The "Paid for by" disclaimer rules, in plain English

The short version: if you're a political committee with a public website — or any page that asks for money or expressly tells people to vote for or against a candidate — the law requires a "clear and conspicuous" disclaimer saying who paid for it. The exact wording depends on who you are and who authorized the message. Every medium — print, broadcast, digital, even text — has its own placement and sizing rules on top of that. And if you're organizing in Arizona, state law adds requirements the FEC doesn't have.

Who actually needs a disclaimer

Federal disclaimer rules under 11 CFR 110.11 apply to "public communications" by political committees, and to any communication that expressly advocates for or against a clearly identified federal candidate or that solicits contributions — regardless of whether it takes a position. In practice, that sweeps in a committee's public website and, especially, its donate page. Since the FEC's 2023 rulemaking, it also covers communications placed for a fee on someone else's website, app, or ad platform — meaning paid digital ads are squarely inside the rule, not a gray area.

If you're running for a state or local office, the FEC rules may not be the ones that govern you — but nearly every state has an analogous "paid for by" or "authority line" requirement. The safe assumption for any campaign or committee: your website needs a disclaimer, and so does every ad you run.

The three disclaimer formats

Federal law recognizes three scenarios, based on who paid and who authorized the message:

• A candidate committee pays for its own communication: "Paid for by the Sam Jones for Congress Committee." Short and clean.
• Another entity pays, and a candidate authorizes it: "Paid for by the XYZ Committee and authorized by the Sam Jones for Congress Committee."
• An independent expenditure, not authorized by any candidate (most PACs and independent groups): "Paid for by [name]" plus a permanent street address, phone number, or website, plus a statement that it is "not authorized by any candidate or candidate's committee."

If an ad names multiple candidates, the disclaimer can mark which ones authorized it with an asterisk rather than repeating the full authorization language for each. State and local races often require additional elements — a treasurer's name, specific phrasing — on top of this federal structure.

Medium-by-medium rules

Print — mailers, signs, flyers, billboards

The disclaimer goes inside a printed box, set apart from the rest of the content. The federal safe harbor is 12-point type for items up to 24"×36", with color contrast at least as strong as the contrast between the background and the ad's largest text. On a multi-page piece the disclaimer doesn't need to be on the cover, but it must appear somewhere inside — and every separately mailed item in a package needs its own.

Television and video

Federal broadcast ads trigger "Stand By Your Ad": a candidate-authorized ad needs the candidate personally saying "I am [name], candidate for [office], and I approved this message," either on full-screen video or voice-over with the candidate's image covering at least 80% of the vertical screen. The written disclaimer has to display for at least 4 seconds at a minimum of 4% of vertical picture height, in readable contrast. Non-authorized ads instead need a representative stating "[Organization] is responsible for the content of this advertising."

Radio

Same approval-statement structure as TV, spoken instead of shown — a candidate speaks the approval line, or a representative of a non-authorized sponsor speaks the responsibility statement plus the full disclaimer. There's no visual requirement; audio clarity is the standard.

Internet and digital ads

Text and graphic ads need a written disclaimer visible without any user action, at least as large as the majority of the ad's other text, with adequate contrast. Video needs the same 4-second minimum as broadcast. Audio-only internet ads need the disclaimer spoken in the audio itself.

When a full disclaimer would eat more than 25% of a small ad unit, an adapted disclaimer is allowed: a short "Paid for by [name or common abbreviation]," an indicator that more information is available (an icon or a label like "Ad Info"), and a one-click mechanism — hover, pop-up, or link — to the full disclosure.

Email and websites

A political committee's public website needs a disclaimer, as does any mass email (roughly 500+ substantially similar messages) sent by a committee. Fundraising solicitations often need additional language beyond the base disclaimer.

A disclaimer no one can read is a disclaimer that doesn't count.

When a disclaimer isn't required

The FEC exempts items where a disclaimer is genuinely impracticable: small items like pens, bumper stickers, pins, and buttons; surfaces like clothing or skywriting; and administrative items with no political message, like checks and receipts. Don't lean on this exception — if there's room for readable text, include the disclaimer.

Arizona adds its own layer

Arizona law (A.R.S. § 16-925) sits on top of the federal baseline, and it's stricter in a few specific ways that matter if you're campaigning here.

Any advertisement paid for by a non-individual has to say who paid for it and whether a candidate authorized it — the same basic structure as federal law. On top of that, a political action committee spending on an ad must name the three PACs that gave it the largest aggregate contributions, once those contributions exceed $20,000 for the election cycle. PAC-funded ads must also disclose the aggregate percentage of out-of-state contributors, in the form "Paid for by [name] with [X]% from out-of-state contributors."

Sizing is stricter for PACs, too: candidate and party disclosures need to cover at least 4% of a sign or billboard's vertical height, but PAC-funded versions need 10%. The same 4%/10% split applies to written disclosures in video. TV and video disclosures must be both written and spoken, unless the written version displays for at least one-sixth of the ad's runtime or 4 seconds, whichever is greater. Arizona exempts social media posts, SMS, small paid links under 200 characters that click through to a compliant page, bumper stickers, pins, and a handful of other narrow categories.

