Despite
having one of the strongest campaign finance disclosure laws
in the country, Montana's campaign finance disclosure program
received a failing grade, in large part because it is one of
only three states in the nation that does not provide any campaign
finance data on its web site. The only way for the public to
access campaign finance data is to obtain it from the state
agency either in person or by ordering reports over the phone. The
state has significant weaknesses in Electronic Filing,
Disclosure Content Accessibility and web site usability.
Montana
law requires candidates to file twice in non-election years
and four times before an election. Contributor information,
including occupation and employer, must be disclosed for contributions
of $35 or more. Last-minute contributions of $200 or more
must be disclosed within 24 hours for statewide candidates ($100
and 48 hours for other candidates). Details, including
subvendor information, must be reported for all expenditures. Independent
expenditures, but not last-minute expenditures, must be reported
before the election. Montana has no electronic filing
program for statewide or legislative candidates.
Despite
the lack of campaign finance data, there is some good
contextual information on Montana's web site. There is
a good explanation of campaign finance restrictions and
the text of the law is nicely indexed and linked from
the site. In addition, the site does make it clear that there
is no campaign finance data available on the site. The site
would be better if it provided lists of total amounts raised
and spent by state candidates and a list of candidates for
current or upcoming elections. The use of a subject index on
the state homepage, with a listing specifically for “campaign
finance”, makes it very easy for the public to locate the disclosure
agency's web site. The search feature on the Montana
state web site also works very well. The state did poorly in
usability testing primarily because no data is available on
its web site.
