“Coordination” is a legal term defined by federal election law and FEC regulation. For a more in-depth discussion of coordinated expenditures, including the FEC’s 3-prong test for coordination, check out this FEC webpage.
In general, a group will be considered coordinated with a campaign or political party in a given election if they have:
- Been exposed to nonpublic strategic info about a campaign or political party’s electoral plans or activities; and
- Used that nonpublic strategic info to plan the group’s own electoral activity.
For instance, a group would likely be considered coordinated if a campaign or political party told the group that a specific neighborhood was a top strategic target for the campaign and then the group used the campaign or political party’s tools to canvass that neighborhood. In contrast, a group will not be considered coordinated if individual group members have done basic volunteer work with a campaign or political party on their own time, since that volunteer activity typically doesn’t involve exposure to any nonpublic strategic info.
The “nonpublic strategic info” analysis also illustrates the kinds of info that generally won’t give rise to coordination such as info that is publicly-available and/or not strategic in nature.
For example, merely relying on publicly-available info about a campaign — such as info that is posted on a campaign or political party’s website or social media, stated in a public speech, or reported in the news — will not give rise to coordination.
Similarly, sharing info with a campaign or political party that is unrelated to electoral strategy — such as info about a candidate’s stances on policy issues, or logistical info related to a candidate’s appearance at an otherwise uncoordinated event — generally will not rise to the level of coordination.
Once a group has been exposed to nonpublic strategic info, any money the group spends on that election will likely be treated as a coordinated expenditure. For more info on how to report coordinated expenditures, click here.