Chapter 111-6 Electronic Filing

(A) Except for section (C) of this rule, no entity shall file a statement by electronic means of transmission, as required by section 3517.10 or 3517.106 of the Revised Code, until that entity:

(1) Files with the secretary of state an Electronic Filing Registration (form 30-D-1) authorizing the establishment of a user name, password, and electronic signature for that entity;

(B) The combination of user name, password, and electronic signature constitutes the electronic signature as required by section 3517.106(H) of the Revised Code of each campaign entity that files statements by electronic means of transmission.

(C) Automatic Issuance

(1) A county political party state candidate fund established pursuant to section 3517.10(D)(3)(c) of the Revised Code and any state political party Levin fund established pursuant to section 3517.1013 of the Revised Code shall be automatically assigned a user name, password and electronic signature for that entity at the time the entity files a designation of appointment of treasurer form (form 30-D) with the secretary of state.

(2) A person who files a Notice of Intent to Make Electioneering Communication Disbursements (form 31-EC) with the secretary of state pursuant to section 3517.1011 of the Revised Code shall be automatically assigned a user name, password and electronic signature at that time.

R.C. 119.032 review dates: 12/26/2006

Promulgated Under: 119.03

Statutory Authority: RC 3517.23

Rule Amplifies: RC 3517.106

Prior Effective Dates: 1/1/02, 1/1/06

(A) Except as otherwise provided for in section (D) of this rule, a statement filed by electronic means of transmission pursuant to sections 3517.10, 3517.106, 3517.1011, 3517.1012 or 3517.1013 of the Revised Code shall be filed by either of the following methods:

(1) An on-line application linked to the secretary of state’s home page on the world wide web;

(2) An electronic mail message with a properly constructed and formatted data attachment sent to the secretary of state.

(B)

(1) The secretary of state shall immediately acknowledge statements filed by the on-line application by notifying the filer when the statement submitted is successfully processed.

(2) The secretary of state shall immediately acknowledge statements filed by electronic mail message by sending to an e-mail address of the filing entity a notice when the date attachment is successfully processed.

(C) The secretary of state’s method of preserving all statements filed by electronic means of transmission is to store all such statements in a data base maintained by the secretary of state.

(D) All electioneering communication contribution and disbursement statements filed with the secretary of state pursuant to section 3517.1011 of the Revised Code shall be filed only using the on-line application as described in (A)(1) of this rule.

R.C. 119.032 review dates: 12/26/2006

Promulgated Under: 119.03

Statutory Authority: RC 3517.23

Rule Amplifies: RC 3517.106

Prior Effective Dates: 1/1/02, 1/1/06

(A)Any entity that files a statement by electronic means of transmission pursuant to section 3517.10 or 3517.106 of the Revised Code shall also file on paper a copy of the canceled checks or paid receipts required by section 3517.10 of the Revised Code.

(B)(1)Prior to January 1, 2003, a campaign committee of a candidate for the office of member of the general assembly that files a campaign finance statement by electronic means of transmission with the secretary of state pursuant to section 3517.106 of the Revised Code shall also file a paper copy of the statement at the board of elections where the candidate is required to file petitions or other papers for nomination or election. The paper copy shall be filed or postmarked not later than the date the statement is required to be filed under section 3517.10 of the Revised Code.

(2)Any campaign committee of a candidate for the office of member of the general assembly that files a campaign finance statement by electronic means of transmission with the secretary of state shall, until January 1, 2003, submit on paper copies of canceled checks or paid receipts with the board of elections where the candidate is required to file petitions for nomination or election to office. On and after January 1, 2003, any campaign committee of a candidate for the office of member of the general assembly that files a campaign finance statement by electronic means of transmission with the secretary of state shall submit to the secretary of state paper copies of canceled checks or paid receipts for each statement with the secretary of state.

