ELEC will have 8-day dead zone before public sees reports

It will take eight days for the New Jersey Election Law Enforcement to release 29-day pre-election campaign finance reports this month, leaving contributions and expenditures out of the public view since July 1 out of the public view until just eighteen days before the election.

Because of the time it takes to process reports – ELEC doesn’t use cutting-edge technology — reports filed on October 10 won’t become public until October 18.  The turnaround time is further delayed by ELEC being closed on Columbus Day, a state holiday.

The dead zone created by the time it takes the watchdog agency to process reports once submitted electronically by candidates effectively eliminates the possibility of the source of campaign contributions as a campaign issue.

“In this day and age of technology, that’s a 24-hour turnaround,” said State Sen. Joseph Cryan (D-Union).  “Part of their role is to provide accountability to the public.  The public deserves better, and frankly, so do the candidates.”

The 11-day pre-election reports due on October 27 won’t be out until November 2,  just five days before Election Day.

New Jerseyans are increasingly voting early – vote-by-mail ballots went out on September 23 – making news emanating from campaign finance reports less relevant than ever.

“Justice Brandeis didn’t say ‘week-old sunlight is the best disinfectant,’” said Micah Rasmussen, the director of the Rebovich Institute of New Jersey Politics at Rider University.  “The entire, total point of public disclosure is for voters to see for themselves how candidates are raising and spending money.  They can’t do that if the dates set by law for disclosure aren’t being followed.”

In House, Senate, and Presidential elections, software used by the Federal Election Commission allows the public to view reports in real-time.

Rasmussen said that disclosure delays should be a top priority for the commission, which was newly constituted under the Election Transparency Act this year.

“If our new ELEC commissioners are committee to the concept of public disclosure, they should fix this,” he said.

But expectations are low.

“Having been cheated by opponents repeatedly over the years, you get used to it,” Cryan said.