By Dave Wilson
MORGANTOWN — One of the most transparent campaign finance reporting systems in the country is now up and running in West Virginia and just in time for the mid-term elections coming in November.
“The idea behind it is, the more people know about campaigns, the more transparent it is, hopefully the more confident they are that things are being done right,” West Virginia Secretary of State Mac Warner said on WAJR’s Morgantown AM.
“Our new Campaign Fin-ance Reporting System provides greater transparency for the general public as to the funding and expenditures of all campaign activity that occurs in West Virginia. The new system is accessible 24 hours a day and is very user-friendly,” Warner continued.
A change in state law now requires all candidates and committees to file their campaign finance reports electronically. While the system is geared toward the candidates and their campaigns, Warner believes this will benefit the general public as well.
“It allows you a database to search the campaigns, to see who donated what to which campaign. And it also allows you to search by name. If you want to know who your neighbor donated to, you can pull up their name and see who
that neighbor donated to,” Warner explained.
With campaign finance reports due later this month, the Secretary of State’s Office is offering training sessions each day this week to familiarize candidates, their campaigns and voters with the new system. Webinars are scheduled for each day this week, and there are two on-site training sessions scheduled for Wednesday in Martinsburg and Thursday in Charleston.
“It’s the most transparent system in the United States, and we’re proud of it,” boasted Warner.
You do not have to register or RSVP ahead of the training sessions and each are open to the public.
