(1) Pursuant to RCW 42.17A.405 and 42.17A.410, the date of the primary is the last day for making primary-related contributions unless a candidate subject to contribution limits loses in the primary, that candidate's authorized committee has insufficient funds to pay debts outstanding as of the date of the primary, and the contributions are used to satisfy this outstanding debt.

(2) For purposes of the contribution limit in RCW 42.17A.405 and 42.17A.410, any contribution made up to thirty days after the primary election pursuant to RCW 42.17A.405 and 42.17A.410 is aggregated with contributions made on or before the date of the primary from the same contributor and any person with whom that contributor shares a limit under RCW 42.17A.455 and WAC 390-16-309.

(3) The day following the primary election is considered the first day of the thirty-day period during which contributions may be made to candidates subject to contribution limits who lose in the primary election and who have outstanding primary debts.

(4) For purposes of RCW 42.17A.405 and 42.17A.410, "outstanding primary debts," "outstanding debts" and "debts outstanding" all mean:

(a) Unpaid primary-election-related debts incurred on or before the date of the primary by the authorized committee of a candidate who lost the primary election for an office subject to contribution limits; and

(b) Reasonable costs associated with activities of the losing candidate's authorized committee necessary to retire the primary-election-related debts it incurred on or before the date of the primary. Examples of such reasonable costs include:

(i) Necessary administrative expenses (office space rental, staff wages, taxes, supplies, telephone and computer costs, postage, and the like) for activities actually and directly related to retiring the committee's debt; and

(ii) Necessary expenses actually and directly related to the fund-raising activities undertaken to retire the debt, as long as all persons solicited for contributions are notified that the contributions are subject to that contributor's primary election limit for that losing candidate.

(5) Nothing in this section is to be construed as authorizing contributors to make, or candidates subject to contribution limits who lose the primary to receive, contributions that are used for a purpose not specifically authorized by RCW 42.17A.405 or 42.17A.410, including use for some future election or as surplus funds.

(6) All contributions received in excess of the sum needed to satisfy outstanding primary debts shall be returned to the original contributors in an amount not to exceed the amount contributed in accordance with the first in, first out accounting principle wherein the most recent contribution received is the first to be returned until all excess funds are returned to contributors.

PDFWAC 390-17-302

Contributions after the primary election.