Marin County Municipal Code Ch. 2.01 Electronic Filing of Campaign Statements

The purpose of this chapter is to authorize and require electronic filing of election campaign statements, reports, or other documents by candidates and campaign committees and thereby promote transparency in campaign financing.

(Ord. No. 3805, § 5, 2023)

This chapter is intended to supplement the Political Reform Act of 1974. The words and terms contained in this article shall have the same definitions as provided for such words and terms in the Political Reform Act, as amended, (Government Code Section 81000 et seq.), and supplemented from time to time by the Regulations of the Fair Political Practices Commission (Title 2, Division 6 of the California Code of Regulations), unless a word or term is specifically defined in this chapter, in which case such definition shall apply for electronic filing requirements pursuant to this chapter of the Marin County Code.

(Ord. No. 3805, § 5, 2023)

The following definitions shall be used for the purposes of interpreting the provisions of this chapter:

A. "Filer" means any elected officer, candidate, committee, or other person required to file statements, as defined herein.

B. "Statements" shall mean any statements, reports, or other documents that filers must file in accordance with Chapter 4 of the Political Reform Act (Government Code Section 84100, et seq).

(Ord. No. 3805, § 5, 2023)

Electronic filing shall be as follows:

A. Each filer shall file statements using the Registrar of Voters' established electronic filing system according to procedures established by the Registrar of Voters.

B. Filers are exempt from these requirements if they received less than two thousand dollars in contributions and made less than two thousand dollars in expenditures, or another amount as established by the Political Reform Act in a calendar year.

C. In any instance in which the electronic filing of statements is not required, elected officers, candidates, committees, or other persons may voluntarily choose to file electronically.

D. All statements filed electronically under this article shall be signed under penalty of perjury and verified by the filer pursuant to Government Code Section 81004.

E. Filers who have electronically filed a statement using the Registrar of Voters' electronic filing system are not required to file copies of that document in paper format with the Registrar of Voters.

F. The electronic filing system shall allow filers to complete and submit statements free of charge.

(Ord. No. 3805, § 5, 2023)

Availability of statements shall be as follows:

A. The Registrar of Voters shall make available on the Registrar of Voter's website all data filed pursuant to this chapter in an easily understood format that provides the greatest feasible public access. Data shall be made available free of charge and as soon as possible after receipt.

B. Data made available on the Registrar of Voter's webpage shall not contain the street name and building number of the persons or entity representatives listed on the electronically filed forms or any bank account number required to be disclosed by the filer.

C. A complete, unredacted copy of the statement shall be made available to any person upon request to the Registrar of Voters.

D. The Registrar of Voters shall maintain online or electronic statements in compliance with state law and the county's adopted retention schedule.

(Ord. No. 3805, § 5, 2023)

If any provision of this chapter or the application thereof to any person or circumstance is held invalid, the remainder of the chapter and the application of such provision to other persons or circumstances shall not be affected thereby.

(Ord. No. 3805, § 5, 2023)