|
The State of Disclosure in Maryland There
was no change to Maryland’s
score and grade in 2004, but its overall
rank dropped from 12 to 16 as other states
made improvements. Maryland’s
campaign disclosure law and the usability
of its disclosure web site are still the
state’s main weaknesses. Maryland
law requires candidates to file annual
reports in non-election years and one
report before an election. Candidates
must disclose detailed information for
all contributions greater than $51, but
a contributor’s occupation and employer
do not have to be reported and last-minute
contributions do not have to be disclosed
before an election. Details about
all expenditures, except subvendor information,
must be reported. Maryland is one
of eleven states that does not require
the disclosure of independent expenditures,
which is a significant weakness in the
law. Electronic filling is mandatory
for statewide and legislative candidates
who reach a threshold of $5,000. Access
to campaign finance data in Maryland
is excellent, and the state ranks sixth
in the nation in this category. All
campaign finance reports are available
and searchable through the databases of
contributions and expenditures on the State
Board of Elections web site. There
is a summary at the top of the search results
page showing not only the total number
of records retrieved, but also the total
amount of the contributions or expenditures,
and the smallest and largest amounts. Records
can be sorted online or downloaded, and
there is an interface for browsing complete
reports. Access to paper copies of
reports is also good, although at $.25
per page the cost is somewhat prohibitive. Maryland
has significant room to improve in the
area of Online Contextual and Technical
Usability. While there is some interesting
statistical information on the disclosure
web site, there is still no simple list
comparing candidates’ total fundraising
and spending figures. Original filings
are not retained online after amendments
have been posted, and browsable reports
do not include the complete reporting periods. Strengths
in this area include a comprehensive candidate
list, good information about disclosure
requirements and campaign finance restrictions,
and a section called “Understanding
the Campaign Finance Database” that
gives site visitors a better sense of the
scope of the records available online.
 Disclosure Agency: State Board of Elections
Disclosure Web Site: http://www.elections.state.md.us
|
