CITY OF BERKEKELY CITY CLERK DEPARTMENT INSTRUCTIONS FOR FILING CAMPAIGN STATEMENTS ELECTRONICALLY Signature verification, processing statements, and filing STEP ONE: Complete a Signature Verification Card All signers must complete the following steps to complete the Signature Verification Card. NOTE: Do not use your browser s back button at any time during the process. 1. Go to the City of Berkeley s Website, Election Information Page - http://www.ci.berkeley.ca.us/elections/. 2. Click on Campaign Contribution & Expenditure Reports.
3. Click on Filer Access Portal. 4. Enter your e-mail address and password. 5. Click Log In.
6. Click Signature Verification in the shaded bar at the bottom of the screen to expand the Signature Verification Section. 7. Click the Signature Verification link.
8. Click Request Document Signer Status. 9. Enter your complete name, if it is not already showing, as it would be signed on an official document. 10. Click Create New Signer.
11. The system will produce a Signer ID and PIN number. Print this Page or Write down the Signer ID and PIN number and keep them in a safe place! 12. Click on the Print your Signature Card! link.
13. Click the Berkeley Signature Verification Cards link. a. Your browser may ask you to verify if you want to open a PDF. Click Open. 14. Carefully verify the information on the card. Print out the card. DO NOT SIGN! DO NOT SIGN
15. Do one of the following: a. Bring the Signature Verification Card and government issued photo identification to the City Clerk Department, during normal business hours, and sign the statement in the presence of a City Clerk staff person or b. Bring the Signature Verification Card to a notary public and sign the statement in his or her presence. Documents verified by a notary public must have an official and current stamp. Once notarized, you must file the original signed Signature Verification Card with the City Clerk Department. The City Clerk Department will not accept copies of the form. Once your Signature Verification Card has been approved by the City Clerk staff, you will be able to sign and verify electronic campaign statements. NOTE: information changes (such as a new email address) will trigger the requirement to complete a new Signature Verification Card.
INSTRUCTIONS STEP TWO: How to Enter Committee Officer Information To sign electronic statements using the free electronic filing system committee officers must complete the following steps: 1. Log on to NetFile: https://netfile.com/filer. 2. Enter your e-mail address and password provided during the Create a NetFile User Account process, and click Log In.
3. If you have access to more than one committee, click on Your Accounts, and select the appropriate committee name. 4. If this is a new account, proceed with steps 4a-g, If this is not a new account proceed to step 5. a) Go to the Committee Information tab in the Committee Set-Up Wizard. Complete all relevant information. Click "Save and Proceed to Step 2. b) You are now on the Candidate/Office Holder tab. Complete all relevant information. Click "Save and Proceed to Step 3. c) You are now on the Ballet Measure Information Page. Complete all relevant information. Click Save and Proceed to Step 4. d) You are now on the Related Committees page. Complete any relevant information. Click Save and Proceed to Step 5. e) You are now on the Primarily Formed Information page. Complete any relevant information. Click Save and Proceed to Step 6. f) You are now on the Officer Information page. Complete all relevant information. Click Save Officer and enter additional officers if needed. Click Proceed to Complete Committee Set up when done. g) Click Save Committee Information when done.
5. Click the Statements menu and choose Officer Information. 6. Click your name in the All Officers table. If you are not listed as an officer, click to Add a New Officer and enter information requested. Enter all information carefully and completely as this is what will appear on the committee filings.
7. Under Signer Information, enter your Signer ID number in the box. Click to Save Changes. 8. Add any additional required signers to the All Officers table, such as a controlling candidate, principal officer, or assistant treasurer and enter each individual s Signer ID and click Save Changes.
INSTRUCTIONS STEP THREE: Prepare an Electronic Statement and Forward for Electronic Signatures The committee officer with control of the committee account should complete the following steps to create a statement and obtain the electronic signatures of all signers on the statement. 1. Log on to NetFile: https://netfile.com/filer. 2. Enter your e-mail address and password provided during the Create a NetFile User Account process, and click Log In.
