CLC President Trevor Potter Applauds Senate E-Filing Measure That Will Increase Transparency, Improve Accuracy in Campaign Finance Reporting

The public’s right to timely and accurate election data will no longer be buried under a mountain of paper

WASHINGTON – Today, President Donald Trump signed legislation that will go into effect immediately that will require Senate candidates to electronically file campaign finance reports, ending the bureaucratic process of manual data entry and physical transportation of paper files. Campaign Legal Center (CLC) has rigorously advocated for this change for many years, most recently joining a coalition sign-on letter in July urging Congress to keep this provision in the final bill.

“The Senate has finally joined the 21st century by moving to e-filing system, years after it was implemented in the House,” said Trevor Potter, president of CLC, and a former Republican Chairman of the Federal Election Commission (FEC). “This will save taxpayers nearly $1 million every year, enhance transparency and help to increase accuracy. Citizens will finally be able to view and search the actual Senate reports online and watchdog organizations will be able to better monitor and analyze campaign activity. After years of advocating for this change, we are happy that the public’s right to timely and accurate election data will no longer be buried under a mountain of paper.”

Not only is paper filing more expensive, it is also less accurate. A Center for Public Integrity investigation found errors in more than 5,900 candidate disclosures representing over $70 million, all of them traceable to the U.S. government’s conversion of paper into electronic data.