Washington State political committees that raise and spend money to influence certain elections must register and report in accordance with the Public Disclosure Law. A political committee is any person, group, club, organization or collection of individuals (except a candidate or individual dealing with his or her own funds) expecting to receive contributions or make expenditures in support of or in opposition to any candidate or ballot proposition, including annexation and incorporations ballot issues. Although a group may be a civic, social or professional organization primarily, it also may be a political committee if it accepts contributions specifically for use in election campaigns.
A political committee is exempt from reporting if its sole purpose is to support or oppose a local ballot measure in a town or district that had fewer than 2,000 registered voters as of the last general election.
A committee headquartered outside of Washington State and registered in a state other than Washington has a disclosure requirement if it spends over $50 to influence Washington State elections, but it may qualify to report select information as an out-of-state committee if certain criteria are met.