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The State of Disclosure in Georgia
Georgia earned a B again in 2008, though the
state dropped nine places in the rankings as
other states improved. While Georgia returned
to the A range in the accessibility category,
weaker performance in the area of web site
usability dropped the state from a C- in 2007
to D- in 2008.
Georgia’s disclosure law earned a B+
again and ranked 8th in 2008. Candidates must
disclose details about donors giving over $100,
including occupation and employer data. Another
strength of the law is that both last-minute
contributions and independent expenditures
must be reported before Election Day. Campaign
expenditures over $100 are also reported, but
subvendor data is not. Georgia’s electronic
filing program, which earned an A+ and number
one ranking in 2008, is mandatory for statewide
candidates who raise $20,000 and legislative
candidates who raise $10,000. The State Ethics
Commission’s web site features excellent
resources for filers, including a thorough
series of electronic filing demonstration videos.
Georgia
earned an A- and ranked 12th in the Disclosure
Content Accessibility category in 2008, up
from 14th and a B+ in 2007. The State Ethics
Commission’s online, searchable
databases of campaign contributions and expenditures
are among the best in the country, and contain
both electronic filings and paper-filed reports
that have been data-entered by the agency.
The contributions database was improved since
the last assessment and now allows site visitors
to search donors by zip code as well as by
name or employer. Search results cannot be
sorted online, but can be easily downloaded
into a spreadsheet for offline analysis. Electronically-filed
reports are available online immediately upon
filing and paper reports are published online
within 24 hours of receipt.
Georgia’s grade in the usability category
has fluctuated between Fs and Cs over the course
of the five assessments, with a lower usability
test performance dropping the state to a D-
in 2008. Georgia slipped from its perfect usability
test rating in 2007 as testers reported less
confidence and more confusion with the site
this year. The lack of contextual information
contributes to the site’s usability problems.
For example, the public cannot view lists of
candidates for current or past elections or
easily compare the funds raised and spent between
competing candidates, and the starting and
ending date for the time period covered within
a report is not provided. A positive development
that occurred following the close of the 2008
assessment period was the debut of a campaign
contribution map on the State Ethics Commission’s
web site. The new feature allows site visitors
to easily view the total amount of contributions
from each county or zip code in Georgia by
party affiliation, office sought, or election
year.
→ Quick
Fix: Provide the starting and ending
date for each reporting period within
the index of candidate reports.
♦ Editor’s
Pick: The database search results
page features a prominent link for downloading
results to a spreadsheet, as well as
links from each transaction to the report
from which the transaction originated. View
image
 Disclosure Agency: State
Ethics Commission
Disclosure Web Site: http://www.ethics.georgia.gov
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