Grading State Disclosure 2008 Logo Graphic

D e l a w a r e

Grade
Rank
F
46

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Subcategories
Grade
Rank
Campaign Disclosure Law
D
41
Electronic Filing Program
F
31
Disclosure Content Accessibility
F
47
Online Contextual & Technical Usability
F
47

Grading Process green cube Subcategory Weighting green cube Methodology green cube Glossary

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The State of Disclosure in Delaware

Delaware has failed in each of the last three assessments and is one of just two states to earn a lower grade in 2008 than in 2003, when the state earned a D-. A weaker usability test performance dropped Delaware from a D- in 2007 to an F in 2008 in the Online Contextual and Technical Usability category.

Delaware’s disclosure law earned a D and ranked 41st again in 2008. Candidates are required to report the name and address of contributors giving $100 or more, but occupation and employer data are not reported. Candidates must itemize their campaign expenses of $100 or more, but subvendor details are not disclosed. Independent expenditures are reported, but neither last-minute independent expenditures nor last-minute contributions are disclosed until after Election Day. Delaware does not require candidates to file disclosure reports electronically, but an impressive 80 percent of statewide candidates and 45 percent of legislative candidates choose to participate in the state’s voluntary program.

In 2003, Delaware earned a C- in the accessibility category on the strength of its online, searchable contributions and expenditures databases. By the time of the 2004 assessment, the databases had been removed and Delaware has failed in this category in the past four assessments. The main shortcoming in the area of accessibility is that disclosure data is presented on the Department of Elections’ web site only in a browsable format. Both electronically-filed reports and scanned copies of paper-filed reports are presented as static PDF documents, meaning that data cannot be searched, sorted, or downloaded to a spreadsheet for offline analysis.

Delaware dropped from a D- in 2007 to a failing grade in the Online Contextual and Technical Usability category in 2008. Gains made on the 2007 usability test were lost and most testers found the site confusing and reported low levels of confidence with the data found online. The overall presentation of disclosure reports is cumbersome in that users cannot view a compete listing of a candidate’s reports on one screen. Rather, reports are organized by year, then by candidate within the selected year, making viewing a candidate’s complete filing history difficult. Other shortcomings include the lack of an explanation of the data available on the site or information on recent and historical campaign finance trends in Delaware. 

Quick Fix: Add a page to the site describing which candidates have campaign reports available online, the time periods covered, and instructions for accessing the data.  

Editor’s Pick: Contribution limits are prominently linked from the campaign finance homepage (View image) and are presented in a clean and easily accessible chart. (View image)

Disclosure Agency: Department of Elections
Disclosure Web Site:
http://www.elections.delaware.gov

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First published September 17, 2008
| Last updated September 17 2008
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Campaign Disclosure Project. All rights reserved.