Great Falls Tribune: Tester bill calls for campaign finance reports to be filed online

Even though most services are now online, from bank statements to brokerage accounts, members of the U.S. Senate continue to file campaign finance reports the old fashioned way: on paper.

This practice leads to delays in the information being made available to the public, renders them electronically unsearchable and costs the U.S. government an estimated $500,000 a year to process.

Sen. Jon Tester wants to change that. The Montana Democrat has introduced a bill that would require Senate candidates to file their quarterly campaign finance reports electronically with the Federal Election Commission.