Contributions from non-U.S. citizens in elections illegal

As a result of my long term residence on the islands; various published articles, books and reports, I have been fortunate to count among my friends and acquaintances a variety of nationalities and ethnicities of which very many are not U.S. citizens and for the most part unfamiliar with many U.S. laws. I dare say that many local NMI candidates running for the office of delegate to Congress may not been fully aware of their campaign obligations under the law.

Candidates for delegate to Congress might wish to become familiar with the most recent federal election campaign laws as published only two months ago in April.

Specifically, Title 2 of the United States Code, Section 441(e), clearly states with respect to contributions and donations by foreign nationals: “It shall be unlawful for a foreign national, directly or indirectly to make a contribution or donation of money or other thing of value or to make an express or implied promise to make a contribution or donation in connection with a federal, state or local election.”

The law further states: “It is illegal for a foreign national to make a contribution or donation to a committee of a political party. The term ‘foreign national’ defined by the law to mean a foreign principal, a person who is not a citizen of the United States or a national of the United States.”

Section 441(f) states: “No person shall make a contribution in the name of another person or knowingly permit his name to be used to effect such a contribution and no person shall knowingly accept a contribution by one person in the name of another person.”

Further, “No person shall make contributions of currency of the United States or currency of any foreign country to or for the benefit of any candidate which, in the aggregate, exceeds $100, with respect to any campaign of such candidate for nomination for election, or for election, to federal office.”

Any person who knowingly and willfully commits any criminal action in violation of any provision of the federal election law can be subjected to a fine or imprisonment or both. Only U.S. citizens can legally contribute to a candidate’s campaign, and even then the amount is limited by law and detailed records must be maintained (Section 432). For those who are interested the entire law can be examined when “Googled.”

I have a lot of friends in the islands who are not U.S. citizens but nevertheless are interested in local and federal elections. I wouldn’t want any of my friends, in their enthusiasm and desire to assist, to unknowingly get into trouble by contributing to a particular candidate’s election campaign. Your mother may love you and overlook your mistakes—but the U.S. government will not.

My father worked for the federal government and I remember him telling me that that if a person took one dollar from the federal government illegally, the government would spend thousands to catch and punish the individual in order to make an example of his illegal act. As my dear sweet granny so often said: “Billy, ignorance of the law is no excuse for breaking the law and it’s also expensive. ”

In the words on the late Illinois senator, Everett Dirksen, “During a political campaign, everyone is concerned with what a candidate will do on this or that question if he is elected, except the candidate; he’s too busy wondering what he’ll do if he isn’t elected.”
[I] Editor’s Note: Over a span of many years in an effort to provide accurate and helpful information to potential foreign and U.S. investors, the author organized NMI investment promotion missions to Korea, Japan and Hong Hong and published many project profiles of potential NMI investment opportunities including the book, Business Reference & Investment Guide to the CNMI. Many of his articles, reports and maps have been translated into Japanese, Korean and Chinese languages.

(William H. Stewart is an economist, historian, and military cartographer.)[/I]