Luzerne County changes campaign finance release format

Due to security concerns, Luzerne County is requiring the public to submit a form to view campaign finance reports instead of posting them online, officials said Wednesday.

County Election Director Emily Cook said caution was raised about the online posting of home addresses of candidates and elected officials during a conference for eastern Pennsylvania election office officials held shortly after the June shooting deaths of former Minnesota House Speaker Melissa Hortman and her husband Mark at their residence and another shooting that seriously wounded state Sen. John Hoffman, and his wife, Yvette, at their house.

Only 13 of the state’s 67 counties post campaign finance reports on their websites, Cook said.

County Assistant Solicitor Gene Molino said the online posting is discretionary because there is no law requiring or prohibiting it.

County Election Board Chairwoman Christine Boyle said the board will discuss the matter at its next meeting.

Redacting of addresses has been mentioned as an option, but Cook said the bureau does not have the manpower to block out such information for multiple reports annually dating back years.

Another possibility discussed during a meeting of county officials Wednesday would be hiring an outside vendor to handle the posting and redaction. However, this option would require a public request for proposals and could not be immediately implemented.

A list of all active candidates and the 79 active campaign committees remains posted on the campaign finance section at luzernecounty.org so the public knows which reports are available for request, Cook said.

Under the new procedure, the site contains a data request form that must be completed and emailed to campaignfinance@luzernecounty.org to obtain copies of finance reports.

Molino emphasized that the county agrees the finance reports are public information and will release them, unredacted, to those submitting request forms.

“Instead of just appearing on a website where anyone and everyone can see them, we have a level of control to know who requested them and when,” Molino said. “This has nothing to do with the bureau not wanting to release this information.”

Molino said he believes the online posting decision rests with the election bureau, as opposed to the election board, based on wording in the state election code sections governing campaign finance. However, he stressed the election board absolutely has the option to weigh in on the matter.

The election board had voted on a series of directives for the election bureau in June 2021 that included a plan to post campaign finance information on time.

Molino said the bureau cannot find any written campaign finance plan subsequently completed by the bureau and adopted by the board.

The election bureau had restored the online posting of campaign finance reports in 2023 after the county controller’s office agreed to assist the bureau to track the reports — a task that had not been comprehensively enforced by the bureau over the preceding few years.

Cook said the tracking is still being maintained even though the reports are no longer automatically posted. Committees and candidates that fail to file reports are publicly posted on the site after each report cycle deadline, she noted.

Cook said Wednesday she has received positive feedback about the request form requirement.

“Every candidate I spoke to appreciated that we took it down because they don’t want someone with suspect motives to access their home address and phone number,” she said.

Denise Williams, a prior election board member and current county council candidate, sent the board a communication opposing removal of the online reports “for the sake of transparency and accountability and the ability to challenge any reporting.”

For campaign finance reports filed with the state, the Pennsylvania Department of State said it already removes some sensitive information in documents posted online. The department also is looking into other steps that balance security and transparency, a spokesperson said.

Several states have laws preventing the secretary of state from publishing the residential addresses of those involved in political campaigns, according to online reports.