The County is finally going to require electronic filing of campaign finance reports. The city has been doing this for years.
Supervisors Introduce Ordinance Amendment Requiring Electronic Campaign Finance Filing in Dane County
MADISON – Dane County Supervisors will introduce a resolution Thursday evening which would require all candidates for county office to file their campaign finance reports electronically, as well as on paper, to encourage public access to election contribution information.
The ordinance would also require the County Clerk’s Office to post those reports for Internet viewing within 48 hours.
“My constituents want to know who’s paying to help get local candidates elected,” said Supervisor Kyle Richmond, primary sponsor of the ordinance amendment. “Right now, it’s easy to try to avoid scrutiny by filing on paper and getting your report postmarked at the last second.”
Currently, county candidates are only required to file paper reports with the County Clerk, while electronic filing is optional. Citizens who wish to see those paper reports must go to the Clerk’s Office and pay twenty-five cents per page for a paper copy.
But the State of Wisconsin now requires all state candidates to file electronically so that their reports may be immediately viewed in the state’s Campaign Finance Information System (CFIS). The Dane County Board can now bring county campaign finance filing up-to-speed.
“We clearly need more transparency, and this change in County code will help,” said north Madison Supervisor Melissa Sargent, a co-sponsor. “The increasing amount of money spent on local elections merits attention from the public and the news media.”
The ordinance amendment is supported by County Board Chairman Scott McDonell and many other Supervisors.
“There is more and more money being dumped into local elections,” Richmond said. “Before they cast their votes, voters have the right to know which people and organizations are supporting which county candidates. This ordinance will help provide access to information.”
