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The State of Disclosure in New Jersey
New
Jersey received a C in the study for the
third year in a row, and though its overall
grade did not change, there were in fact many
changes in the state’s campaign disclosure
program and more improvements are underway.
Its disclosure law is still New Jersey’s
biggest strength, and access to disclosure
data improved again in 2005.
New
Jersey law requires candidates to disclose
details about contributors, including occupation
and employer, for those giving $300 or more. Contributions
received and independent expenditures made
at the last minute must be reported before
Election Day. Disclosure of expenditure information
includes subvendor details and accrued expenses,
but not the date of an expenditure. New Jersey’s
electronic filing program is voluntary for
candidates running in the 2005
elections; however, new Election Law Enforcement
Commission (ELEC) rules will require electronic
filing by statewide and legislative candidates
spending over $100,000 and will be phased in
starting in 2006. The agency also reports
it began a formal Treasurer Training Program
in 2005, and hopes to offer web-based filing
in the future.
The
state’s disclosure web site, which
already featured a comprehensive, searchable
database of contributions, now also offers
a “Quick Data Download” option
that allows site users to download large amounts
of contribution data going back to 1981 (plus
gubernatorial candidate expenditure data for
2005 only.) An ELEC report published
in late 2004 detailed the agency’s plans
for further enhancing the state’s disclosure
site, including enabling visitors to browse
reports without having to download and install
specialized software. That software requirement,
and the lack of a searchable expenditures database,
are still the state’s main weaknesses
in the Disclosure Content Accessibility category.
The ELEC web site was redesigned and now includes
lists of candidates, a glossary of disclosure
terms, and a comprehensive web site help section.
However, improvements
in the area of contextual information were
offset by a lower score in this year’s usability test, resulting in another D in the Online Contextual and Technical Usability category. The state's usability test score was impacted by the software download requirement, a situation that is likely to improve in the future given the agency's priorities.
→ Quick
Fix: Add the full
reporting periods to the index of a candidate’s
reports.
♦ Editor’s
Pick: Summary
of New Laws that affect campaign finance
and disclosure in New Jersey, with links
directly to the text of each bill on the
legislature’s site. View image
 Disclosure Agency: Election Law Enforcement Commission
Disclosure Web Site: http://www.elec.state.nj.us
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