Maine has made a number of significant
improvements to its disclosure program
in the past year, and along with earning
higher grades in nearly every category,
has raised its overall grade from a D+
to a C, and its rank from 23rd to 17th.
The
state’s disclosure law is average
and requires candidates to report the name,
address and occupation of contributors
who give over $50, but not the employer.
Reports of last-minute contributions now
have to be filed within 24 hours, rather
than 48 hours. Expenditure disclosure
is good and includes subvendor details,
but not accrued expenses, and the law is
particularly strong in the area of independent
expenditure reporting. The Commission
on Governmental Ethics and Election Practices
proposed a bill in 2005 to require electronic
filing for candidates raising more than
$1,500, and it passed and was signed into
law. Candidates without access to
the necessary technology will be able to
request a waiver once the requirement goes
into effect at the beginning of 2006.
Maine
also made gains in the Disclosure Content
Accessibility category, raising its grade
from a B- to an A- and now ranking within
the top ten in the nation for access
to campaign finance data. Its disclosure
web site features comprehensive, searchable
databases and a simple interface for browsing
candidate filings. A number of improvements
contributed to the higher grade, including
substantially lower prices for paper copies
of campaign reports, the availability of
disclosure records in other digital formats,
such as on CD, and a faster turnaround
time between when reports are received
and when they are posted online.
Maine
has the most room to improve in the area
of web site usability, but adding a new
page describing contribution limits and
including information about what constitutes
a contribution bumped Maine from an F to
a D- in this category. The agency reports
that it hopes to offer “at-a-glance” summary
campaign finance information by the 2006
election cycle, which is the most
important contextual resource currently
lacking on the Commission’s web site.
→ Quick
Fix: Give web
site visitors the ability to sort search
results.
♦ Editor’s
Pick: A “Who
to call for help” chart organized
by topic (view image), and the “Guide
to Political Activity,” (view image) designed
specifically “for
organizations and individuals other
than candidates.”
