People who didn’t file campaign finance reports or other paperwork with the South Carolina State Ethics Commission owe the state nearly $780,000 — twice as much as they did in July before a cap on fines and late fees was lifted.

Through Nov. 1, 150 people owed the Ethics Commission $777,185. In July, the commission reported 123 debtors owed more than $380,000.

The bulk of the increase is tied to the law change, Cathy L. Hazelwood, the agency’s general counsel, said.

It’s a lot of money owed to an agency struggling to find $318,000 to implement a electronic filing system — a boon for voters, candidates and journalists wanting to know where money flows in South Carolina politics.

But don’t expect soaring fines — six of them surpassing $30,000 — to put the gear in the agency’s hands, Hazelwood said. The agency will likely collect just a fraction of the fines, she said.

Some candidates have filed reports showing they have $10 or $12, Hazelwood said.

The biggest fines — mostly against people who had failed bids for office — likely will trickle in over years of tapping income tax returns or through dipping into wages, she said.

“I don’t know that we’ve ever gotten more than a thousand dollars out of a tax return,” Hazelwood said. Garnisheeing wages isn’t easy, either, she said.

The agency does get court judgments against scofflaws, but that seldom generates cash, she said.

In the end, that puts the agency no closer to implementing the electronic filing system the Legislature has ordered it to use beginning in 2006. The Legislature hasn’t given the Ethics Commission money for that system. South Carolina is one of only four states in the nation that doesn’t have some form of electronic filing, Hazelwood said.

“There are a lot of folks would like to see it,” Hazelwood said.

Electronic filing will provide faster disclosure and auditing of reports, she said. The agency now is awash in paper several times a year.

“There’s no way we can audit forms quickly enough,” she said.

The state might have the money to pay for the electronic filing system without fines. Because the state’s budget is running in the black, Legislators expect to have $99 million available to spend from a rainy-day account that can be used on one-time projects and purchases.

Gov. Mark Sanford gets the first shot at telling the Legislature how that and other money will be spent in the executive budget he’s expected to finish before the Legislature returns in January.

“This is something he would clearly have a bias toward funding given his support for open government and his work in pushing for the first substantive campaign finance reform we’ve seen in years,” Sanford spokesman Will Folks said.