Website Announced for Local Campaigns to File Campaign Finance Reports Online

During the previous General Assembly, SB 107 was passed and signed into law. The legislation, championed by Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose, was sponsored by State Senator Michael Rulli (R-Salem) and enhances transparency by allowing campaign finance reports for local candidates and committees to be filed electronically with county boards of elections. Previously, the only option for voters to obtain a report was to contact their county board of elections. 

In advance of the upcoming campaign finance deadline on January 29, any local candidate or committee may choose to use https://boefile.ohiosos.gov/ to submit their report. By doing so, they’ll make it far easier for voters to view campaign finance reports online. 

“It’s more efficient for local candidates and their treasurers, but perhaps more important than that is that it makes local campaign finance more transparent,” said LaRose. “It provides better opportunities for journalists, or students, or researchers to look at where candidates are getting their money and what it’s being spent on. In 2021 we expect that kind of transparency, and that’s exactly what you get with this new system.”

Step-by-step instructions with screen shots may be found in the Learning Center by clicking here.

Secretary LaRose wrote about the need for this legislation in March 2019 in a Cleveland.com op-ed that can be read by clicking here.  

Press release from the office of the Secretary of State