What does Georgia law require for registration and disclosure by independent committees and when must groups report donors?
Executive summary
Georgia requires independent committees to register with the State Ethics Commission before accepting contributions or making expenditures aimed at influencing elections, to file periodic disclosure reports on a defined schedule, and to disclose donor information above specified thresholds; recent legislative changes have standardized quarterly reporting and clarified thresholds and filing timings [1] [2] [3]. Donor-identifying information must be reported for contributions over $100 and smaller statutory carve-outs and timing rules apply to leadership committees and other entities [4] [5] [1].
1. What an “independent committee” must do to register
Georgia law requires any independent committee that accepts contributions or makes expenditures for the purpose of affecting the outcome of an election, or to advocate the election or defeat of a candidate, to register with the State Ethics Commission prior to accepting contributions or making expenditures [1]. Leadership committees—distinct from campaign committees by statute—must register within ten days after they accept contributions or make expenditures in excess of $500 and thereafter follow regular disclosure obligations [5]. The State Ethics Commission serves as the collecting and enforcement authority for these registrations and reports [6].
2. Reporting cadence and the statutory schedule
Independent committees must file disclosure reports on a recurring schedule established in the Code and clarified by recent legislative reforms: the independent committee must file a final report prior to December 31 of the election year and supplemental reports on June 30 and December 31 of each year it continues to accept contributions or make expenditures, and broader statutory changes moved most filers to a quarterly schedule beginning in 2026 [2] [3]. More generally, campaign contribution disclosure reports for candidates and committees are now scheduled quarterly—January 31, April 30, July 31 and October 20—under the 2025 statutory updates that take effect in 2026, which affects harmonization of reporting across filers [3].
3. What donor information must be disclosed and when
For ballot committees and similar political committees in Georgia, once a committee has raised or spent the statutory low threshold (commonly $500), it must file regular campaign finance disclosure reports and for all contributions exceeding $100 must report the donor’s name, address, occupation and employer—information required to be submitted electronically to the state’s campaign finance portal [4]. The Attorney General’s earlier opinion and state law trace the disclosure imperative to longstanding principles—providing voters information about sources of campaign funds and deterring corruption—and Georgia treats persons or entities making contributions or independent expenditures as subject to comparable disclosure duties as candidates when thresholds are met [7].
4. Thresholds, exceptions and carve‑outs
Georgia’s statutes include carve-outs for small-scale activity: individuals or entities whose aggregate contributions and expenditures to or on behalf of candidates fall below certain amounts (for example, $25,000 in one calendar year under portions of the Code) are treated differently with respect to registration and some reporting obligations, and contributors who give to only one candidate may be excepted from some filings; these statutory exceptions are explicitly enumerated in the Code [1]. At the same time, watchdog surveys have noted gaps and evolving rules about disclosure of ultimate funders and pass‑through entities—an area of debate between advocates for greater transparency and groups arguing for donor privacy [8] [4].
5. Enforcement, recent legislative additions, and open questions
The State Ethics Commission administers filings and public posting of reports, and recent legislation has added requirements such as prohibiting contributions from foreign nationals to these committees and new registration pathways for agents of foreign principals, with some provisions phased in later [9]. Separate new laws—such as tort reform provisions addressing litigation funding—create registration and disclosure regimes for third‑party funders in other contexts effective in 2026 but do not replace the campaign finance-specific registration and donor-reporting obligations described above [10]. Reporting deadlines, thresholds, and the interaction between leadership committees, PACs, independent committees and new statutory regimes have been the subject of advisory opinions and legal commentary, leaving some implementation questions to be settled by the Commission and courts [7] [3].