Wyoming
has the weakest campaign disclosure program in the country
and is ranked at the bottom of all states in the study. Wyoming's
most significant weaknesses lie in its law and Disclosure
Content Accessibility.
Under
Wyoming law, candidates must file two reports in non-election
years and one report before each election. Contributions
greater than $25 must be reported, but a contributor's
occupation and employer are not required. Last-minute
contributions are not disclosed prior to an election. While
expenditures have to be disclosed, candidates do not have
to report them until after the election and subvendor information
is not required to be reported. In addition, there is
no reporting of independent expenditures. Wyoming has
no electronic filing program for statewide or legislative
candidates.
Wyoming
is one of only three states that does not publish any
campaign finance data on its web site. The only way the
public can obtain this information is by getting paper copies
of reports from the state. The state makes paper records
accessible by allowing people to obtain copies in person or by
fax, mail, e-mail or phone request. At 50 cents per page
for the first ten pages of any request, the records are expensive. For
large reports, the cost decreases to 15 cents per page
for additional pages beyond the first ten.
The
usability of the site is also very weak. There is a
comprehensive list of candidates and an explanation of the law;
however, there are no lists of total amounts raised and spent by
state candidates. It is also somewhat difficult to find
the disclosure agency's site from the state's homepage. Not
surprisingly, Wyoming's site failed the usability test. None
of the usability testers was able to find the state disclosure
site or information about contributions to candidates.
