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The
State of Disclosure in New Mexico
New Mexico has earned an F in each of the
five Grading State Disclosure assessments conducted
since 2003, and ranked 41st in 2008. Despite
its strong requirements for electronic filing,
New Mexico does not offer timely access to
campaign finance data online, and ranked last
in terms of web site usability in 2008.
New
Mexico earned a D- in 2008 and ranked 43rd
in the Campaign Disclosure Law category.
Candidates are required to itemize contributions
of $250 or more, and must report the occupations,
but not the employers, of their donors. Candidates
must also disclose large, last-minute contributions
before Election Day. Campaign expenditures
must be itemized, but reports do not include
subvendor details. Loan disclosure and enforcement
provisions are weak, and independent expenditure
disclosure is not expressly required under
New Mexico’s disclosure law. New Mexico
requires electronic filing by statewide candidates
who raise $2,500 and legislative candidates
who raise $1,000, earning the state an A in
this category in 2008.
New
Mexico earned an F again in the accessibility
category in 2008 though the state did move
up one place in the accessibility rankings
since 2007 with the addition of an online,
searchable database of campaign contributions.
Visitors can search electronically-filed reports
within the database by donor name, and search
results can be sorted online. The lack of a
searchable database of campaign expenditures
is a major weakness of the site, and it can
take up to two weeks to post reports. In May
2008, the Associated Press reported on New
Mexico’s “cumbersome” disclosure
program, noting the system is “slow,
[and] difficult to use.” While the legislature
has appropriated almost $250,000 over the last
two years for system enhancements, changes
are not expected soon. The Secretary of State’s
office reported to AP that it is planning to “bank
the money and seek additional financing to
eventually buy a new computer system”,
which is estimated by the agency to cost at
least $800,000.
New
Mexico has received an F in the web site
usability category in each of the five Grading
State Disclosure assessments, and ranked 50th
in 2008. Despite a site makeover since the
last assessment, the majority of usability
testers reported that the site was “very
confusing” and all of the testers rated
the Secretary of State’s site poorly.
To make the site more user-friendly, the agency
could provide a clear description of the data
available online, instructions for accessing
data, and clearer terminology to guide site
visitors.
→ Quick
Fix: Simplify the terminology used
on the disclosure site. For example, “ALL
YEARS Campaign Reports filed Electronically
and Contribution Search” could
be changed to “Search Electronically-Filed
Reports.”
♦ Editor’s
Pick: Itemized contributions from
electronically-filed reports can be sorted
online by numerous fields, including
date, occupation, and amount. View
image
 Disclosure Agency: Secretary of State
Disclosure Web Site: http://www.sos.state.nm.us
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