New Indiana law promotes transparency in local campaign finance reporting – nwitimes.com

House Enrolled Act 1288, sponsored by state Rep. Chuck Moseley, D-Portage, does not mandate candidates for local office file reports electronically, but it encourages election officials to switch to e-filing as a way to make campaign finance records more widely available.

“With the current paper system, you run the risk of saving your PDF form incorrectly, illegible handwriting on paper copies and the lengthy waiting process that results from delivering your report in-person or through the mail,” Moseley said.

“At the end of the day, the faster we get the information sorted, the faster they can release it to the public.”

Candidates for state office, including the General Assembly, already are required to submit their campaign finance reports electronically through the Indiana Election Division.

A state campaign committee that fails to file electronically can be fined an amount equal to the cost of having a state employee manually enter the campaign finance records into the state database, plus any investigative costs.

Moseley’s new law, which was co-sponsored by state Sen. Karen Tallian, D-Ogden Dunes, explicitly states that even if a county election board implements electronic filing, local candidates cannot be forced to use it at this time.

“I authored this legislation to keep Indiana current in this ever-changing digital age,” Moseley said. “This legislation is meant to streamline the process and increase transparency for Hoosiers.”

It passed the House, 97-0, and the Senate, 46-2.

The law takes effect Jan. 1, 2021.