Grading State Disclosure 2008 Logo Graphic

N o r t h . D a k o t a

Grade
Rank
F
47

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Subcategories
Grade
Rank
Campaign Disclosure Law
F
50
Electronic Filing Program
F
43
Disclosure Content Accessibility
D+
32
Online Contextual & Technical Usability
C-
27

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

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The State of Disclosure in North Dakota

North Dakota ranked 47th in 2008, and has earned an F in each of the five Grading State Disclosure assessments conducted since 2003, largely due to the state’s weak disclosure law.

North Dakota has earned an F and ranked last in the Campaign Disclosure Law category in every Grading State Disclosure study. Adding to the usual challenges of reforming campaign finance laws, the North Dakota legislature meets just once every two years. North Dakota is the only state that does not require campaign expenditures to be disclosed and is one of just six states that do not require the disclosure of independent expenditures. Contribution reporting is required, and candidates must disclose the name and address of contributors who give over $200, including the aggregate amount donated during the reporting period. Donor occupation and employer information is required, but only for those giving $5,000 or more. North Dakota does not operate a program for candidates to file disclosure reports electronically but the Secretary of State’s office has reported that electronic filing is a goal for the future if funding allows.

North Dakota has earned a D+ in the Disclosure Content Accessibly category since 2005 and ranked 32nd in 2008. The Secretary of State’s office data-enters reports filed on paper by state-level candidates, resulting in clean displays of disclosure reports on the site. The disclosure site also features a comprehensive database of contributions that can be searched by donor name or zip code, but not by contribution amount or by a specific date. Database search results cannot be sorted online, but they can be downloaded for offline analysis. The Secretary of State’s office offers campaign finance data on disk and provides paper copies of reports for $.25 per page.

North Dakota earned a C- again in the web site usability category in 2008 though the state slipped seven places in the rankings since 2007 as other states improved. The state performed well on the usability test in 2008 as testers rated the site favorably and most expressed confidence in the data they found. The Secretary of State’s web site provides helpful information about campaign finance requirements and restrictions, and detailed lists of candidates. Amended disclosure reports are clearly labeled, but original reports are removed once amended. The site could be improved by providing comparisons of the total funds raised and spent by candidates for each office in the most recent election to give the public a better overview of campaign finance trends.

Quick Fix: Add information describing which reports are available online, what data is included, and what time periods are covered to give site visitors a better sense of the scope of data available on the disclosure web site.

Editor’s Pick: The simple, clean design of the Secretary of State’s disclosure web site. View image

Disclosure Agency: Secretary of State
Disclosure Web Site:
http://www.nd.gov/sos/

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