The State of Disclosure in Minnesota

Minnesota’s overall grade improved again in 2005—albeit slightly—from a D to a D+, due to improvements in the Disclosure Content Accessibility category. Minnesota’s campaign disclosure law is still the state’s biggest strength and ranks 6th in the country.

Candidates are required by law to report detailed information, including occupation and employer, for contributors giving at least $100. Expenditure disclosure is excellent and includes subvendor details as well as accrued expenses, with every expense over $99 being reported. The law’s biggest shortcoming relates to its filing schedule (reports are filed less often than in many other states), though last-minute contributions must be disclosed before Election Day. A bill recommended by the Campaign Finance and Public Disclosure Board and introduced in the state legislature in 2005 would have required electronic filing of campaign reports by all committees raising over $15,000, but did not pass. Minnesota does have a voluntary e-filing program in place, which is used by approximately 35 percent of candidates.

The Board improved access to campaign finance records in 2005, but because its grade in this category was so low in 2004, even the improvements could not bring it above an F in this area (though they did raise Minnesota’s overall grade in the study to a D+). The disclosure web site now features a better mechanism for searching contributor records, and the technology that drives the system appears to have improved, with data loading faster than in years past. Unfortunately, there is still significant lag time between when reports are filed and when data is posted to the Internet, and itemized expenditures are still not available online.

The main section of the disclosure agency’s web site received a makeover in 2005, but the effect on usability was not necessarily positive.  Minnesota received a lower score in the usability test, which caused its Online Contextual and Technical Usability grade to drop from a C to a D. Testers were less able to answer specific questions about candidates’ fundraising in 2005, and were less confident in the accuracy of the information they did locate. Strengths in web site usability include thorough reference information about disclosure requirements and restrictions, and excellent campaign finance overviews, both current and historical.

→ Quick Fix: Lower the cost of paper copies of campaign reports.  This is particularly important since expenditure data is not available online, and for those who can’t get to St. Paul to make copies themselves, 50 cents per page is prohibitively high.

♦ Editor’s Pick: Campaign Finance Summaries going back to 1998. View image

Disclosure Agency: Campaign Finance and Public Disclosure Board
Disclosure Web Site: http://www.cfboard.state.mn.us