Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Electronic Filing topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Ethics Commission adopts signature-verification rule for electronic campaign finance filings
Summary
The commission adopted a regulation requiring one-time signature verification—either in person or via a notarized card—to issue signer IDs and PINs for electronic campaign finance filings, citing state law that allows local electronic filing.
The San Francisco Ethics Commission voted to adopt regulations that require signers of electronic campaign finance reports to complete a signature-verification process before receiving a signer ID and secret PIN for future filings. Steve Massey, the commission's IT officer, told commissioners the change responds to Assembly Bill 2452 and a local amendment to CFRA Section 1.112 that permit agencies to accept filings electronically.
Under the adopted approach, filers would complete a signature verification card either in person at the Ethics Commission office or by submitting an original notarized card; in return they would be issued a signer ID and PIN used to verify future electronic submissions. Massey said the process was modeled on San Diego's system but with additional in-person or notarized verification to reduce the risk that a faxed card could be submitted by an unauthenticated third party.
"One of the reasons we developed this is to separate the signers from the committee," Massey said, describing a workflow in which committee accounts are created (typically by the treasurer) and each listed signer must individually check in and verify the statement before it can be filed. Public commenter David Pilpel supported the proposal and asked how many filers would need to be processed before the July filing deadline; staff said they planned to notify filers promptly and that the regulation would not go into effect until June to allow time for compliance and training.
Commissioners discussed potential fraud risks, timeline logistics, and whether staff would photocopy photo IDs (staff said they would not photocopy IDs but would check them once to verify identity). The motion to adopt the regulation was moved, seconded and passed by voice vote.
