IE 11 Not Supported

For optimal browsing, we recommend Chrome, Firefox or Safari browsers.
Sponsor Content
What does this mean?

Indiana Law Change Allows Counties to Modernize Campaign Finance Practices

SHUTTERSTOCK_DIGITAL_SERVICES

Thanks to state legislation passed last year, Indiana counties can now allow candidates to file campaign finance reports electronically. Managing candidate filings and enforcing campaign finance compliance is typically a complex process that requires valuable time and resources from elections staff. Modernizing and automating these processes helps ensure consistency and accuracy, reducing demands on employees and allowing them to focus on other aspects of running and managing elections.

Thanks to state legislation passed last year, Indiana counties can now allow candidates to file campaign finance reports electronically.

Managing candidate filings and enforcing campaign finance compliance is typically a complex process that requires valuable time and resources from elections staff. Modernizing and automating these processes helps ensure consistency and accuracy, reducing demands on employees and allowing them to focus on other aspects of running and managing elections.

The new law, House Bill 1288, states that a county election board may provide for electronic filing of campaign finance reports by local candidates and committees.

The regulatory change “allows Indiana counties to modernize and automate their campaign finance filings to an electronic format,” says Jason Barnett, director of business development for EasyVote Solutions, which offers a modernization platform for government organizations.

Speaking on a recent Government Technology webinar about the new law, Barnett discussed how Indiana counties can leverage elections management software to modernize their operations.

“The tool allows counties – or any user for that matter – to file their forms electronically, communicate with their filers and candidates, and just streamline the whole process and minimize the amount of time it takes to do this,” Barnett says.

Modernization has been a key priority for many Indiana counties as they look to upgrade their elections processes, remove unnecessary paperwork, and make use of modern technology to improve efficiency and accuracy.

Finding the Right Elections Management Solution

As county elections offices in Indiana – along with their state and local counterparts across the country – look to modernize their workflows and accept electronic campaign filings, it’s important to find an elections management platform that suits their needs.

The following are some key functionalities to keep in mind:

Communications: Find a solution that can automatically send candidates emails or text messages when they register on the website, when they are approved or rejected, when they submit documents, and when the documents are accepted or rejected. Staff should also be able to send post-election or post-filing deadline reminders that notify individuals if they are late in filing a document. Enabling automatic communications at every step of the process will significantly reduce workload for elections offices.

Visibility: The right software should provide staffers with real-time information on the status of every open filing. Staff should be able to track whether a report is late using a comprehensive dashboard that alerts when filings are overdue.

Transparency: Look for a platform that provides a web portal for candidates and the public to view any documents that have been submitted. (At the same time, elections officials should have the ability to redact any information that must be made private.) Officials should also be able to easily extract data from documents and print out documents, which helps enable agencies quickly meet Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests.

“This is one of those areas where we're building greater transparency and greater access to the public, to the news media and to other candidates to see this information,” says EasyVote Account Manager Patrick Lee, who joined Barnett on the recent webinar.

Search: The latest elections management solutions include robust search functions, enabling users to seek out specific information based on financial contributions or expenditures. The search results include hyperlinks to the specific forms where a contribution or expenditure was disclosed.

Training: Look for a private-sector partner that provides remote user training programs to help government users install the software, set up accounts and use the system.

As Indiana shifts to allowing electronic campaign filings, counties there have a prime opportunity to modernize the way they manage elections. But elections offices everywhere should be focused on upgrading their processes to streamline workflows and ensure safe and efficient elections, says Barnett.

“I don't think it's specific just to campaign finance,” he says. “As we all know, the need for transparency is now more than ever. So, the ability to provide ways to share with the public how we conduct elections [and] minimize the misinformation that's out there” is vital.