The follow is from Congressional Quarterly. For those of you wondering how this relates to third parties, Mike Gravel was a candidate for the Libertarian Party’s nominee for president this year.

Gravel Could Still Get Federal Matching Funds

By Alex Knott, CQ Staff

Democratic candidate Mike Gravel could apparently get federal matching funds for his unsuccessful 2008 presidential bid, thanks to a vote by the Federal Election Commission (FEC) that overruled an opinion by the agency’s counsel.

As result, the former Alaska senator could receive thousands of dollars to help retire any remaining debt he has left over from his unsuccessful 2008 bid for the presidency. The Democrat can thank the three Republicans on the six-member panel for his potential windfall.

As a rule, presidential candidates are not allowed to spend more than $50,000 of their own funds and still qualify for matching funds. Gravel spent $73,516 of his own money during the campaign and later paid back some of it in an effort to stay under the $50,000 cap. But FEC attorneys recommended that his request be denied anyway.

Commission Chairman Donald F. McGahn II, a Republican, objected and argued for a different interpretation of the of the rule, given the fact that many campaign finance experts believe the public matching fund system is “broken.”

“I don’t think it’s our job to decide whether it is broken, but it certainly is our job to make it work the best we can,” he said.

McGahn brought up cases where the rules were interpreted differently, depending each candidate’s situation. He specifically referred to a case involving a Pat Buchanan presidential campaign, which exceeded the $50,000 spending limit after accepting matching funds. Buchanan, he noted, was penalized for the violation but was allowed to keep his matching funds.

Commissioner Ellen L. Weintraub, a Democrat who voted to deny funds for Gravel, said that while she appreciated “the chairman’s creativity and diligence in this matter,” there was no getting around the regulation on the books.

“For me, it is a pretty simple answer,” she said.

Gravel, who was on hand the 90-minute debate, said afterward that he was “very happy” with the outcome.

“It’s a lot of money for us. I’m broke,” he said. “I got the IRS coming at me to pay my taxes and I got the FEC that’s holding up money that would help me pay my taxes. So I’m between a rock and hard place by the federal government.”

Today’s 4-2 vote in Gravel’s favor did not result in an immediate windfall of federal dollars. But the commission staff was instructed to re-examine the issue, which could lead to approval of funding in the future. When the issue is finally settled, Gravel said he could receive as much as $300,000.

Gravel was particularly struck by McGahn’s position. McGahn was joined in overriding the counsel’s opinion by the two other Republican commissioners — Matthew S. Petersen and Caroline C. Hunter — and Democratic commissioner Steven T. Walther.

“I was extremely impressed by Chairman McGahn’s erudition,” he said. “My God, he blew me away. Nobody even came close to analyzing it the way he did.”

The FEC was scheduled to rule Thursday on whether candidates can use their personal campaign funds or their political action committees to pay for expenses associated with books they write. But that ruling was postponed until its next meeting in two weeks.