3. If you have access to more than one committee, click on Your Accounts, and select the appropriate committee name. 4. Enter all contribution and expenditure transactions. Under Statements, click on the type of draft statement you will create.
5. Enter all relevant information. 6. Click the name of each signer in one of the four signer boxes (starting with Signer 1) and select his or her title. NOTE: Only enter the signers required for the filing. The filing will be held until all signers identified here sign. Including non-required signers may delay the filing. Generally, on a candidate controlled committee there are two signers, 1) Treasurer or Assistant Treasurer, and 2) the Controlling Candidate. For a Ballot Measure or General Purpose Committee, there is generally one signer, the Treasurer or Assistant Treasurer. 7. Create the draft statement by clicking the Create Draft button below the Signers box.
8. Click on Draft Documents. 9. Select the PDF of your filing and review it carefully for accuracy. 10. Close the PDF. 11. Click E-file to submit the statement.
12. Enter a valid e-mail address to receive an e-mail confirmation of submission and click Submit E-Filing to Agency. Your filing will be moved into a pending queue, awaiting the confirmation of all signers. If the committee officer who submitted the statement is also a signer, that committee officer must also sign the statement. Click on Submit E-Filing to Agency. 13. An e-mail will be sent to all signers notifying them that a statement is awaiting their review and signature.
STEP FOUR: Verify and Sign E-Statements INSTRUCTIONS 1. Log on to NetFile: https://netfile.com/filer. 2. Enter your e-mail address and password provided during the Create a NetFile User Account process, and click Log In. 3. Click your name in the upper-right corner of the page to access the NetFile User Home. 4. Click Signature Verification to expand the section and then click the Signature Verification link. 5. Click View Pending Filings. 6. Click View Filing to review the statement. 7. Click Accept or Reject to approve or disapprove of the statement. If one signer rejects, or the filing is in Pending status for 30 days, the entire filing will be rejected and the treasurer will need to re-file (the statement is not deleted, just moved back to the list of drafts on the home screen). 8. Enter your signer PIN number and click Accept/Reject Filings. The statement will automatically submit to the City Clerk Department once ALL of the signers have signed the statement. Statements will not be considered accepted until ALL of the signers indicated on the draft statement have completed the signature process by reviewing the statement and entering their respective PIN numbers. If a statement is in the pending filings queue before a filing deadline, but is not verified by all signers until after the filing deadline, the statement will be considered late.
INSTRUCTIONS How to Sign Statements Using Electronic Filing Software from Third-Party Vendors Committees subject to electronic filing requirements must file electronic forms in the California Secretary of State s.cal format version 2.01. No other electronic format will be accepted. Committees can satisfy this requirement by filing in the Berkeley City Clerk Department free electronic filing system, as detailed above. Alternatively, committees may choose to enter their filing information into software produced by thirdparty vendors certified by the Secretary of State. A list of third-party vendors is available at: http://www.sos.ca.gov/prd/approved_vendors.htm All signers of electronic statements, regardless of whether the committee is using the free electronic filing system or a third-party vendor system, must have a NetFile User Account and complete the Signature Verification Card. All committees must also have an electronic filing account with the City Clerk Department to file electronic statements. Committees using approved third-party software must input the Signer ID number for each signer into the.cal document in the third field of the CVR3 record. Third-party vendors may require that filers complete this process manually or may support inputting the Signer ID number automatically in the.cal document from within the software product. Third-party vendors may require filers to use the City Clerk Department s free electronic filing system to approve and sign statements or may provide a method to sign statements from within the software product. Any third-party vendor can support signing electronic statements and submitting statements directly into the City Clerk Department s electronic filing system by complying with the open source Vendor Submission API at https://bitbucket.org/netfileopensource. Contact your vendor for more information about how your software complies with the electronic signature requirements.