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Committee questioning flags practical problems with electronic filing: attachments, downtime and weekend access
Summary
During debate on the Equal Access to the Ballot Act, members pressed for technical fixes and fail-safes: the state filing system currently does not accept uploaded attachments, a paper fallback and clarification on weekend/holiday filing deadlines were proposed, and the sponsor agreed to refine language with election officials.
As the committee debated moving candidate disclosure to an electronic system, several members raised concrete implementation concerns about the state filing platform and practical barriers for candidates.
Senators described scenarios in which website outages or power failures could prevent last‑minute filers from obtaining the required confirmation receipt; one senator asked for a paper fallback allowing a filer to submit a paper copy and then correct or finalize the electronic filing within 24 hours. Mr. Hayden, an election commission representative, confirmed current technical limits: "I don't think there's any way currently to attach a document to the filing electronically," and explained that in practice candidates must mail hard copies of supporting documents when needed.
Members also discussed shortening the filing window and whether county election commission offices would be open on weekends. The sponsor and staff agreed to work on amendments that (1) provide fail‑safe language if the deadline falls on a weekend or legal holiday, and (2) explore administrative remedies and a modest specified administrative fine rather than a punitive maximum fine without administrative process.
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