As a political candidate, the company you keep may also include those from whom you accept campaign contributions. In 1999, the Voter s Right to Know Bill turned this belief into law calling for full and immediate disclosure of Ohio s political campaign funding. On January 31, complete implementation of this plan moved one step closer as candidates with open statewide campaign committees filed their annual campaign finance reports electronically. Informed citizens are more likely to show up on election day, and they are generally less cynical about our democratic process. However, PACs, parties and legislative campaign funds will file electronically in January 2002, with General Assembly candidates falling under the requirement in 2003.
Candidates have two options in filing electronically.
In an effort to familiarize candidates and committee treasurers with the new electronic filing system, Secretary Blackwell s campaign finance staff held three training seminars in the months preceding the filing deadline. While Secretary Blackwell s office has been featuring campaign finance data online for nearly two years, the paper reports typically were first sent offsite to be keyed-in, and then transferred to the World Wide Web. In order to meet the stipulations of the new law, the Secretary of State s office required both new software to receive the reports electronically, and a revamping of the database that stores the information. Often a project of this magnitude would necessitate outside consultants and the purchase of expensive new software. The job, however, was completed using only in-house resources.