The State of Disclosure in Florida

A number of small but significant improvements have bumped up Florida’s ranking in the study, and the state can now claim the second best campaign disclosure program in the country. Florida’s biggest strengths lie in the areas of Electronic Filing and Disclosure Content Accessibility, but it also performs well in the disclosure law and web site usability categories.

Florida’s campaign disclosure law requires candidates to report details about contributors giving more than $100, but employer and cumulative amount donated are not included in filings. Expenditure disclosure is stronger, with candidates reporting subvendor information and accrued expenditures. The law’s enforcement provisions, including mandatory desk reviews and field audits, are another strong point. Florida has mandatory electronic filing and this year debuted a new, free web-based filing system, which accounts for the improvement from an A to an A+ in the Electronic Filing category.

The Secretary of State’s web site offers searchable contribution and expenditure databases that are comprehensive in scope (they include paper filers’ data) and feature a wide range of searchable fields. The only field that is missing from the search form is a contributor’s employer, and that, of course, can’t be remedied until the law changes to require employer disclosure. There is a good interface for browsing filed reports by candidate, but some visitors may miss this feature because it is accessed through a “Candidates & Races” link, rather than through the “Campaign Finance Information” link. Florida has maintained excellent access to paper copies of disclosure records as well.

The usability of Florida’s disclosure web site improved in 2005, as measured by a slightly improved score in the usability test. Most testers were confident in their ability to accurately answer questions about the governor’s campaign finance activity using data from the site, and most found the disclosure site easy to use and understand. Particular strengths in Online Contextual and Technical Usability include the availability of overview information comparing fundraising and spending totals among candidates, the comprehensive data history section, and a wealth of information about disclosure requirements and restrictions.

→ Quick Fix: Retain original filings online, even after amendments have been filed and made available online.

♦ Editor’s Pick: The very thorough “About the Campaign Finance Database” page, including topics such as “Quality of Data,” “Whose Records are Included?”, “When are the Records Available?” and “How to Use the Database.” View image

Disclosure Agency: Department of State
Disclosure Web Site: http://www.dos.state.fl.us