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The State of Disclosure in Minnesota
Minnesota’s
grade improved to a C+ in 2007, due to an
impressive jump from a D to an A- in the
usability category since the 2005 study.
Minnesota’s disclosure law again earned
a B+ and a top ten ranking in 2007. Candidates
are required to report detailed information,
including occupation and employer, for contributors
giving $100 or more. Expenditure disclosure
is excellent and includes subvendor details
as well as accrued expenses, with every expense
of $100 or more being reported. The law’s
biggest shortcoming relates to its filing schedule
(reports are filed less often than in many
other states), though candidates must disclose
large, last-minute contributions before Election
Day. Electronic filing remains voluntary in
Minnesota, and the state ranked 36th overall
in this area in 2007. Minnesota offers free
software for electronic filing, an option that
was used by over 60 percent of legislative
candidates and more than 40 percent of statewide
candidates in 2006.
Minnesota’s grade in the Disclosure
Content Accessibility category improved to
a D+, up from an F in the 2005 study. The Campaign
Finance and Public Disclosure Board now posts
complete copies of scanned and electronically-filed
disclosure reports to its web site in PDF format,
providing online access to expenditure data
for the first time. As in the past, all contribution
data is entered into a searchable database,
which now allows users to search by zip code
and to sort results online. The database offers
the ability to limit searches to a specific
employer through a pull-down menu, but this
can be confusing as employers can be listed
multiple times depending on how information
is recorded in the system (for example, “Air
Care Go Inc” and “Air Care-Go,
Inc.”).
The strongest gains were made in the web site
usability category, earning Minnesota an A-
and a huge jump in the rankings from 25th to
2nd in this area. Minnesota was one of four
states to earn the highest usability test rating
in 2007, as testers found the Campaign Finance
and Public Disclosure Board web site easy to
understand and rated their overall experience
on the site much higher than in 2005. Not only
has usability improved, but the contextual
information online has also been expanded because
full disclosure reports have been added to
the site. The public can now more easily identify
the time period covered by each report, as
well as review both original and amended filings.
These additions improved upon the contextual
information already online, which includes
disclosure requirements and restrictions, a
glossary of campaign finance terms and summaries
of campaign spending going back to 1998.
→ Quick
Fix: Provide information explaining
what data is available online, including
which candidates and time periods are
covered in the site.
♦ Editor’s
Pick: The “Campaign
Finance - Glossary of Terms” defines
the key terms used within the state’s
disclosure law and throughout the disclosure
site. View
image
 Disclosure Agency: Campaign Finance and Public Disclosure Board
Disclosure Web Site: http://www.cfboard.state.mn.us
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