The
State of Disclosure in Tennessee
Tennessee
earned a B, ranked 13th in 2008, and
was the most improved state overall since
2003, when Tennessee earned an F and ranked
46th. With significant enhancements made
to the state’s disclosure site, Tennessee
also made strong gains in both the accessibility
and usability categories since 2007.
A
closer examination of Tennessee’s
disclosure law in 2008 resulted in scoring
revisions, causing the state’s grade
to increase to a B from a C in 2007. Major
reforms to Tennessee’s disclosure law
in 2006 earned the state the distinction as
the most improved state in the law category
since 2003. Candidates must itemize contributions
over $100, including occupation and employer
data, and last-minute contributions must be
disclosed before Election Day. Candidates must
also report details of expenses over $100,
including subvendor data and accrued expenditures.
Independent expenditures are also disclosed
and reports show the name of the candidate
benefiting from the expenditure. Tennessee
earned an A again in 2008 for its electronic
filing program, which is mandatory for all
statewide and legislative candidates who raise
or spend $1,000. The Tennessee Registry of
Election Finance (TREF) helps candidates meet
the disclosure requirements through its newly
updated filing system by offering individual
and classroom trainings in addition to excellent
online filer resources.
Tennessee
improved to a B+ and 17th in 2008, up from
a D and 32nd place in 2007, and was also
the most improved state in the Disclosure
Content Accessibility category since failing
in 2003. The TREF’s contributions database
was improved with new fields for searching
by the employer and zip code of donors, as
well as by contribution amount. The TREF also
debuted an online, searchable database of campaign
expenditures that can be searched by vendor
name and transaction amount. The databases
contain both electronically-filed reports and
paper-filed reports that have been data-entered
by TREF staff. Along with the additional search
options, site visitors can now sort database
search results online or download the data
for offline analysis.
Tennessee’s grade in the Online Contextual
and Technical Usability category rose from
a D+ in 2007 to a C+ this year. The higher
usability grade came mostly due to the redesign
of TREF’s web site as the public can
now view a simple index of each candidate’s
reports that includes clearly-labeled amended
reports. Tennessee performed slightly better
on the 2008 usability test than in 2007, though
testers still rated their overall experiences
on the site as below average. However, since
the test was conducted, additional improvements
have been made: “Search Instructions” and “Search
FAQs” have been added and provide details
about the site’s contents and how to
access specific data. The TREF provides excellent
contextual information for site visitors, such
as overviews of campaign finance trends, detailed
candidate lists, and information about the
state’s campaign finance rules and regulations.
→ Quick
Fix: Expand the options within
the databases to allow searches
by expenditure purpose and by a
specific transaction date.
♦ Editor’s
Pick: Database search results
can be sorted, downloaded, and customized
to include or exclude details based
on the user’s research needs. View
image View
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Disclosure Agency: Tennessee Registry of Election Finance
Disclosure Web Site: http://www.state.tn.us/tref |