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The State of Disclosure in Maryland
Maryland’s
grade did not change in 2007, but the state
slipped seven places in the rankings in 2005
as other states made improvements. Maryland
retained its place in the top ten in both
the Electronic Filing and Disclosure Content
Accessibility categories.
Maryland’s disclosure law has a number
of significant shortcomings, including the
lack of independent expenditure disclosure
requirements. Candidates are required to disclose
the names of contributors giving $51 or more,
but not occupation or employer data. Last-minute
contributions are not reported until after
Election Day. Expenditure disclosure is better,
though candidates are not required to report
subvendor details. Electronic filing is a strong
point in Maryland’s disclosure program,
with all statewide and legislative candidates
required to file electronically. Waivers are
granted only to those committees that have
raised less than $5,000 and report fewer than
thirty transactions.
In
the Disclosure Content Accessibility category,
Maryland improved from an A- to an A by maintaining
excellent public access to campaign finance
records. The State Board of Elections formed
a partnership with the University of Maryland,
Baltimore County, which currently hosts the
state’s disclosure data. The public can
now browse the contents of candidate reports
online, and continues to have access to comprehensive,
searchable databases of campaign contributions
and expenditures. The databases contain records
from both electronically-filed reports and
paper-filed reports that are data-entered by
the State Board of Elections. A nice feature
of the database is that itemized search results
are preceded by useful summary information,
such as the largest individual transaction
among the search results. Data can also be
downloaded for offline research.
Following
changes made to the disclosure web site,
usability testers rated Maryland’s
site more positively than in 2005. While the
site is easier to navigate, the state’s
Online Contextual and Technical Usability grade
still suffers as several key pieces of contextual
information are not available online. The site
does not provide an overview of fundraising
and spending amounts for all statewide and
legislative candidates, and the “Campaign
Fund Report Statistics” highlighted in
the 2005 study are no longer found online.
Additionally, amended filings are not labeled
as such, and once a report is amended, the
earlier version is no longer accessible online.
→ Quick
Fix: Add an overview
page or document that allows site visitors
to quickly compare spending and fundraising
among candidates running for the same office.
♦ Editor’s
Pick: “Search the
Campaign Finance Database” main
page offers useful information, such
as when the database is updated and what
search features are available. View
image
 Disclosure Agency: State Board of Elections
Disclosure Web Site: http://www.elections.state.md.us
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