Introduction

Grading State Disclosure is a study of the Campaign Disclosure Project, which seeks to bring greater transparency and accountability to money in state politics through assessments of state disclosure laws and programs. The Campaign Disclosure Project is a collaboration of the UCLA School of Law, the Center for Governmental Studies and the California Voter Foundation and is supported by The Pew Charitable Trusts.

State campaign finance disclosure agencies across the country are responsible for receiving, processing and auditing candidates’ campaign finance filings; these agencies are also charged with making those filings, and the data within, accessible to the public. In addition to basic information about statewide and legislative candidates’ backgrounds and policy positions, voters also need to be able to determine which individuals and organizations are funding those candidates’ campaigns if they are to have the opportunity to cast a truly informed vote and participate meaningfully in the election process.

Some states provide better and more complete access to information about the money that fuels campaigns than others, through both a strong campaign disclosure law and high-quality Internet access to disclosure reports. The purpose of the Campaign Disclosure Project’s Grading State Disclosure 2008 study is to provide an overview of how each state measures up to a set standard for disclosure programs, as well as to show how each state compares to others around the country.

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