N.C. State Auditor Dave Boliek wants a new commission he's appointed to suggest an overhauled campaign finance reporting system by next summer, if possible.
Boliek announced the new Modernization of Elections Data Systems Commission in early February, saying its 22 members would be tasked with developing an election data management system.
It is also set to overhaul how campaign finances are reported in North Carolina. Per a press release, those changes will be intended to help the public track campaign finances, help candidates comply with state rules and reduce unintended errors.
"It's time for a serious effort to modernize our election system. And when I say serious, I also mean being transparent and being realistic with costs, being open to the public and bringing in professionals and members of the community who understand systems and can offer real feedback," Boliek said Tuesday.
North Carolina's election management system dates to 1998. The current system is written in code that is so outdated, N.C. State Board of Elections Director Sam Hayes said Wednesday, that it is expected to stop operating within two years.
"North Carolina's campaign finance system, as we know, is at least 20 years behind the times, if you benchmark that across the nation. (It's) based on a paper filing system where reports must be manually uploaded. Difficult to file, difficult to upload, difficult to search," Boliek said.
Boliek said Wednesday that he hopes to have the campaign finance reporting system in place by summer of 2027, if possible. Should that happen, the new software would be in place for the 2027 municipal elections and for the 2028 elections.
The commission includes seven county elections directors, six members of county boards of elections and two county commissioners, among others.
Problems with NC campaign finance reporting
The State Board of Elections handles campaign finance for state-level political candidates and political spending. That includes Council of State positions, legislative candidates, judicial candidates and many political action committees. It also includes all spending by and associated with state political parties.
When someone is filing a campaign finance report, they need to download an application to their computer, said Lindsey Wakely, the State Board's campaign finance director. That application only works with computers running Windows. It will not work with any Apple product, Wakely added.
"After downloading the application, entering transactions and going through that entire process, in order to file that report the treasurer is required to create the report, save it and then email that disclose report to the North Carolina State Board of Elections," Wakely said.
The software also does not allow electronic signatures, though campaign finance disclosures must be signed. Now, campaign treasurers need to digitally sign a PDF and upload that or physically sign a copy of the report and send it to state elections officials.
Ideally, Wakely said, campaign treasurers would be able to check a box that would stand in for the signature.
Once the N.C. State Board of Elections receives a report, a staff member must open three separate applications to post it online. That process takes 15 to 20 minutes for each report, Wakely said. And even then, the reports often don't actually appear online until the day after they are uploaded.
"We need a modern system that's going to provide quick public access to all contribution, expenditure and independent expenditure information. After reports are filed, we need fast, modern processing that facilitates compliance," Wakely said.
Wakely agreed with Boliek that new software would ideally in place by July 1, 2027. That would mean piloting the software as soon as January 2027.
Hayes said the State Board of Elections received $15 million from the General Assembly last year to modernize its election management system. That funding should, Hayes said, be enough to also implement a new campaign finance reporting system.
Wednesday morning, Hayes intends to announce the vendor he has selected to replace the election management system. That new system will, Hayes said, be rolled out over the course of the next two years so that local elections officials can test it and train with it to make sure it's meeting their needs.
When the replacement is in place, Hayes said, "I see it as a bridge to an entirely new system, which will be the standard for the nation."
