For those interested in following how much money candidates are raising for their election campaigns, tomorrow will be a good day to check. That’s because candidates have to file their campaign disclosure forms by the end of business today. But, some campaigns are easier to follow than others.
Candidates running for citywide and statewide office have to file their campaign disclosure forms electronically, if they raise more than a few thousand dollars. In the case of the city, those electronic filings appear on the city clerks’ web site instantly, on the “public portal to campaign finance disclosure.”
Checking on the progress of candidates for county positions is not so easy. County Registrar of Voters, Deborah Seiler, says the County does not offer electronic filing for candidates and interested citizens can’t find the information on the web.
“Unfortunately no, we don’t have any web based look up features. They can call, they can come to our office, they can get copies of the papers. “
The County charges ten cents a page for copies of campaign filing documents. For candidates who have raised money from hundreds of supporters, that can amount to a lot of pages.
However, following candidates' campaign disclosure documents is not the whole story. Much of the money will flow through so-called “independent expenditure committees,” political action committees or PACs, which do not have the same stringent reporting requirements.
