Current through Register Vol. 48, No. 12, March 22, 2024
a)
The State Board of Elections will make electronic filing available to
committees required to report electronically under Code Section 9-28 using a
platform provided by the Board. Mandatory electronic filers may not send
reports via U.S. mail, e-mail, or facsimile transmission in lieu of using the
Board's platform under Code Section 9-28 except as provided in subsection
(c).
b) Once a committee exceeds
the threshold that requires it to report electronically, it must continue to
report electronically until it dissolves, whether or not its accumulation,
receipts or expenditures fall beneath the levels set by statute for mandatory
electronic filing.
c) Once a
committee is required to file its reports electronically under Code Section
9-28, it must continue to file all reports electronically, except as follows:
1) A paper report shall be considered a
timely filing if it is received by the Board on or before the filing deadline,
provided that it covers the initial reporting period during which the mandatory
electronic filing threshold is exceeded and that the report is filed
electronically within 30 days after receipt of notice from the Board that this
report was required to have been filed electronically. If the report is not
filed electronically within this 30 day period, it shall be considered as never
having been filed and the civil penalties mandated by 26 Ill. Adm. Code
125.425 will accrue from the
date of the filing deadline.
2) A
paper report shall be considered a non-filing if the committee has previously
received the notification referred to in subsection (c)(1). If the report is
not filed electronically by the filing deadline, it shall be considered as
having never been filed and the civil penalties mandated by 26 Ill. Adm. Code
125.425 will accrue until such
time as it is filed electronically.
3) A paper report shall be considered a
timely filing if at least one previous report was required to have been filed
electronically and the committee had never been notified by the Board that it
was required to electronically file its reports, provided that the report is
filed electronically within 30 days after the notification referred to in
subsection (c)(1). If the report is not filed electronically within this 30 day
period, it shall be considered as never having been filed and the civil
penalties mandated by 26 Ill. Adm. Code
125.425 will accrue from the
date of the filing deadline.
4) A
paper report shall be considered a timely filing if it is received on or before
the filing deadline, or if it is postmarked no later than 3 days before the
filing deadline, and the committee has never exceeded the $10,000 threshold
requiring the electronic filing of its reports, regardless of whether the
committee filed previous reports electronically.
5) If a committee is assessed a civil penalty
for delinquently filing a report electronically and, in the course of its
appeal, raises the defense that computer related issues prohibited the timely
filing of an electronic report, the Board may consider the following when
determining the final outcome of the appeal:
A) Whether the committee has raised any
electronic filing issue as a defense in a prior appeal. An electronic filing
defense may be taken into consideration only once during the lifetime of a
committee, barring extenuating circumstances.
B) The length of time the committee has been
filing electronically, regardless of whether the committee officers or the
persons actually filing the reports have changed.
C) Whether the committee had established an
electronic filing account (user name and password) prior to 4:30 pm on the
filing deadline date. Failure to contact the Board to establish or verify this
information during normal business hours shall not constitute a valid
electronic filing defense. Misplacing, forgetting or simply not knowing a user
name or password shall not constitute a valid electronic filing
defense.
D) If a committee misses a
filing deadline due to an electronic filing issue that was known or should have
been known at the time of an attempted filing, it must contact, and discuss the
issue with, Board staff. The contact must be initiated within three business
days after the deadline to qualify for an electronic filing defense, unless the
Board determines that the committee was reasonably unaware of the electronic
filing issue until a later date, in which case, the committee must have
initiated contact with the Board within three business days after discovering
the report was not successfully filed. The contact must be confirmed in writing
by Board staff. Following this contact, the committee must make a reasonable
attempt to resolve the issue and file the report as quickly as
possible.
6) The
electronic filing requirement established in this Section shall not apply to
Reports of Independent Expenditures required to be filed by natural persons
pursuant to Code Section 9-8.6, as those persons are not necessarily political
committees.