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The State of Disclosure in Vermont
Vermont has earned an F in each of the five
Grading State Disclosure assessments conducted
since 2003, and ranked 43rd in 2008. Despite
dropping from 31st to 40th in the usability
category rankings since last year, Vermont
improved from a D- to a D in this area in 2008.
Vermont
earned a C- again in the disclosure law category
and ranked 40th in 2008. Candidates
are required to report the name and address
of contributors giving over $100, but occupation
and employer data are not disclosed. Each
expenditure made by a candidate must be reported
by payee, date, and amount, though subvendor
data is not reported. Vermont requires candidates
to report large, last-minute contributions
within 24 hours and individuals or groups making
independent mass media expenditures over $500
must also disclose such expenditures before
Election Day. Penalties for campaign finance
violations are strong, though the law does
not require mandatory reviews or audits of
disclosure reports. While Vermont does not
currently operate an electronic filing program,
the Secretary of State’s office has started
planning for a program to begin by 2010.
Vermont
ranked 42nd and received an F again in the
Disclosure Content Accessibility category
in 2008. The Secretary of State’s office
scans and posts all state-level disclosure
reports online within four days of receiving
them. All reports can be browsed as TIFF files,
but the data within these reports cannot be
searched, sorted, or downloaded, and the TIFF
format can make the files difficult to view
on a computer screen. Data from statewide candidates’ disclosure
reports is slightly more accessible as these
records are also presented as searchable text
files that can be downloaded for offline analysis.
The Secretary of State’s office provides
excellent access to paper copies of disclosure
reports and charges just $.06 per page for
copies.
Vermont
improved from a D- in 2007 to a D in the
usability category with a stronger performance
on the 2008 usability test. While the usability
testers were able to complete their tasks more
quickly this year, most testers still reported
confusion and rated their experiences on the
site unfavorably. The Secretary of State’s
site does offer a fair amount of contextual
information to the public, such as detailed
listings of candidates, clearly labeled amended
reports, explanations of the state’s
campaign finance regulations, and the ability
to view historical data going back to 1916.
Unfortunately, in 2005, the legislature removed
a requirement that the Secretary of State’s
office produce a summary of the totals raised
and spent by candidates in each election and
so the overviews featured on the site end with
the 2004 elections.
→ Quick
Fix: Allow users to select
more than one candidate at a time
through the site’s “Historical
Campaign Finance Database”.
This step would allow users
to more easily compare campaign
finance activity between candidates.
♦ Editor’s
Pick: The “Historical
Campaign Finance Database” contains
information on candidates for statewide
and legislative office going back
to 1916. View
image
 Disclosure Agency: Secretary of State
Disclosure Web Site: http://www.sec.state.vt.us
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