Electoral de Puerto Rico para clarificar las disposiciones sobre la identificación de contribuyentes en actos políticos colectivos. Elimina la obligación de identificar a contribuyentes individuales de menos de cincuenta dólares si el total de contribuciones anónimas en un evento excede el veinte por ciento del total recaudado, simplificando el proceso de cumplimiento.
Contenido
(No. 128)
(Approved September 8, 2001)
AN ACT
To amend Section 3.010 of Act No. 4 of December 20, 1977, as amended, known as the "Puerto Rico Electoral Law," in order to clarify the provisions on the identification of those persons who contribute, through a collective political act in support of a political party or a candidate, an amount greater than fifty (50) dollars.
STATEMENT OF MOTIVES
Through the approval of Act No. 113 of July 6, 2000, the Legislature adopted the amendments to the Puerto Rico Electoral Law proposed by an Evaluating Committee designated by the President of the Senate and it appropriated the fiscal resources for its execution, in order to propitiate and strengthen the trust of the People in our democratic institutions.
The creation of said committee was justified by the special interest that began to emerge in the Puerto Rican voters as to the origin and use of the funds collected for the financing of political campaigns. Likewise, dependency on private resources to defray the same and fundraising practices had raised some misgivings in the citizenry as to the integrity of democratic processes.
In order to impart greater transparency to electoral processes, another amendment suggested by said committee was adopted and the President of the Commonwealth Elections Commission was empowered to establish an orderly and easy to use database with information regarding donations to
political parties, candidates and political action committees. As a general rule, with the objective of keeping said information updated so as to submit parties, contributors and candidates to public scrutiny, Section 3.010 of the Act prohibits any contribution in excess of fifty (50) dollars made to a political party or candidate in which the contributor can not be identified.
In addition, subsection
(a) of that same Section allows for those anonymous contributions thereby prohibited to be made if these are made within a collective political act. However, subsection
(c) provides that in those cases in which the total of this kind of contributions received in an activity of this nature exceeds twenty (20) percent of the total amount collected, it shall be compulsory to identify the contributor even if the individual amount contributed is less than fifty (50) dollars.
In practice, the provisions of the subsection mentioned above represent a legal obligation that could, on many instances, be not complied with even when there is no intent not to comply. The calculation to establish what represents anonymous contributions within the total amount received is made after the close of the activity. Imposing the task on organizers, in the event the percentage established is exceeded, of identifying those persons who might not be accessible to furnish the information required constitutes an excessively burdensome requirement.
As a consequence thereof, it is necessary to amend the Section referred to above, in order to clarify provisions concerning the identification of these contributors. The elimination of subsection
(c) shall have the consequence of eliminating the contradiction currently present in the text of the Act.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF PUERTO RICO:
Section 1.-Section 3.010 of Act No. 4 of December 20, 1977, as amended, is hereby amended to read as follows:
"Section 3.010.—Anonymous Contributions.— Any contribution in excess of fifty (50) dollars made to a political party or candidate for which the contributor can not be identified, is hereby prohibited, except that:
(a) ...
(b) ..." Section 2.-This Act shall take effect immediately after its approval, but its effects shall be retroactive to July $1^{ ext {st }}, 2000$.
CERTIFICATION
I hereby certify to the Secretary of State that the following Act No. 128 (H.B. 600) of the $1^{ ext {st }}$ Session of the $14^{ ext {th }}$ Legislature of Puerto Rico:
AN ACT to amend Section 3.010 of Act No. 4 of December 20, 1977, as amended, known as the "Puerto Rico Electoral Law," in order to clarify the provisions on the identification of those persons who contribute, through a collective political act in support of a political party or a candidate, an amount greater than fifty (50) dollars, has been translated from Spanish to English and that the English version is correct.
In San Juan, Puerto Rico, today $23^{ ext {rd }}$ of November of 2004.
Elba Rosa Rodríguez-Fuentes Director