Children barely old enough for grade school were listed among contributors to US presidential campaigns during the 2007 fundraising cycle, according to a report by USA Today.
Siblings Matthew and Karis Mardirossian, ages seven and eight, gave a combined $4,600 to Democrat Barack Obama's campaign. Fifteen-year-old actor Hunter Gomez contributed $2,300 to Republican John McCain.
Such donations are technically lawful under US election law, provided the minor made the decision independently and used their own money. The Center for Responsive Politics, a nonpartisan Washington group that tracks political money, noted that donors must be older than two and must give knowingly.
The center's director, Massie Ritsch, said some of these cases likely involve adults routing money through family members to sidestep the $2,300 per-person contribution limit. He noted that fewer than half a percent of Americans ever give more than $200 to a federal candidate, making large donations from young children conspicuous. Students overall had contributed nearly $2 million to presidential campaigns, though the share from minors is unknown since ages are not reported.
Obama's campaign said it does not accept contributions from anyone under 16 and returned the Mardirossian donations. The children's father told the newspaper the funds originated from a trust.
Historical summary. TurkishPress restated this wire report, first published in September 2007, in its own words.