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The State of Disclosure in Missouri
Electronic
filing became mandatory for legislative candidates
in 2007, boosting Missouri’s
grade from a C to an A+ in the Electronic Filing
category and earning the state its first B
grade in this assessment.
Missouri again earned a top ten ranking in
the law category in 2007. Under Missouri law,
candidates must report detailed information
about contributors giving over $100, including
occupation and employer. Last-minute contributions
are reported before Election Day, and candidates
must now report such contributions within 24
hours of receipt. Disclosure of loan details
is particularly strong and expenditure disclosure
is also good, though details about subvendor
payments are not reported. Legislation passed
in 2006 earned Missouri an A+ and a share of
the top ranking in the Electronic Filing category
in 2007. Legislative candidates were not required
to file electronically before House Bill 1900
became effective on January 1, 2007. Under
the new law, all state-level candidates must
now file electronically regardless of the amount
raised or spent.
Missouri
again earned a top twenty ranking in the
accessibility category, receiving a B in
2007. Electronically-filed data is posted
online immediately and can be searched through
the Ethics Commission’s contributions
and expenditures database. As all legislative
candidates are now required to file electronically,
the databases have become comprehensive in
scope. Users can search by donor/payee name,
zip code, employer or amount, but not by specific
date or expenditure purpose, even though both
fields are included in the search results.
Adding these fields, as well as the ability
to sort search results would enhance the public’s
ability to find specific campaign data. The
state offers excellent access to campaign data
offline as well, and provides data on disk
at no charge.
Missouri’s grade in the web site usability
category dropped back to the F range after
moving up to a D in 2005. Overall, usability
testers rated their experience on the site
as below average and expressed lower levels
of confidence in the site than in 2005. A significant
problem in terms of usability is the use of
pop-up windows to display database search results,
particularly since this feature is no longer
explained on the site. The disclosure site
could be greatly improved by adding a user’s
guide for the searchable database, including
search instructions and a synopsis of the data
available to explain which candidates’ reports
and time periods are covered. The Commission
provides good explanations of Missouri’s
campaign finance requirements, and could add
greater context to the site by offering overviews
of the totals raised and spent by candidates
for each office.
→ Quick
Fix: Provide a detailed description
of the contents of the database as
well as instructions for obtaining
contribution and expenditure data.
♦ Editor’s
Pick: For each candidate,
site visitors can view a listing of reports,
the method by which they were submitted,
and their posting status (i.e. “scanned” or “received
but not scanned”). View image
 Disclosure Agency: Missouri Ethics Commission
Disclosure Web Site: http://www.moethics.mo.gov
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