West
Virginia introduced electronic filing
in 2004, but the change did nothing to
improve the state’s overall grade
because the program is voluntary, although
it did help boost West Virginia’s
overall rank from 37 to 34.
West
Virginia’s disclosure law is
average and requires candidates to file
once in non-election years and twice
before each election. Detailed information
must be provided for all contributors,
but occupation and employer is reported
only for those giving at least $250. Last-minute
contributions are not disclosed until after
the election. All expenditures must
be reported, but subvendor information
is not disclosed. West Virginia requires
independent expenditure reporting, and
those made at the last minute must be disclosed
before the election. The state now
accepts campaign filings electronically
via a web-based filing system, but candidates
are not required to participate in the
program.
West
Virginia made few changes in the area
of Disclosure Content Accessibility in
the past year, and still does not offer
data in a format that can be searched,
sorted or downloaded. The Secretary
of State’s office reported that campaign
finance filings are posted online more
quickly now – within 24 hours, rather
than four days – but all records
are still available only in PDF. Perhaps
the introduction of electronic filing will
mean that some filings are available in
a format that allows more meaningful analysis
of the data. Access to paper copies
of reports is good, except that the cost
($.50 per page) is extremely high compared
to most other states.
The
state’s Online Contextual and
Technical Usability grade and rank dropped
in 2004 because of a substantial corresponding
drop in West Virginia’s usability
testing score. Otherwise, there was
little change in the area of web site usability. Background
information about the state’s disclosure
requirements and contribution limits is
available on the Secretary of State’s
site, and the agency provides a complete
explanation of which records are available
online through an FAQ section. Still
missing is a compilation of summary campaign
finance activity by all state candidates,
and the inclusion of reporting period dates
in the index of a candidate’s filings.
