# US election law, foreign donations... **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 28, 2006, 9:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-election-law-foreign-donations/378219 "2006-10-28T09:30:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![williambaskerville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f14d63/32.png) [@williambaskerville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/williambaskerville)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2006, 9:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-election-law-foreign-donations/378219/1 "2006-10-28T09:30:25Z")
Hi, I’m an Irish citizen, living in Ireland. Suppose I had €30,000 lying around doing nothing,and decided a good use of it would be to help make George W. Bush a lame-duck President by electing a Democratic congress. Are US election candidates allowed to accept my money, or is there some law forbidding it ? ( I have a vague memory there is, but Google searches about US election law just produces myriads of reports about violations of it). So can I just feed this money to Democratic candidates, or do I have to send it to my sister (living in Portland,Oregon,US citizen for 20 years), for her to do it? Regards, William ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2006, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-election-law-foreign-donations/378219/2 "2006-10-28T15:37:25Z")
See Title 2 of the US code, Chapter 14, 441e. It’s illegal for someone who’s not a citizen of the US or a permanent resident to donate to a candidate or political party. ---
**Author:** ![Duckster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duckster/32/1244_2.png) [@Duckster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duckster)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2006, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-election-law-foreign-donations/378219/3 "2006-10-28T15:44:46Z")
[QUOTE=Captain Amazing] See Title 2 of the US code, Chapter 14, 441e. It’s illegal for someone who’s not a citizen of the US or a permanent resident to donate to a candidate or political party. [/QUOTE] See [2 U.S. Code § 441e - Transferred | U.S. Code | US Law | LII / Legal Information Institute](http://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/html/uscode02/usc_sec_02_00000441---e000-.html) ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2006, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-election-law-foreign-donations/378219/4 "2006-10-28T21:51:40Z")
This I do not understand. The US is legislating against a foreign national in a foreign country? I can understand it applying to foreign nationals inside the U.S… But really, shouldn’t it be the other way around? Shouldn’t it be illegal for a candidate to accept funds from a foreign national? ---
**Author:** ![Dog80](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/6bbea6/32.png) [@Dog80](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dog80)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2006, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-election-law-foreign-donations/378219/5 "2006-10-28T22:27:06Z")
I don’t see how the law is enforceable. Do candidates have to report all the donations they accept and how they spend them? ---
**Author:** ![brianjedi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3be4f8/32.png) [@brianjedi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brianjedi)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2006, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-election-law-foreign-donations/378219/6 "2006-10-28T22:40:21Z")
[QUOTE=Dog80] I don’t see how the law is enforceable. Do candidates have to report all the donations they accept and how they spend them? [/QUOTE] Candidates are required to file quarterly fundraising reports with the Federal Election Commission, including expenditures. ---
**Author:** ![Neptunian\_Slug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ce7236/32.png) [@Neptunian\_Slug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Neptunian_Slug)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2006, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-election-law-foreign-donations/378219/7 "2006-10-29T02:34:46Z")
[QUOTE=Captain Amazing] See Title 2 of the US code, Chapter 14, 441e. It’s illegal for someone who’s not a citizen of the US or a permanent resident to donate to a candidate or political party. [/QUOTE] Its similarly illegal for US Citizens to launder contributions for foreign nationals. ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2006, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-election-law-foreign-donations/378219/8 "2006-10-29T03:19:46Z")
[QUOTE=Quartz] This I do not understand. The US is legislating against a foreign national in a foreign country? I can understand it applying to foreign nationals inside the U.S.. But really, shouldn’t it be the other way around? Shouldn’t it be illegal for a candidate to accept funds from a foreign national? [/QUOTE] It is. In the same link above, to 2 U.S.C. § 441e, it says: > [@](#): > > It shall be unlawful for— . . . . > (2) a person to solicit, accept, or receive a contribution or donation described in subparagraph (A) or (B) of paragraph (1) from a foreign national. So it is illegal for a foreigner to _donate_ to a U.S. campaign, and illegal for a U.S. campaign to _accept_ a donation from a foreigner. ---
**Author:** ![Neptunian\_Slug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ce7236/32.png) [@Neptunian\_Slug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Neptunian_Slug)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2006, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-election-law-foreign-donations/378219/9 "2006-10-29T15:23:34Z")
[QUOTE=Walloon] It is. In the same link above, to 2 U.S.C. § 441e, it says:So it is illegal for a foreigner to _donate_ to a U.S. campaign, and illegal for a U.S. campaign to _accept_ a donation from a foreigner. [/QUOTE] Yes. What would most likely happen is if a foreign citizen donated a small amount to a campaign and the campaign knows its foreign, they would return it. No harm no foul. If they could not locate the donor to return the check, they can donate the money to charity. So if you live in England and want to donate and put a foreign address on the donation form, the campaign will return it. If you give a fake US address, it might slip through. But anything over $250 become public record and is available to anyone to research. That’s usually how that sort of thing gets caught. If you call a buddy in the US and ask if you can borrow his address, it could slip through the cracks. But keep in mind that if he is caught, then your buddy is subject to prosecution. ---
**Author:** ![williambaskerville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f14d63/32.png) [@williambaskerville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/williambaskerville)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2006, 10:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/us-election-law-foreign-donations/378219/10 "2006-10-30T10:47:38Z")
Thanks for the info, people. It seems even sending it to my sister puts her in legal jeopardy. Looks like the money is going to Bóthar, ([http://www.bothar.org](http://www.bothar.org)) which is probably a better use of it anyway. Regards, William