CROWN POINT | The public may begin later this year using the Internet to follow the money that political candidates raise and spend to get elected.

Lake County elections board members heard Hammond Mayor Thomas McDermott Jr., the county Democratic chairman, encourage them Tuesday to shift away from printed campaign finance disclosure reports. The reports must be hand-delivered to the offices of the elections board staff at the county government center here and only can be viewed at the office.

"If we give candidates an online platform, we can jump into the 21st century," McDermott said.

Campaign finance reports already are available online for candidates filing for state offices.

Bruce Lambka, an attorney for the election board, said it will cost the county $20,000 to set up online filing through Indianapolis-based Quest Information Systems, which now operates the county's voter registration database. Quest would provide the software for candidates to file digitally and train the elections staff how to handle digital reports and make the reports publicly available.

Michelle Fajman, the county elections director, said there isn't enough time to install the new program and train staff members before the May 4 primary, but she said it could be ready in time for the Oct. 15 deadline for finance reports due prior to the general election in the fall.

The election board may use a private collection agency to pursue more than 20 candidates who owe the elections board $16,000 in fines assessed for their failure to file timely disclosure reports. Fajman said the county may give deadbeat candidates the chance to resolve their debts by paying 25 percent of the amount due before proceeding against them.

Newly elected County Clerk Michael Brown took a seat on the elections board at Tuesday's meeting for the first time but didn't sit as chairman of the meeting, as clerks have in the past. He deferred to Democratic elections board member Kevin Smith.

The board voted to hold the lottery they conduct to determine the order candidates appear on the ballot Feb. 25.

Candidates were listed on Lake County ballots in alphabetical order until 1991 when the General Assembly changed the law to permit the county to give every candidate a chance at a desirable ballot position. Political observers believe top billing is worth hundreds of votes because lazy voters cast their ballots for the first names they see.