By Chris Wade | The Center Square contributor
Published: September 28, 2025 10:29pm
Democratic online fundraising platform ActBlue has been fined $100,000 by Maine's campaign finance regulators for missing a deadline to disclose its contributions.
The Maine Commission on Governmental Ethics and Election Practices approved the fine Wednesday after rejecting a request from ActBlue Maine to waive the penalty for missing the July 15, 2025 deadline to report $1.2 million worth of donations made during the proceeding fundraising quarter. The filing, which included contributions to Maine's Democratic candidates and committees during the second quarter, was more than two weeks late, regulators said.
The commission was initially considering a fine of up to $683,731 — which would've been the largest in its regulatory history — but ultimately reduced it, citing the group's "exceeding cooperative" efforts to submit the paperwork despite processing errors and staffing issues.
In a report to commissioners, the agency's staff said the "informational harm" to the public from ActBlue’s late filing was "reduced somewhat" because some of the contributions to Democratic candidates and committees received by the fundraising group during the second quarter of 2025 were also disclosed by the candidates or committees in their own campaign finance reports.
Commission staff noted that ActBlue’s July quarterly report contained a $4,150 contribution from writer Stephen King to Democratic gubernatorial candidate Hannah Pingree on April 23 for next year's primary and general election. While ActBlue filed its report two weeks late, the public could still access information about the contribution on Pingree’s campaign finance report, commission staff wrote.
https://justthenews.com/nation/states/center-square/maine-watchdog-fines-actblue-100000-tardy-filing