Certification.

A. Upon receipt of a final submittal of qualifying contributions by an applicant candidate, the secretary shall determine from the applicant candidate's statement whether the applicant candidate has: (1) signed and filed a declaration of intent to obtain financing pursuant to the Voter Action Act in accordance with the requirements of that act; (2) collected and submitted the appropriate number of qualifying contributions after filing a declaration of intent; (3) met the qualifications to be a candidate pursuant to other applicable state election law; (4) complied with contribution and expenditure restrictions; and (5) otherwise met the requirements for obtaining financing pursuant to the Voter Action Act. B. The secretary shall certify applicant candidates complying with the requirements of this section as certified candidates as soon as possible and no later than ten days after final submittal of qualifying contributions and certification as a candidate pursuant to other applicable state election law. C. A certified candidate shall comply with all requirements of the Voter Action Act after certification and throughout the primary election and general election cycles. A certified candidate who accepts public campaign finance funds for the primary election shall comply with all the requirements of the Voter Action Act for the remainder of the election cycle in question, even if the certified candidate decides not to accept such funds for the general election.