The State of Disclosure in Wisconsin
Wisconsin improved from a C- in 2007 to a
C in 2008 due to a stronger performance on
the web site usability test this year, which
also boosted the state from a D- and 34th in
2007 to a B and 11th in the Online Contextual
and Technical Usability category in 2008.
Wisconsin’s
disclosure law earned a B and ranked 16th
in the 2008 assessment. Candidates are required
to disclose detailed information about contributors
giving over $20, including occupation and
employer data for those giving over $100.
Candidates must disclose expenditures over
$20, though subvendor details are not reported.
Wisconsin requires both last-minute contributions
and last-minute independent expenditures
to be reported prior to Election Day. Wisconsin
earned an A again in the Electronic Filing
Program category as both statewide and legislative
candidates raising $20,000 or more are required
to file disclosure reports electronically.
The Government Accountability Board is working
to create an improved filing and disclosure
system that would make filing easier for candidates
and also improve online access to disclosure
records.
Wisconsin
has received an F in the Disclosure Content
Accessibility category in each of the five
Grading State Disclosure assessments. The
lack of searchable campaign finance databases
represents the main drawback of the disclosure
site. Itemized data from electronically-filed
disclosure reports is available online; however,
for paper-filed reports only summary information
is available. Data from electronically-filed
reports is available online within 48 hours
of receipt and can be downloaded in a spreadsheet
format; paper-filed summary information is
entered online by agency staff within 24 hours.
If Wisconsin’s plan for developing a
new disclosure system is successful, voters
in the future will have access to searchable
campaign finance databases, which would
greatly improve public access to campaign data.
Wisconsin
improved significantly (from a D- to a B) in
the web site usability category in 2008 due
to a much stronger usability test performance
than in 2007. Testers were able to complete
their tasks more quickly in 2008 than last
year, and reported higher levels of understanding
of the site while also rating their experiences
much more favorably than testers did in 2007.
The disclosure site features a good amount
of contextual information, such as overviews
of the totals raised and spent by candidate
in each reporting period, descriptions of the
data available online, and detailed lists of
candidates.
→ Quick
Fix: Add the starting and ending
date for each reporting period
within the index of a candidate’s
reports.
♦ Editor’s
Pick: Contribution
limits for state candidates are clearly
described in a chart that is easily
located on the disclosure web site. View image
Disclosure
Agency: Government
Accountability Board
Disclosure Web Site: http://elections.state.wi.us |