Proposition 211

Separately, Arizona's Voters' Right to Know Act (Prop 211), passed by 72% of voters in 2022, requires anyone spending more than $50,000 on a statewide race or $25,000 on a local race in independent expenditures to trace and disclose the original sources behind contributions over $5,000 — including money routed through intermediary nonprofits — and to name their largest donors in the ad itself. The Arizona Supreme Court upheld the law's core constitutionality on June 29, 2026, while sending a narrower as-applied free-speech claim back down for further proceedings. The law remains in effect. If you're spending at that scale, budget time with counsel — the traceback rules are more involved than the base disclaimer.

Platform compliance is a separate obligation

Legal compliance and platform approval aren't the same thing. An ad can be legally compliant and still get rejected by a platform, or get platform-approved and still violate the law.

• Meta (Facebook & Instagram): requires an authorization process and a verified "Paid for by" disclaimer on ads about social issues, elections, or politics; ads without one are disapproved. Meta explicitly states its disclaimer doesn't replace the legal one, requires disclosure of photorealistic AI-generated content, and keeps political ads in its Ad Library for seven years.
• Google & YouTube: requires advertiser verification for U.S. election ads. Google auto-generates a disclosure for many formats but says outright that it doesn't substitute for your legal obligation. Targeting is restricted to geography, age, gender, and context — no other targeting criteria. Synthetic or AI-altered content must be disclosed.
• TikTok: prohibits political advertising outright, including paid branded content from creators. There's essentially no paid political ad path on the platform.

AI-generated content: watch this space

Using AI-generated voice, video, or imagery doesn't remove your disclaimer obligation — and it adds a new one. Meta and Google both already require disclosure of synthetic or photorealistic AI content in political ads. On the broadcast side, the FCC proposed a rule in mid-2024 that would require TV and radio stations to make an on-air announcement — spoken or, for TV, displayed on screen — whenever a political ad they're airing contains AI-generated content. That rule is still a proposal, not final law, as of this writing. If your campaign is producing AI-assisted video or audio for broadcast, treat the platform-level disclosure rules as binding today and keep an eye on the FCC docket for what's coming.

What it actually costs to get wrong

FEC civil penalties are inflation-adjusted and were frozen at 2025 levels for 2026 after last October's government shutdown disrupted the CPI data the adjustment depends on. As they currently stand: a standard violation can run up to the greater of $24,885 or the amount of the contribution or expenditure involved. A knowing and willful violation goes up to the greater of $53,088 or 200% of the amount involved. Funneling a contribution through someone else's name — the most serious tier — carries a penalty of at least 300% and up to the greater of $84,852 or 1,000% of the amount involved. State penalties vary by statute and enforcement body; in Arizona, that's the Citizens Clean Elections Commission or county attorneys, and Prop 211 violations are pursued through civil action.

Common mistakes, in order of frequency

1. The donate page has no disclaimer

Campaigns often put the disclaimer on the homepage and forget the donate page — which is exactly the page the rules care about most, because it solicits money. If your donations are handled by an embedded ActBlue or Anedot form, make sure the surrounding page still carries your disclaimer.

2. It's too small to read

Eight-point gray text on a white footer is the classic failure. "Clear and conspicuous" is a real legal standard, not a suggestion. Size it like you mean it.

3. The authority line is wrong for the committee type

A PAC using the short candidate-committee version, or a campaign claiming "not authorized by any candidate" — both are common and both are wrong. The line has to match what kind of committee you are.

4. Relying on the platform's auto-generated label

Meta and Google both say plainly that their built-in ad-transparency labels don't satisfy your legal disclosure obligation. Treat them as a platform requirement stacked on top of, not instead of, the real one.

5. Forgetting the PAC-specific Arizona rules

The 10% sizing threshold, the top-three-donor rule, and the out-of-state percentage line are easy to miss if you're used to the plain federal version. They only apply to PAC-funded ads, but they're strict when they do.

How Electbase handles it

This is exactly the kind of thing that should be automatic. When you build a site on Electbase, your "Paid for by" line is generated from your committee details and placed correctly — on your homepage and your donate page — in readable type, on every campaign by default. Federal baseline everywhere; Arizona-specific rules layered in for AZ-based committees, with other states following as we expand. Campaigns using Electbase's managed media buying get the same disclaimer logic carried through to the ad creative itself, so nothing gets orphaned between the ad and its landing page. You shouldn't have to become a compliance expert to put a campaign website online.

Pre-launch checklist

• Identify which of the three disclaimer formats applies to your committee
• Confirm whether candidate-authorization language is needed
• Check medium-specific rules — the print box, the 4-second video minimum, the adapted-disclaimer option for small digital units
• Layer in state and local rules — in Arizona, the PAC sizing rules, top-three-donor disclosure, and Prop 211 traceback if you're spending at that scale
• Confirm platform verification status — Meta authorization, Google election-ad verification
• Flag any AI-generated content for platform disclosure
• Archive the final creative with its disclaimer as published
• Have counsel review independent expenditures and any multi-sponsor communication