(a) The registry of election finance, notwithstanding any other law to the contrary, shall do all of the following:
Terms Used In Tennessee Code 2-10-211
Candidate: means an individual who has made a formal announcement of candidacy or who is qualified under the law of this state to seek nomination for election or elections to public office, or has received contributions or made expenditures except for incidental expenditures to determine if one shall be a candidate, or has given consent for a campaign committee to receive contributions or make expenditures with a view to bringing about the individual's nomination for election or election to state public office. See Tennessee Code 2-10-102
Contribution: means any advance, conveyance, deposit, distribution, transfer of funds, loan, loan guaranty, personal funds of a candidate, payment, digital currency, gift, or subscription of money or like thing of value, and any contract, agreement, promise or other obligation, whether or not legally enforceable, made for the purpose of influencing a measure or nomination for election or the election of any person for public office or for the purpose of defraying any expenses of an officeholder incurred in connection with the performance of the officeholder's duties, responsibilities, or constituent services. See Tennessee Code 2-10-102
Election: means any general, special or primary election or run-off election, held to approve or disapprove a measure or nominate or elect a candidate for public office. See Tennessee Code 2-10-102
filed: means the date actually deposited with or received by the appropriate office or the date of the postmark if postmarked and sent by registered or certified mail of the United States postal service. See Tennessee Code 2-10-102
Public office: means any state public office or local public office filled by the voters. See Tennessee Code 2-10-102
State: when applied to the different parts of the United States, includes the District of Columbia and the several territories of the United States. See Tennessee Code 1-3-105
(1) Develop, with the advice, assistance and approval of the division of strategic technology solutions, an internet-based electronic filing process for use by all candidates for statepublic office and all political campaign committees that are required to file statements and reports with the registry of election finance;(2) Develop, with the advice, assistance and approval of the division of strategic technology solutions, a system that provides each candidate and campaign committee with secure access to the electronic filing system. The system shall provide safeguards against efforts to tamper or change the data in any way;(3) Provide training to candidates and campaign committees on the use of the electronic filing system;(4) Develop, with the advice, assistance and approval of the division of strategic technology solutions, a system that will forward a copy of any candidate’s report that is filed electronically with the registry of election finance to the appropriate local county election commission; and(5) Provide public access to a list of campaign contributions made to candidates and a list of expenditures made by those candidates by posting the lists on the Internet. In addition, the registry shall provide assistance to anyone seeking to access this information on the internet. Beginning with the 2006 regular August election, campaign contribution lists shall be made available on the Internet after a candidate has filed the information and the registry has reviewed the statements for accuracy and timeliness. If a candidate has not timely filed campaign contribution lists, then the registry shall post on the Internet that the candidate’s statement is delinquent.(b) The registry of election finance, once the development of the electronic filing system is completed and tested, shall provide public notice that the system is operational and available for filers to commence use.(c) The registry of election finance shall, with the advice, assistance and approval of the division of strategic technology solutions, implement the electronic filing system for use in the 2006 regular August election and all subsequent state elections. Candidates for state public offices and campaign committees may commence electronic filing for any state election beginning in the year 2006 and after notice has been given pursuant to subsection (b), and may continue to file electronically all reports for any subsequent state elections. Beginning in July 2006, candidates for state public offices and campaign committees, who have contributions or expenditures in excess of one thousand dollars ($1,000) per reporting period, shall file electronically all reports for any subsequent state elections. Failure to timely file reports electronically may be penalized as provided in § 2-10-110.(d) All information entered by any candidate or campaign committee into the electronic filing system shall remain confidential until the information is filed with the registry of election finance.