R.C. 119.032 review dates: 12/26/2006

Promulgated Under: 119.03

Statutory Authority: RC 3517.23

Rule Amplifies: RC 3517.10, 3517.106

Prior Effective Dates: 1/1/02

(A) As used in this rule, “eligible campaign committee” means either of the following:

(1) The campaign committee of a candidate for statewide office that makes expenditures of less than twenty-five thousand dollars during a reporting period under division (A) of section 3517.10 of the Revised Code;

(2) The campaign committee of a candidate for the office of member of the general assembly or for the office of judge of a court of appeals that would otherwise be required to file campaign finance statements by electronic means of transmission under division (E) or (F) of section 3517.106 of the Revised Code.

(B) An eligible campaign committee may file a campaign finance statement for a reporting period under division (A) of section 3517.10 of the Revised Code by paper rather than by electronic means of transmission if both of the following occur:

(1) The candidate of the eligible campaign committee that intends to file a campaign finance statement by paper rather than by electronic means of transmission files with the secretary of state a notice indicating that the candidate’s campaign committee intends to file by paper and stating that filing the statement by electronic means of transmission would constitute a hardship for the candidate or for the eligible campaign committee;

(2) The following requirements shall be met in order to determine the fee structure for campaign committees filing the notice of hardship.

(a) The campaign finance statement is accompanied by a fee not to exceed the actual data entry and data verification costs incurred by the secretary of state to convert the information filed on paper to electronic format. The fee shall be determined using the formula set forth in this division, which results in a fee that does not exceed the secretary’s actual costs.

The number of entries on the report for contributions received shall be added to the number of entries on the report for expenditures made.

(Entries for loans and debts shall not be included.) The resulting number shall be multiplied by the cost per keystroke required to enter the data from the report into the secretary of state’s electronic filing system, as determined by the secretary of state pursuant to the contract with the secretary’s data entry vendor. The resulting number shall be multiplied by a number determined by the secretary of state that is less than the average number of keystrokes per entry required to enter and verify the data from the report into the secretary’s electronic filing system pursuant to the contract with the secretary’s data entry vendor.

(b) The current formula, which shall include an actual multiplier figure derived by the secretary of state pursuant to paragraph (B)(2)(a) of this rule to enable a committee to perform the calculations necessary to determine its fee, shall appear on the electronic filing notice of hardship form (form 31-DD) prescribed by the secretary of state.

(c) Whoever signs the campaign finance statement shall indicate on the statement’s cover page, form 30-A prescribed by the secretary of state, both the total number of contribution entries and the total number of expenditure entries reported in that statement.

(C) An eligible campaign committee that files a campaign finance statement on paper pursuant to division (L) of section 3517.106 of the Revised Code shall review the contribution and other information made available online by the secretary of state with respect to that paper filing and shall notify the secretary of state of any errors with respect to that filing that appear in the data made available on the secretary of state’s web site.

(D) Campaign finance statements filed on paper pursuant to division (L) of section 3517.106 of the Revised Code shall be filed by the filing deadlines required under division (A) of section 3517.10 of the Revised Code.

(E) Any campaign committee that submits paper campaign finance statements, pursuant to division (L) of section 3517.106 of the Revised Code, shall comply with the following provisions, as applicable.

(1) The candidate of an eligible campaign committee that intends to file a paper statement pursuant to division (L) of section 3517.106 of the Revised Code shall file a notice of hardship for each campaign finance statement that the committee intends to file by paper. A notice of hardship must be filed prior to the filing of the campaign finance statement on paper in order for a campaign committee to file on paper pursuant to division (L) of section 3517.106 of the Revised Code.

(2) A campaign finance statement filed on paper pursuant to division (L) of section 3517.106 of the Revised Code is not timely filed if, by the filing deadline, either of the following occurs:

(a) The statement is not accompanied by the fee required by division (L) of section 3517.106 of the Revised Code and paragraph (B)(2) of this rule;

(b) The statement is not filed at the office of the secretary of state.

(3) Electronic filing notices of hardship shall be signed under penalty of election falsification.

Effective: 07/27/2006

R.C. 119.032 review dates: 06/13/2010

Promulgated Under: 119.03

Statutory Authority: 3517.106(L), 3517.23

Rule Amplifies: 3517.106(L)

Prior Effective Dates: 6/13/05