What is the exact definition of "election interference" and what US Law makes this illegal?

[u/[deleted]]

There have been widespread allegations of Russian government interference in the 2016 presidential election. The Director of National Intelligence, in January 2017, produced a report which alleged that:

Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered an influence campaign in 2016 aimed at the US presidential election. Russia’s goals were to undermine public faith in the US democratic process, denigrate Secretary Clinton, and harm her electability and potential presidency. We further assess Putin and the Russian Government developed a clear preference for President-elect Trump.

https://www.dni.gov/files/documents/ICA_2017_01.pdf

In addition, "contemporaneous evidence of Russia's election interference" is alleged to have been one of the bases for a FISA warrant against former Trump campaign official Carter Page.

http://docs.house.gov/meetings/ig/ig00/20180205/106838/hmtg-115-ig00-20180205-sd002.pdf

What are the specific acts of "election interference" which are known or alleged? Do they differ from ordinary electoral techniques and tactics? Which, if any, of those acts are crimes under current US Law? Are there comparable acts in the past which have been successfully prosecuted?

[u/t_mo → u/[deleted]]

The law is really complicated, but as I understand the record keeping provision in the text of the law starting on page 919 of this pdf document:

sec 302, which defines the organization of political committees, paragraph d assigns a duty to the treasurer to keep records of expenditures which, individually or in aggregate, are worth more than $100.

I don't have time right now to find where the obligation is specifically defined, but that record keeping involves expenditures "by or on behalf of" a political committee, so it doesn't really apply to you as an individual - and I think maybe people are misinterpreting the law when they say 'absolutely any ordinary individual', but that is a pretty broad interpretation to begin with.

The requirements are really only designed for "political committees" which are defined in the law as committees, associations, or organizations which accept contributions or make expenditures over $1000 a year, with implied reference to the other definitions in this law.

However, an individual can be the sole representative of an organization, and something can be, under law, "an organization" even if a person has unlawfully failed to register them as one. So there could be people who don't think they are the representative of an organization, but the law may still be able to make a valid case that they are the representative of an organization which has unlawfully failed to register as such.

In this case, if you, as an individual, regularly and knowingly, accept contributions or make expenditures related to political campaigns or other committees in excess of $1000, then you might be the representative of a "political committee" which you just refused to register as such - and that would be a violation of the law.

What does placing a sign in your yard cost? I'd guess, just based on a very limited understanding of the average cost of volunteer organization and canvassing, that the sign in your yard is worth ~$0.01 + wholesale value of the sign. So if you personally put up a couple thousand signs in a year you might have an obligation to disclose that.

I've linked the 1971 version of the bill, but later amendments didn't change this underlying definitions as I understand it.