Audit Authority
San Francisco Charter Section C3.699-11 authorizes the Ethics Commission (the “Commission”) to “audit campaign statements and other relevant documents” of campaign committees that file with the Commission. San Francisco Campaign and Governmental Conduct Code (“C&GCC”) Section 1.150(a) requires the Commission to audit all committees of candidates who have received public financing and authorizes the Commission to initiate targeted audits of other committees at its discretion.
Overview of Campaign Finance Audit Process
The Ethics Commission’s audit process generally involves the following steps:
Audit Timing
- Section 1.150(a) requires the Commission to initiate audits of all publicly financed candidates within 60 days after the deadline for the first post-election campaign statement. To ensure the timely and efficient completion of these required audits, Auditors begin the audit process well before this deadline.
- After completing the mandatory audits of publicly financed candidates, the Commission audits other committees active in that election year, selected based on total spending or identified risks. The Commission lists all committees selected for audit by election year on its Audit Selection webpage.
- Auditors will send audit notices and records requests to all publicly financed candidates about two weeks before the first post-election filing deadline, with records due to the Commission about two weeks after the filing deadline. Other committees, particularly the highest-spending committees in an election year, may also receive a records request at the same time.
- Auditors perform audit work in tranches of committees. Committees should be aware that after providing records to the Commission, Auditors may not begin audit work on your committee for several months.
Audit Records
- When the Commission initiates an audit of your committee, Auditors will send a comprehensive request for records similar to the list on the Audit Records webpage. Committees must provide all records necessary to substantiate their activity during the specified audit period.
- Regulation 1.170-1 allows the Commission to specify the method by which records are provided. The Commission requires all audit records to be submitted via the Commission’s Dropbox records portal. Each committee will be assigned a unique records portal upload link. Instructions for uploading records will included with the records request.
- During the audit, Auditors may follow up with requests for additional or missing records as needed. C&GCC Section 1.109(b) requires committees to provide the Commission any requested documents required to be retained under state or local law within 10 business days of receiving a request.
Audit Reports
- After completing audit work, Auditors will prepare a draft audit report describing the extent to which the Committee complied with requirements of the San Francisco Campaign Finance Reform Ordinance (C&GCC Section 1.100, et seq.) and the California Political Reform Act (California Government Code Section 81000, et seq.).
- Audit reports may include both material and non-material findings. Material findings are instances of noncompliance that Auditors determine to be significant based on frequency or total dollar amount. Non-material findings are other instances of noncompliance determined not to be material in terms of frequency or dollar amount, but that are reported for the awareness of committees and the public and to facilitate the tracking of trends.
- Each committee will be given the opportunity to review their draft audit report. While Auditors strive to review all relevant evidence prior to drafting the report, a committee may provide additional records at this time to attempt to cure identified findings. Auditors may revise or remove findings if warranted based on review of further evidence.
- Once revisions have been finalized, a committee may provide written comments which will be included verbatim in the final audit report alongside the relevant findings. Auditors may in turn include responses to the committee’s comments.
- A PDF copy of the final audit report will be provided to the committee, then the report will be published on the Commission’s Audit Reports webpage.
- The final audit report and supporting documentation will be forwarded to the Commission’s Enforcement Division for further investigation and/or enforcement action as warranted.