News and Press Releases for January 2006
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01/11/2006
Gov. Sanford Unveils Online Disclosure System
Governor Demonstrates First-Ever System During Visit to State Ethics Commission
Columbia, S.C. - Gov. Mark Sanford today visited the S.C. Ethics Commission to officially unveil the state's first-ever online campaign reporting system, marking for the first time the availability of electronic campaign finance records to anyone in South Carolina.
Starting this week, campaign finance reports for the fourth quarter of 2005 and going forward will be available online at https://ssl.sc.gov/Ethics/ or through the state Web portal at www.sc.gov. Currently, users can search for donations by candidate name, political office sought or contributor name for all the state's candidates for constitutional office. An upgraded system, tentatively scheduled for launch in early 2007, will include additional disclosures, allow candidates to enter their financial information online, and provide further reporting capabilities.
"Putting this information on the Internet for every South Carolinian to see is an incredibly important step toward creating a more open and accountable government," Gov. Sanford said. "We've said from day one that sunlight is the ultimate disinfectant in the political process, and the people of this state have a right to know who's trying to influence their votes."
In 2003, Gov. Sanford signed legislation mandating the creation of the online reporting system - legislation vetoed by his predecessor. A longtime proponent of online disclosures, earlier this year the Governor's Office began working with the state Chief Information Officer and S.C. Interactive - the company hired to create the state's Web portal -- to identify an existing state contract that not only allowed immediate implementation of this system, but has saved the state at least $200,000 in the process. The State Ethics Commission, which oversees South Carolina's campaign disclosure reports, had said previously that online disclosure would not be available for the 2006 elections due to the time needed to secure a vendor.