Nevada’s overall grade dropped from
a D- to an F in 2004, accompanied by a
drop in rank from 27 to 41, mostly due
to the removal of a searchable database
pilot project from the Secretary of State’s
web site. The state’s poor showing
in general is caused by campaign finance
disclosure laws that rank in the bottom
five in the country.
In
Nevada, candidates who raise more than
$10,000 must file an annual statement in
non-election years, and all candidates
must file one report before an election. Candidates
must report detailed information about
contributors who give more than $100, not
including occupation and employer. Details
about expenditures greater than $100 must
be reported, but subvendor information
does not have to be disclosed. Independent
expenditures must be reported, but neither
last-minute independent expenditures nor
last-minute contributions are disclosed
prior to the election. The Secretary
of State’s office is in the process
of revising its voluntary electronic filing
program, and is making changes based on
feedback received from users of the pilot
program.
Nevada
lost ground in Disclosure Content Accessibility
when the disclosure agency removed from
its web site a searchable database of
electronically filed reports that was
part of a pilot project started in 2002. Even though that system
contained a relatively few number of reports
in 2003, its presence was a sign of progress
and the state did get credit for the search
interface. Now records are available
only as scanned PDF documents, and those
cannot be sorted or downloaded. Also
inhibiting access is the fact that reports
are organized by date, rather than candidate,
so it is not possible to browse a complete
index of one candidate’s filings. Access
to paper copies of filings is good, although
at $1.00 per page, the cost is prohibitive
and also is the highest fee charged in
the nation (two other states charge the
same amount.)
Nevada
did best in the area of web site usability,
though its grade in this category dropped
from a C to a D. Again, removal
of the electronic filings database likely
contributed to the state’s poor performance
in usability, because the database had
included good data history information
that is no longer available. Strengths
in Online Contextual and Technical Usability
include thorough information about disclosure
requirements and campaign contribution
limits, a comprehensive candidate list,
and clear labeling of amended filings. Basic
summary data of total amounts raised and
spent by all state candidates is not available
online.
