09/24/2013

Process and Procedures for Electronically Filing Quarterly Expense Reports for Lobbyists and Principals

From the Secretary of State's Office

I am writing to provide you information in order to assist you with the new legislatively-mandated electronic filing requirements that begin October 1, 2013.  This message is focused on quarterly lobbyist and principal expense electronic reports.  The Department will also send out information regarding electronic registrations and monthly expense reports in the near future.  Likewise, information for liaisons and solicitors will be sent in the near future under separate cover.

The history of e-filing lobbying documents actually began in 1936, as shown by the attached telegram.  In the modern era, filers have voluntarily electronically filed 4,458 registrations and 2,642 reports since 2009.  So while there will be changes for some of you, there will be some filers that will merely continue e-filing as they have done during the past five years.  

In an effort to make sure everyone successfully files during this transition period, we are providing the following information:

1.    For those prepared to do so, you may file your third quarter reports by paper on or before September 30, 2013.  We will accept filings that are postmarked, e-mailed, faxed or hand-delivered to the Lobbying Compliance Division on or before September 30, 2013.  If you e-mail or fax your report on or before September 30th, the Department must receive the required affidavit within seven (7) days of that date that you fax or e-mail the report.

2.    Filings made by lobbyists and their principals after October 1, 2013 must be electronically filed, as required by law.  

Electronic Filing:

You have two (2) choices to comply with the electronic filing requirement that goes into effect on October 1, 2013.

Option 1:  You may file your lobbyist or principal expense report completely electronically, using an electronic signature and electronic notary to notarize your signature.  This method has the advantage that it requires no paper filing follow-up, as is required in Option 2 described below.

If your notary on staff has not yet registered as an electronic notary, they must do so prior to being able to electronically notarize and submit your lobbying expense reports.  Complete instructions on how to become an electronic notary can be found on the Department’s web site at: http://www.secretary.state.nc.us/enotary/enotaryhowto.aspx.

The Department has worked with the community colleges in Wake, Mecklenburg and Guilford counties to ensure that additional electronic notary classes have been added to their October schedules which will allow sufficient time for the Department to process all eNotary applications.  We have provided contact information to register for eNotary classes below:

Mecklenburg County, Central Piedmont Community College, website link: http://schedule.cpcc.edu/myschedule/show_sections/1741/
Wake County, Wake Technical Community College: http://www.waketech.edu/programs-courses/non-credit/register-online
Guilford County, Guilford Technical Community College:
http://www.gtcc.edu/continuing-education-%28con-ed%29/new-jobs-and-skills-training/certifications-and-licensures/notary.aspx.

Once your notary has taken their electronic notary oath at the local register of deeds office, they will need to obtain an electronic notary signature and seal from one of six approved Electronic Notary Solution Providers.  Please note that the mechanics of how your expense report is electronically transmitted to the Department depends on the electronic notary solution provider selected by the notary, since each provider has their own interface.

You can find information regarding these eNotary solution providers on our web site at: https://www.secretary.state.nc.us/enotary/enotarysp.aspx. For your convenience, the names of the approved providers are also listed here:

1.    Electronic Document Logistics, Inc.
2.    World Wide Notary
3.    Simplifile
4.    Settleware
5.    DocVerify
6.    DocuSign

Please note that authorization of an electronic notary solution by the Department of Secretary of State is not an endorsement by the State. Authorization means that the solution has met our technical and legal standards.

Alternatively, you may wish to use the services of an existing eNotary.  To find an eNotary, please go to the "Find a Notary" page on the Department website and search for a notary using the "Available for E-notarization" filter on your search.  The website link is http://www.secretary.state.nc.us/soskb.web.mvc/NotaryPublic/Search.

Option 2:  You may opt to submit your reports in ADOBE pdf form by uploading them through our filing portal; these original paper filings must then be delivered to the Lobbying Compliance Division within seven (7) days of electronic submission.  

The procedure will be as follows:    
1.      Go to http://www.secretary.state.nc.us/lobbyreg/thepage.aspx
2.       Click on "File Documents Online" inside the left hand navigation box entitled "Online Filing".
3.    Log in using your username and password.  If you do not have a user name and    password, create one by clicking on    "Click here to create a new account" and following the prompts.  Once the account has been created, return to the filing interface by clicking on "File Documents Online" in the left hand box.
4.    Choose which profile type you are filing under (e.g. Lobbyist, Principal, etc.), then click on "File an Expense Report" near bottom of the page.
5.    Complete the information and upload your report according to the instructions on the "Upload a Document" page.
6.    You will then be directed to the "Submit a Filing" page.  Select the document(s) that you want to submit by clicking the circle button next to it.  Please note that you will receive a message that says 00.00 is owed; there is no statutory charge for submitting expense reports.
7.    Click "Submit" to send the filing to the Department.
8.    You must then deliver the original paper filing to the Department within seven (7) days of electronic submission in order for the filing to be valid.
9.    The next page that appears will show a table of all documents you have submitted via the portal.  You will also receive an e-mail confirmation of your filing.

We know that changes in how business processes work can be challenging.  We hope that if you have questions or concerns about this process, you will contact us at (919) 807-2170 or the email address of lobbyist@sosnc.com.