New
Jersey's rank of eight shows that it has one of the best campaign
finance disclosure programs in the country. However,
its C grade shows that it has room to improve, particularly
in Electronic Filing and web site usability.
New
Jersey has a relatively strong disclosure law, however,
the state's threshold for itemized contributions is the
highest in the nation and results in a lack of information
about many smaller contributions. Details about
contributions of $400 or more — including occupation
and employer — must
be disclosed by candidates. Candidates have to file
last-minute contribution reports listing contributions
of $800 or more before the election. Candidates must
file four statements in non-election years and two statements
before each election. Details,
including subvendor information, must be reported for all
expenditures. Independent
expenditures of $800 or more must be disclosed and last-minute
independent expenditures (in the last 13 days before the
election) must be reported within 48 hours of the expenditure. New
Jersey's electronic filing program is adequately funded
and technical assistance, free software and a standard
filing format are available to candidates. The fact that
electronic filing is voluntary for statewide and legislative
candidates brings down the state's grade in this category.
New
Jersey does an average job of making campaign finance
information accessible to the public. The Election Law
Enforcement Commission scans all campaign finance records
onto the web site and reports dating back to 1999 are
available. In addition, members of the public can easily
order paper campaign finance records in person, by mail
or fax, but at 50 cents per page, the cost of records
is prohibitive. New Jersey does offer a searchable database
of contributions; however, it is not possible to search
by a contributor's employer or to limit a search to just
one candidate. There is no searchable database of expenditures.
Despite
featuring some excellent contextual information to help
the public understand campaign financing in New Jersey, the
overall usability of the disclosure web site could be better. One
of the best features on the site is the summary information
that provides an overview of campaign financing trends in New
Jersey, including reports called “Trends in Legislative
Financing” that cover the years 1977-1987 and 1987-1997. The site could
be improved with the clear labeling of campaign finance reporting
periods in report indexes and in the body of reports. In
addition, scanned-in reports are hard for some members of the public
to view because the site requires special software, which the agency
acknowledges does not function on all computers. New Jersey's
usability testing scores are average and show room for improvement,
reflecting some of the shortcomings of the site. Usability
testers were able to find the state's web site, but had difficulty
installing the special software needed to view campaign finance
reports.
