Wisconsin
again earned a C- in 2007, but dropped
eight places in the overall rankings
as other states improved.
Wisconsin
earned a B and ranked 15th in the disclosure
law category in 2007. The law requires
candidates to disclose detailed information
about contributors giving over $20, including
occupation and employer data for those
giving over $100. Candidates must disclose
expenditures over $20, but reports do
not include subvendor details. Both last-minute
contributions and independent expenditures
must be reported prior to Election Day,
but Wisconsin requires fewer pre-election
reports than most other states. Wisconsin’s
electronic filing program earned an A
again in 2007 and is mandatory for both
statewide and legislative candidates
raising $20,000 or more. Candidates currently
file disclosure reports with the State
Elections Board. In the future, disclosure
reports will be filed with the Government
Accountability Board, which was established
in 2007 and is in the process of assuming
the disclosure responsibilities of the
State Elections Board as well as those
of the State Ethics Board.
Wisconsin
received an F again for Disclosure Content
Accessibility in 2007, while slipping
three places in the rankings since 2005.
Electronically-filed campaign data can
be downloaded from the State Elections
Board’s web site, but only summary
data for paper filers is available online.
Filings are made available within 48
hours of receipt. The lack of online,
searchable databases of campaign contributions
and expenditures is the main deficiency
of the site. The state has solicited
proposals for a new campaign finance
information system that may, once developed,
provide greater access to disclosure
information online.
Wisconsin’s
lower usability test performance in 2007
brought the state’s Online Contextual
and Technical Usability grade down from
a D to a D-. Most testers had trouble
finding specific data, and found the
disclosure site very confusing, leading
to lower overall ratings in 2007. The
structure of the site may be a factor
in the low usability test performance,
as it is not immediately clear where
campaign finance data can be located
online. Currently, users who want to
search for campaign data must follow
a link labeled “Electronic Finance
Reports” to access that data. Some
of the valuable contextual information
that can be found on the site includes
state disclosure requirements and analyses
of campaign finance trends.
→ Quick
Fix: Provide a clear and prominent
link to disclosure data on the
main campaign finance page.
♦ Editor’s
Pick: Contribution
limits for state candidates are clearly
described in a chart that is easily
located on the disclosure web site. View image
