POLITICAL ADVERTISEMENT DISCLAIMER

Prepared 7/23/2026. Authority: §§ 106.011(15), 106.143, Florida Statutes.

1. The primary string

Use this in the global site footer, on every page, at the same size and contrast as surrounding footer text.

Paid political advertisement paid for by Taxpayers For Term Limits PC, 5500 Military Trail Num 20-202, Jupiter, FL 33458. This advertisement and the cost of its production were paid for by Taxpayers For Term Limits PC and were not provided in kind or at the expense of any other entity.

2. The independent expenditure string

Use this instead of the primary string on any page, advertisement, or communication that expressly advocates the election or defeat of a clearly identified candidate and that is made without coordination with that candidate.

Section 106.143(5)(b) requires both that the advertisement itself carry the no-approval statement and that a separate written statement to that effect be furnished to the medium carrying the advertisement. The second obligation is not satisfied by the website footer and must be handled separately for each placement.

3. What the statute actually requires

Section 106.143(1)(c) requires that any political advertisement not paid for by a candidate prominently do three things. First, it must be marked "paid political advertisement" or with the abbreviation "pd. pol. adv." Second, it must state the name and address of the persons paying for the advertisement. Third — and this is the element most commonly omitted — it must state whether the advertisement and the cost of production is paid for or provided in kind by or at the expense of the entity publishing, displaying, broadcasting, or circulating it.

The third element exists to expose donated placement. On the Committee's own website the Committee is both payer and publisher, so the truthful statement is that the Committee bore the cost and no one else provided it in kind. That is what the strings above say. If any third party ever donates placement, hosting, production, or design, the string must be revised to disclose it.

Note that the permitted abbreviation shortens only the first element. "Pd. pol. adv." followed by nothing else is not a compliant disclaimer.

4. When the requirement attaches the word test

A "political advertisement" is defined at § 106.011(15) as a paid expression in a prescribed communications medium, the enumerated media including the internet, which expressly advocates the election or defeat of a candidate or the approval or rejection of an issue.

Both halves matter. The Committee's website is a paid expression, since the Committee pays to register and host it. So the operative question is always express advocacy.

"Expressly advocates" is not defined in the Election Code. The Division of Elections has construed it, in Opinion 16-12, to mean any communication using phrases including but not limited to: vote for, elect, support, cast your ballot for, [name] for [office], vote against, defeat, oppose, and reject.

The practical consequence is that the disclaimer requirement is triggered by vocabulary. A page describing the Committee's views on term limits, without those words or their equivalents, is likely outside the definition. The same page becomes a political advertisement the moment a staffer writes "support Smith" or "defeat this amendment." Since the Committee's registration contemplates supporting and opposing both candidates and issues, that moment will arrive, and it will arrive through an ordinary content edit rather than a deliberate decision.

Accordingly: carry the disclaimer sitewide from launch. Nothing is gained by omitting it, the analysis of whether any given page crosses the line is not worth performing weekly, and the cost of being wrong is a civil penalty under § 106.265 of up to $1,000 per violation for a willful violation.

5. Placement

Section 106.143 requires that the disclaimer be prominent. It should appear in the footer of every page, in the site's ordinary body text size, in a color with normal contrast against its background. Setting it in reduced size, reduced opacity, or a color approaching the background defeats prominence and invites the argument that no disclaimer was given at all. It should not be placed behind a link, an accordion, a modal, or a "legal" page that must be navigated to.

Several exemptions in § 106.143(10) — for short paid links of 200 characters or fewer, for graphic and picture links too small to bear a disclaimer, for third-party sharing tools, and for content within applications — are each conditioned on the linked-to or originating website itself complying with subsection (1). The site footer is therefore the anchor on which those exemptions depend. If the footer is non-compliant, the exemptions are unavailable and every downstream placement fails with it.

6. What this string does not cover

This disclaimer addresses § 106.143 only. It does not satisfy the separate written-statement obligation under § 106.143(5)(b) described in Section 2 above; the reporting obligations for independent expenditures under § 106.071; the requirements applicable to electioneering communications; any requirement applicable to telephone or text communications under § 106.147; or any federal requirement, none of which apply to this Committee so long as it does not act in connection with a federal candidate.

Text messages and email are addressed separately in the Committee's Communications Terms and Conditions, but note that the substantive disclaimer analysis in Section 4 applies to the content of those messages as well. A text message that expressly advocates is a political advertisement.

This document is a draft prepared for review and approval by the Committee's counsel prior to use. It does not constitute legal advice, and no attorney-client relationship arises from its preparation or use.