Best Practices for Filing FEC Amendments

When filing an amendment, your amendment numbers should be in order. If this is your first amendment, the amendment number should be 1; any subsequent amendments should follow in sequential order. While it is not required, we recommend numbering amendments starting at 1 and proceeding in numerical order so as not to cause confusion or errors in the future.

You will also need your original FEC Filing ID. This can be obtained from the FEC website for your committee. Search for your committee by name or Filing ID in the search box at the top right-hand corner. Once you’ve located your committee’s page, scroll down to Filings and locate the report you are trying to amend. This will contain the original FEC Filing ID, and will inform you of whether you’ve already filed an amendment as well as what number the amendment number should be.

Please double-check the dates you enter in ISP to ensure they match the date range of the original report filed. If your amendment needs a date different than the original, you’ll need a backdoor password.

If the original report was filed by paper and the amendment will be filed electronically, the amended report should be filed as an original and the FEC will be able to link the two.

When trying to amend a prior report to be a Termination, generate the report with the Amended box checked, and the Report Period set to Termination.

Unfortunately, the FEC does not allow both the Amended and Termination boxes to be checked on the form. It’s more important that the report be marked as a Termination rather than an Amendment.

When the report is generated with the Termination box checked, the Amended box will not be checked on the cover page. This is expected and normal. Given current technological restraints, this the best way that we can follow current FEC guidelines and expectations.