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The State of Disclosure in Ohio
Ohio earned a B again in 2008 though the state
slipped out of the top ten as other states
improved. Ohio dipped slightly in the web site
usability category but improved from an A-
to an A+ in the accessibility category.
Ohio’s
disclosure law ranks 27th and earned a C+
in 2008. Candidates are required to report
detailed information about contributors giving
more than $100, including occupation and
employer data, and last-minute contributions
must be reported before Election Day. Campaign
expenditures over $25 are itemized and details
include accrued expenditures, but not subvendor
data. Independent expenditures are reported,
but last-minute independent expenditures
are not disclosed until after Election Day.
Ohio requires legislative and statewide candidates
who raise $10,000 to file disclosure reports
electronically, earning the state an A+ and
top ranking in the Electronic Filing Program
category in 2008.
Ohio
earned an A+ and ranked 2nd in the Disclosure
Content Accessibility category in 2008, up
from an A- and 12th place in 2007. The improvements
came as the Secretary of State’s office
updated Project researchers on the process
for accessing paper copies of disclosure reports
and added information to the site about the
capabilities of the online, searchable databases
of contributions and expenditures. As noted
in past assessments, Ohio’s online, searchable
databases are among the most comprehensive
in the nation, and contain both electronic
reports and paper-filed reports that have been
data-entered by agency staff. Site visitors
can utilize multiple search fields and can
both sort and download itemized data. A “Helpful
Hints” page now instructs visitors that
the database allows for “wildcard” searches
if the full name of a candidate or committee
is not known. Disclosure reports for all candidates
are available online, and the public can also
purchase paper copies of reports for just $.03
per page (the lowest rate in the country).
Such requests are filled within two days by
the Secretary of State’s office.
Ohio’s grade in the Online Contextual
and Technical Usability category dropped from
a B- to a C+ due to a slight decline in usability
test performance in 2008, though the test occurred
prior to an attractive redesign of the disclosure
site in 2008. The site provides excellent information
about what data can be found online, and also
gives site visitors the ability to easily compare
finances across all campaigns from 1996 to
the present. One area that could be further
improved is the index of a candidate’s
reports; amended reports are not clearly labeled
and the starting and ending dates for each
reporting period are not displayed.
→ Quick
Fix: Add the starting and ending
date for each reporting period in the
index of a candidate’s reports.
♦ Editor’s
Pick: Ohio’s searchable
databases of contributions and expenditures
offer a wide range of search and output
options. From the search interface,
users can sort, download, and even select
a font size for their search results. (View
image)
 Disclosure Agency: Secretary of State
Disclosure Web Site: http://www.sos.state.oh.us
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