City of Seattle Voucher Program contributions are reported differently than standard monetary contributions. Because of this, the system handles them a little differently, as well.
Seattle is giving registered voters a voucher to spend on candidates of their choosing. Vouchers are received by either the committee and transmitted to the SEEC -or- sent to the SEEC directly designated for specific candidate(s). The Voucher Program team at the SEEC then sends an invoice to the City’s finance department that a check should be sent to the campaign. They also post the names and addresses of the voucher contributors for that particular invoice to the eFiling web app.
Next, the finance department, at some point after that, cuts the check and USPS mails it to the campaign. Vouchers are reported as contributions only after the campaign receives a check from the SEEC.
How do I add Voucher Contributions to ISP?
The first step is to log into your account on the SEEC website and download the .csv from the Voucher Data menu tab. After you’ve downloaded the spreadsheet, go back to ISP.
- In the Tools tab select Quick Imports.
- Select SEEC Voucher Data in the Format drop down menu. If you do not see this option, please contact Support.
- Select options from the Budget Category, Election, and Financial Account as appropriate.
- For Date, use the date of the parent transaction (which will not be reported) and/or the date of the Deposit, if you choose to deposit them directly to an account.
- Below the data fields, click the Choose File button and select the .csv file you downloaded from the SEEC site.
- Click Upload File.
When the file is uploaded, a new Monetary Contribution will be created in an Other Entity record called Voucher Program and will contain all of the individuals on the .csv as Splits. Each of those splits will automatically be assigned an amount of $25 (unless otherwise specified in the Amount column) and will also have a Voucher tag added to it. If you don’t already have the Other Entity record for the Voucher Program, the upload will automatically create it for you.
Can I add the Voucher Contributions without importing them?
If you choose to not do the import, you can create an Other Entity record called Voucher Program and add a transaction in the total amount of vouchers. The Splits should then be the individual donors and must have the tag labeled Voucher.
How are Voucher Contributions reported on the C3?
Please be aware the C3 will report the Splits as whole, which is not typical of the Form C3.
- On any PDC versions of the Form C3, any individuals (that is, the splits of the Voucher Program transaction) will itemize only if the entity is over $100 in the aggregate. This is calculated from the prior Previous General Election Date for the Candidate report or the First of the Year for the Non-Candidate report.
- On any Seattle versions of the Form C3, all splits of the Voucher Program transaction are itemized.
- Please note, only voucher contributions should be in a deposit report. If not, a warning will be added.
