1Amending the act of June 3, 1937 (P.L.1333, No.320), entitled
2"An act concerning elections, including general, municipal,
3special and primary elections, the nomination of candidates,
4primary and election expenses and election contests; creating
5and defining membership of county boards of elections;
6imposing duties upon the Secretary of the Commonwealth,
7courts, county boards of elections, county commissioners;
8imposing penalties for violation of the act, and codifying,
9revising and consolidating the laws relating thereto; and
10repealing certain acts and parts of acts relating to
11elections," further providing for company finance reports and
12for additional powers and duties of the Secretary of the
13Commonwealth.

14The General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
15hereby enacts as follows:

16Section 1. Section 1626 of the act of June 3, 1937
17(P.L.1333, No.320), known as the Pennsylvania Election Code,
18added October 4, 1978 (P.L.893, No.171), is amended by adding a
19subsection to read:

20Section 1626. Reporting by Candidate and Political
21Committees and other Persons.--

22* * *

1(k) (1) All campaign finance reports required to be filed
2with the Secretary of the Commonwealth shall be filed
3electronically using the electronic filing system developed by
4the secretary that is consistent with the purposes of this
5subsection. A campaign finance report submitted electronically
6must:

7(i) be made under oath or equivalent affirmation;

8(ii) require an electronic signature from the treasurer or
9assistant treasurer at the time of the filing of the campaign
10finance report. In addition, any report filed by a political
11committee, authorized by a candidate and created solely for the
12purpose of influencing an election on behalf of that candidate
13must be signed, using an electronic signature, under oath or
14equivalent affirmation by the candidate that, to the best of the
15candidate's knowledge, the political committee has not violated
16any provision of this act; and

17(iii) be made subject to the penalties for perjury.

18(2) Any candidate or political committee not able to file
19electronically the report or statement required by this
20subsection shall request an exemption from the secretary. The
21candidate or political committee upon approval of the secretary
22shall file reports and statements on forms developed by the
23secretary.

24Section 2. Section 1628 of the act, amended February 13,
251998 (P.L.72, No.18), is amended to read:

26Section 1628. Late Contributions and Independent
27Expenditures.--Any candidate or political committee, authorized
28by a candidate and created solely for the purpose of influencing
29an election on behalf of that candidate, which receives any
30contribution or pledge of five hundred dollars ($500) or more,

1and any person making an independent expenditure, as defined by
2this act, of five hundred dollars ($500) or more after the final
3pre-election report has been deemed completed shall report such
4contribution, pledge or expenditure to the appropriate
5supervisor. Such report shall be sent by the candidate, chairman
6or treasurer of the political committee within twenty-four (24)
7hours of receipt of the contribution. It shall be the duty of
8the supervisor to confirm the substance of such report. The 
9report is to be filed electronically in a manner prescribed by 
10the Secretary of the Commonwealth. The report shall be made by
11telegram, mailgram, overnight mail or facsimile transmission.
12Any candidate in his own behalf, or chairman, treasurer or
13candidate in behalf of the political committee may also comply
14with this section by appearing personally before such supervisor
15and reporting such late contributions or pledges.

16Section 3. Section 1640 of the act, added October 4, 1978
17(P.L.893, No.171), is amended to read:

18Section 1640. Additional Powers and Duties of the Secretary
19of the Commonwealth.--The Secretary of the Commonwealth shall
20have the following additional powers and duties:

21(1) To serve as the State clearing house for information
22concerning the administration of this act.

23(2) To prescribe suitable rules and regulations to carry out
24the provisions of this act.

25(3) To develop the prescribed forms required by the
26provisions of this article for the making of the reports and
27statements required to be filed with the supervisor.

28(4) To prepare a manual setting forth recommended uniform
29methods of bookkeeping and reporting which shall be furnished by
30the supervisor to the person required to file such reports and

1statements as required by this article.

2(5) To examine the contributions to State legislative and
3Statewide candidates and publish a list of all those political
4committees who have contributed to candidates and who have
5failed to file reports as required by this act within six (6)
6days of their failure to comply.

7(6) To maintain a searchable computer database and
8electronic reporting system that contains the information
9necessary for the proper administration of this article,
10including information on contributions and expenditures by all
11candidates and all political committees and distribution of
12moneys, and including public access through personal computer
13and the Internet. The database must be designed with an
14emergency recovery system to ensure that campaign expense
15records are not lost in the case of an emergency, natural
16disaster or other event that could cause the system to
17malfunction.

18(7) To establish a training program on the electronic
19reporting system and make it available to any candidate or
20committee.

21(8) To cause all information contained in the statement
22filed with the Secretary of the Commonwealth, which is not on
23such electronic reporting system, to be entered into the system
24as soon as practicable, but in no event later than four (4)
25business days after its receipt by the secretary.

26(9) The department shall issue to the registrant an 
27electronic receipt that includes a confirmation number and the 
28date and time of filing.

29Section 4. This act shall take effect in 60 days.