Lupe Villa, Kings County elections official, on Oct. 28 asked the Board of Supervisors to accept introduction of Ordinance 719, which would require certain campaign-related filings to be submitted electronically. The board voted 4-0 with Supervisor Robert Thayer absent to accept the ordinance for formal adoption on Nov. 4.

The measure, as described by Villa, would apply to elected officials, candidates, committees and others who exceed contribution thresholds and would align local practice with state law. Villa told the board that Assembly Bill 2452 authorizes local jurisdictions to require certain filings to be submitted online and that a later Senate bill added requirements for online posting within 72 hours. She said the county’s vendor will be Netfile and that the county would provide training and one-on-one help to filers.

"We would walk them through this process and explain to them that everything would be electronically," Villa said, describing assistance the elections office will provide to candidates and committees.

Under the ordinance as presented, the county would require electronic filing for parties that have received contributions of $2,000 or more or have made independent expenditures of $1,000 or more. The ordinance would also mirror current FPPC timeframes: a 24-hour online disclosure requirement during the 90-day election cycle for receipts of $1,000 or more, and a 10-business-day reporting period for contributions outside the election cycle that exceed $5,000.

Villa said the change would eliminate much of the manual redaction and posting work the elections office currently performs and make filings more readily available to the public. The elections office told the board it has accounts for roughly 147 filing entities and that participating departments would receive guidance and training before the system goes live.

The board voted to accept the ordinance’s introduction and to return on Nov. 4 for adoption. Villa said the vendor is prepared to upload necessary documents and training materials once the board adopts the ordinance.

Votes on this procedural motion were recorded by roll call: Joe Neves—yes; Richard Vallee—yes; Doug Verboun—yes; Rusty Robinson—yes; Robert Thayer—absent.