Very little about campaign disclosure
in Utah has changed in the last year, and
the state received the exact same grade
and rank overall and in every category
except Electronic Filing, in which its
rank slipped three places to 25.
Utah
law requires candidates to report detailed
information about contributors giving
$50 or more, but information does not
include occupation, employer, or cumulative
amount donated. Last-minute contributions
and independent expenditures are not reported
until after Election Day. Expenditure
disclosure is relatively strong, but candidates
do not have to report subvendor information.
Committees have the option of filing electronically,
but are not required to do so; according
to the disclosure agency, 75 percent of
statewide candidates and 40 percent of
legislative candidates participate in the
voluntary program.
Utah
could greatly improve access to campaign
data by making a few simple enhancements
to the state’s disclosure web site.
The site has not changed much since 2003
and Utah received a D- in the Disclosure
Content Accessibility category for the
second year in a row. The State Elections
Office posts all disclosure records online
either immediately (for e-filings), or
within one week (for paper filings),
and its searchable database of contributions
is comprehensive. Unfortunately, a number
of significant shortcomings persist: search
options are limited; it is not possible
to review a candidate’s complete
report online; and there is no way to
search itemized expenditure records.
Given that all of this data is already
in digital format and online, enhancing
the functionality of the system should
not be too difficult.
Online
Contextual and Technical Usability is
Utah’s strong point, though it
still received only a D in this category
and has room to improve, particularly in
terms of the contextual information offered
online. There is no information about
campaign finance rules and restrictions
on the State Elections Office site, and
the description of whose records and what
data are available could be enhanced. Utah
scored very well in the usability test,
with all testers locating the governor’s
campaign finance reports and expressing
confidence in the accuracy of the records
they found. Three-quarters of the
testers gave the site an overall rating
of “excellent.”
→ Quick
Fix: Add the ability
to search itemized contribution records
by date, amount or contributor zip
code.
♦ Editor’s
Pick: Verify
Submitted Reports feature, listing
which reports
are due and the exact date and time
each report was filed for each candidate. View image
