Sec. 65.
(1) A major political party nominee is entitled to an amount from the state campaign fund of not more than $1,125,000.00 for a general election. A candidate, subject to law, may raise the remaining amount of the permissible expenditure limit in private contributions. An eligible candidate in a general election may elect to accept partial payment of money from the state campaign fund and instead raise private contributions as provided by law that, when added to the amount received from the state campaign fund, do not exceed the expenditure limit designated in section 67.
(2) A minor political party nominee whose party received 5% or more of the vote for the same office in the last election is entitled to an amount from the state campaign fund of not more than $1,125,000.00, multiplied by the number of popular votes the minor party received in the preceding general election for governor and then divided by the average number of votes the major parties received in that general election for governor.
(3) A minor political party nominee not eligible under subsection (2) but who receives more than 5% of the vote in that general election for governor is entitled to reimbursement from the state campaign fund in an amount of not more than $1,125,000.00, multiplied by the number of popular votes the minor party received in the preceding general election for governor and then divided by the average number of votes the major parties received in that general election for governor.
(4) A minor political party nominee qualified under subsection (2) who receives more popular votes in an election than the candidate of that minor political party received at the preceding election is entitled to additional reimbursement from the state campaign fund in an amount determined as follows:
(a) Compute the amount that the candidate would have received under subsection (3) had the candidate otherwise qualified.
(b) Subtract the amount received under subsection (2) from the amount computed under subdivision (a).
(5) A candidate listed on the ballot in the general election is entitled to $1.00 for each $1.00 of qualifying contributions certified to the secretary of state pursuant to this act up to $750,000.00, if the candidate has certified to the secretary of state $75,000.00 or more in qualifying contributions. A candidate who chooses to receive any public funds under this subsection shall not receive any money under subsection (1), (2), (3), or (4).
(6) A major political party nominee shall receive from the state treasurer $56,250.00 of the funds that the candidate may be entitled to under this section not later than 10 days after the primary election, unless there is less than a 2% difference in vote totals of the top 2 primary election candidates of the same political party according to unofficial vote totals available to the secretary of state. The balance of any funds owed to a major political party nominee under this section shall be payable by the state treasurer within 3 days after the board of state canvassers' certification of the primary election results, but not later than 30 days after the primary election. Any funds paid to a major political party nominee under this section either erroneously or based on election results that are reversed due to a recount or fraud shall be repaid by that major political party nominee to the state treasurer within 60 days of receipt of notification by certified mail from the state treasurer.
History: 1976, Act 388, Imd. Eff. Dec. 30, 1976 ;-- Am. 1980, Act 204, Imd. Eff. July 18, 1980 ;-- Am. 1993, Act 262, Imd. Eff. Dec. 14, 1993