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Minnesota Office of Administrative Hearings

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Fair Campaign Hearing Process

Overview

Since 2004, Fair Campaign Practice and Campaign Finance Act complaints are heard at OAH. To initiate a complaint, a completed form must be filed with OAH (in person, by mail, or by facsimile transmission). Each document is available in HTML (for viewing with a browser) and Word (for downloading). Each complaint is subject to prima facie review, meaning that the complaint must, on its face, state a violation of Minn. Stat. Chapters 211A or 211B. Each complaint alleging actionable violations will be assigned for hearing. The time to a hearing will differ, depending on the proximity of the next election. Additional information about the process is included on the complaint form.

Staff Attorneys are available to answer procedural questions and provide necessary forms. OAH staff cannot answer questions regarding specific matters or answer hypothetical questions regarding potential violations. The current Campaign Manual (online at http://www.sos.state.mn.us/Modules/ShowDocument.aspx?documentid=1020 PDF format) is available from the Secretary of State's office with both the relevant statutes and notes on prior decisions applying those statutes. Staff Attorneys cannot provide legal advice or interpretations of legal materials. OAH has developed a Penalty Matrix [Word Version] to provide guidance in arriving at consistent penalties for similar violations.

Statutes

The Fair Campaign Practice process is governed by Minn. Stat. Chapters 211A and 211B. The OAH process was added during the 2004 Legislative session. Both Chapters are provided to assist those persons who are using the process for resolution of alleged violations filed on or after July 1, 2004.

Recent Filings

On some occasions, interest in particular cases brought under the Fair Campaign Practice complaint process warrants making filings available from this website. The documents posted here are not all of the filings in a particular matter.

Decisions

All of the campaign decisions are contained in the ALJ Report Database and are key-word searchable. To limit your results to campaign cases, select the "advanced" search option and use CV as a required search term. Each campaign order is individually listed below.

A summary of the most Notable Campaign Decisions is provided to aid those researching issues that arise frequently in campaign complaints. To obtain the full text of those decisions, use either ALJ Report Database or the listing of cases set out below.

An Index of Campaign Decisions has been prepared to assist in research of OAH Fair Campaign Act issues. The Index provides a listing of key words, excerpts from cases, and links to each full decision. Not every order with that keyword is listed, but the Index can provide assistance with searching the ALJ Report Database for more comprehensive results.


Last Updated - March 7, 2011


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