SB300 Alabama 2020 Session

Summary

Primary Sponsor

David Burkette

Democrat

Session

Regular Session 2020

Title

Campaign finance reports, electronic filing with Secretary of State required, Secs. 17-5-4, 17-5-5, 17-5-8, 17-5-9, 17-5-10, 17-5-11, 17-5-19.1, 17-5-19.2 am'd.

Summary

SB300 requires every Alabama campaign finance report to be filed electronically with the Secretary of State, including municipal campaigns.

What This Bill Does

It removes all paper or fax filing options and makes electronic filing mandatory for all reports. It moves filing responsibility for municipal campaigns from judges of probate to the Secretary of State. It requires electronic filings to be publicly accessible through a searchable database on the Secretary of State's website. It maintains civil penalties for late or inaccurate filings and includes minor technical updates to the code, with an effective date of October 1, 2020.

Who It Affects

• Political action committees and principal campaign committees: must file electronically with the Secretary of State, with reports available in a public, searchable database and subject to civil penalties for late or inaccurate filings.
• Municipal candidates and municipal reporting: must file campaign finance reports with the Secretary of State (not the judge of probate), aligning municipal reporting with state-level requirements.

Key Provisions

• All campaign finance reports and statements must be filed electronically with the Secretary of State, with no exceptions.
• All reports and statements, including municipal reports, must be filed with the Secretary of State rather than with judges of probate.
• Electronic filings shall be accessible to the public via a searchable database on the Secretary of State's website.
• The bill retains civil penalties for late or inaccurate filings, with specified penalty amounts and escalation for repeat offenses, and provides a process for review.
• The act includes nonsubstantive technical revisions to update code language to current style and becomes effective October 1, 2020.

AI-generated summary using openai/gpt-5-nano on Feb 23, 2026. May contain errors — refer to the official bill text for accuracy.