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The State of Disclosure in New Jersey
New
Jersey’s grade improved from a C
to a B since the 2005 assessment. Gains made
in the Electronic Filing and web site usability
categories moved New Jersey into the top ten
overall in 2007.
New
Jersey’s strong disclosure law requires
candidates to disclose details about contributors,
including occupation and employer data for
those giving $300 or more. Last-minute contributions
and independent expenditures must be reported
before Election Day in New Jersey. Disclosure
of expenditures is also strong, and includes
subvendor details and accrued expenses. New
Jersey earned an A in 2007 for its electronic
filing program, which is now mandatory for
all statewide and legislative candidates who
raise or spend over $100,000. The state provided
over thirty classroom-style trainings on electronic
filing in 2006 and continues to offer additional
resources for filers, both online and through
a dedicated electronic filing help desk.
New
Jersey earned a B- again in the Disclosure
Content Accessibility category in 2007. The
state’s disclosure web site offers a
comprehensive database of contributions that
is searchable by contributor name, zip code,
employer and amount, though not by a specific
date. Search results are sortable and can be
downloaded for offline analysis. Despite the
Election Law Enforcement Commission’s
efforts to allow visitors to browse campaign
reports without having to download a large
software package, the site still requires users
to download and install software on their computer.
While this is a shorter process than in the
past, the download requirement and the lack
of a searchable expenditures database continue
to represent the site’s main shortcomings.
The
Commission’s web site earned a higher
rating from usability testers in 2007, moving
the state into the C range in the usability
category. The site offers a wealth of contextual
information to help the public understand campaign
financing in New Jersey, including an excellent
series of “White Papers” that analyze
political financing trends going back to 1977.
The site also offers overviews and charts of
current campaign financing activity through
the most recent elections, including summaries
from the 2007 legislative primary. Additionally,
the site allows users to create custom candidate
listings by office, district, party affiliation
and election.
→ Quick
Fix: Add a field to
the contributions database that would
allow records to be searched by a specific
date.
♦ Editor’s
Pick: Excellent overviews of campaign
finance statistics. View
image View 2nd
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 Disclosure Agency: Election Law Enforcement Commission
Disclosure Web Site: http://www.elec.state.nj.us
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