The Modernization of Election Data Systems (MEDS) Commission gave an update on Wednesday about progress made on updating campaign finance software.
The bipartisan, 22-member commission first met on Feb. 24 to discuss upgrading that system, which was developed in the early 2000s and runs only on Windows computers.
They are also tasked with updating the state’s Election Information Management System (SEIMS).
North Carolina State Board of Elections (NCSBE) Executive Director Sam Hayes gave a brief update on ReFrame Solutions, the new vendor selected to replace the SEIMS system, developed in 1998. He said the new system should be up and running before the 2028 General Election.
The meeting shifted to a discussion on the campaign finance software upgrade.
Brooks Fuller, co-chair of the campaign finance subcommittee, said the subcommittee has met twice and developed some guiding principles to modernize the paper-dependent system for campaign finance filings, which he said is too cumbersome for those interested in campaign finance. Moving to cloud-based software, Fuller said, will improve transparency, make it easier on candidates, committees, and staff at the NCSBE, who are burdened with correcting errors and other time-consuming issues.
Subcommittee co-chair Dr. Andy Jackson, director of the John Locke Foundation’s Civitas Center for Public Integrity, said they received feedback from staff and ideas from subcommittee members to develop a list of guiding principles for the project. They include:
- Cloud-based and portable system that can be accessed securely from anywhere and will require a policy change to do away with the paper filing requirement, allowing for electronic filing
- An easy, step-by-step process similar to TurboTax’s website
- The system should also be adaptable to filler; compliance requirements should be automated, and enable both filers and staff to identify errors as soon as possible.
- Facilitate electronic signatures on reports and amendments to streamline submissions and reduce administrative delays.
- Allow imports from readily available campaign management, financial tracking, and other common data software.
- Make campaign finance data available quickly with a user-friendly dashboard that features robust, intuitive search capabilities. Allow tracking and sorting by election cycles, not by just committees and calendar years.
- Enable fast, modern search and filtering tools allowing the public to easily find, analyze, and understand political spending across committees and candidates. Explore the feasibility of automated identification of contributors with slight name variances.
- Create rapid communications channel between filers and election administrators that will automatically archive for public records compliance and searchability. The new system should confirm each step of the filing process, from filing to receipt to confirmation, with notifications of due dates.
- Protect sensitive information, maintain data integrity, and provide a one-stop data location for training, guidance, and public information for candidates, committees, and the public. Create unique training models for specific issues.
- Allow for regular updates and modernization, so North Carolina’s campaign finance management system evolves as technology, law, and election administration change in the decades to come.
Anyone interested in commenting on these or with other suggestions can email [email protected].
The commission also heard from officials in Mississippi and Maryland, two states that have recently gone through similar modernization efforts.