Illinois Administrative Code › Title 26 - ELECTIONS › Part 100 - CAMPAIGN FINANCING › Section 100.150 - Electronic Filing of Reports

Current through Register Vol. 48, No. 28, July 12, 2024
a)
			 The State Board of Elections will make electronic filing available to
			 committees required to report electronically under Code Section 9-28 using a
			 platform provided by the Board. Mandatory electronic filers may not send
			 reports via U.S. mail, e-mail, or facsimile transmission in lieu of using the
			 Board's platform under Code Section 9-28 except as provided in subsection
			 (c).
b) Once a committee exceeds
			 the threshold that requires it to report electronically, it must continue to
			 report electronically until it dissolves, whether or not its accumulation,
			 receipts or expenditures fall beneath the levels set by statute for mandatory
			 electronic filing.
c) Once a
			 committee is required to file its reports electronically under Code Section
			 9-28, it must continue to file all reports electronically, except as follows:
1) A paper report shall be considered a
			 timely filing if it is received by the Board on or before the filing deadline,
			 provided that it covers the initial reporting period during which the mandatory
			 electronic filing threshold is exceeded and that the report is filed
			 electronically within 30 days after receipt of notice from the Board that this
			 report was required to have been filed electronically. If the report is not
			 filed electronically within this 30 day period, it shall be considered as never
			 having been filed and the civil penalties mandated by 26 Ill. Adm. Code
			 125.425 will accrue from the
			 date of the filing deadline.
2) A
			 paper report shall be considered a non-filing if the committee has previously
			 received the notification referred to in subsection (c)(1). If the report is
			 not filed electronically by the filing deadline, it shall be considered as
			 having never been filed and the civil penalties mandated by 26 Ill. Adm. Code
			 125.425 will accrue until such
			 time as it is filed electronically.
3) A paper report shall be considered a
			 timely filing if at least one previous report was required to have been filed
			 electronically and the committee had never been notified by the Board that it
			 was required to electronically file its reports, provided that the report is
			 filed electronically within 30 days after the notification referred to in
			 subsection (c)(1). If the report is not filed electronically within this 30 day
			 period, it shall be considered as never having been filed and the civil
			 penalties mandated by 26 Ill. Adm. Code
			 125.425 will accrue from the
			 date of the filing deadline.
4) A
			 paper report shall be considered a timely filing if it is received on or before
			 the filing deadline, or if it is postmarked no later than 3 days before the
			 filing deadline, and the committee has never exceeded the $10,000 threshold
			 requiring the electronic filing of its reports, regardless of whether the
			 committee filed previous reports electronically.
5) If a committee is assessed a civil penalty
			 for delinquently filing a report electronically and, in the course of its
			 appeal, raises the defense that computer related issues prohibited the timely
			 filing of an electronic report, the Board may consider the following when
			 determining the final outcome of the appeal:
A) Whether the committee has raised any
			 electronic filing issue as a defense in a prior appeal. An electronic filing
			 defense may be taken into consideration only once during the lifetime of a
			 committee, barring extenuating circumstances.
B) The length of time the committee has been
			 filing electronically, regardless of whether the committee officers or the
			 persons actually filing the reports have changed.
C) Whether the committee had established an
			 electronic filing account (user name and password) prior to 4:30 pm on the
			 filing deadline date. Failure to contact the Board to establish or verify this
			 information during normal business hours shall not constitute a valid
			 electronic filing defense. Misplacing, forgetting or simply not knowing a user
			 name or password shall not constitute a valid electronic filing
			 defense.
D) If a committee misses a
			 filing deadline due to an electronic filing issue that was known or should have
			 been known at the time of an attempted filing, it must contact, and discuss the
			 issue with, Board staff. The contact must be initiated within three business
			 days after the deadline to qualify for an electronic filing defense, unless the
			 Board determines that the committee was reasonably unaware of the electronic
			 filing issue until a later date, in which case, the committee must have
			 initiated contact with the Board within three business days after discovering
			 the report was not successfully filed. The contact must be confirmed in writing
			 by Board staff. Following this contact, the committee must make a reasonable
			 attempt to resolve the issue and file the report as quickly as
			 possible.
6) The
			 electronic filing requirement established in this Section shall not apply to
			 Reports of Independent Expenditures required to be filed by natural persons
			 pursuant to Code Section 9-8.6, as those persons are not necessarily political
			 committees.