Stand By Your Ad Provision - Implementation

Implementation

Under Section 311 of the BCRA, Section 318 the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 (2 U.S.C. 441d) was amended to include the "Stand By Your Ad" provision. Representative David Price of North Carolina proposed the amendment, modeling after the North Carolina law. Price stated that "The American people are sick of the relentlessly negative tone of campaigns, particularly in presidential races. 'Stand by your ad isn't just about restoring civility to campaigns. It's also about restoring people's faith in our political process."

The most prominent effect was on television ads, which now required candidates to provide:

The phrase can be said at any point during the ad, but is typically inserted at the beginning or the end. The provision also covers radio advertising, in which the voice of the candidate approving the communication is required.

If the advertisement is not in English, the phrase is given in the same language; in the 2004 presidential election for example, George W. Bush's Spanish-language advertisements ended with the message Soy George W. Bush y aprobé este mensaje.

Failure to comply may result in penalties from the Federal Election Commission, but more importantly, loss of the "lowest rate" status for political ads, for the entire duration of the campaign. However, this rule is enforced at the discretion of the station manager, and often only through legal action by the opposing candidate. For example, in the 2008 Minnesota senate election, challenger Al Franken accused Senator Norm Coleman of omitting 1.1 seconds of the required visual of the candidate, a mistake that could potentially double the advertising rates and costs millions to Coleman's campaign. Including Coleman at the same duration of campaigning, Republicans in four Senate state races were subject to investigation by the Federal Election Commission and Federal Communications Commission for allegedly short-changing on "Stand By Your Ad" disclaimer.