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The State of Disclosure in Wyoming
Wyoming
earned an F, ranked 50th in 2008, and
is the only state that does not currently
post campaign disclosure data on the Internet.
As the result of legislation passed in 2008,
however, Wyoming will launch an electronic
filing and online disclosure program in 2010.
Wyoming
earned an F and ranked 48th in the Campaign
Disclosure Law category in 2008. Wyoming
requires candidates to disclose the name
and address of contributors giving over $25,
but not occupation or employer data. Campaign
expenditures are not reported until after
elections and do not include subvendor details.
Last-minute contributions are not reported
until after Election Day, and independent
expenditure disclosure is not required. As
noted above, Wyoming has no electronic disclosure
program, but a newly-mandated program (the
governor signed House Bill 3 in March 2008)
will have a major impact on disclosure in
Wyoming. The law requires electronic filing
for all statewide and legislative candidates
beginning in 2010. The new legislation also
requires the Secretary of State to create an
online, searchable database of campaign finance
information and provides a two-year authorization
of $2,500,000 for the program’s development
and implementation.
Wyoming
earned an F and ranked last again in the
Disclosure Content Accessibility category
in 2008. The public does not currently have
access to campaign disclosure data on the Secretary
of State’s web site. Access to campaign
finance records in Wyoming is limited to requesting
paper copies of reports (at $.15 per page)
or traveling to the Secretary of State’s
office to browse the records. The creation
of an online disclosure program in 2010 will
bring Wyoming in line with the other 49 states
and dramatically improve public access to campaign
disclosure reports.
The
Secretary of State’s web site earned
an F and ranked 48th in the Online Contextual
and Technical Usability category in 2008. While
the site does not offer disclosure data, there
is a good amount of contextual information
available, including campaign finance regulations
and detailed lists of candidates. The site
also uses clear terminology, and is relatively
easy to navigate. Following the close of the
assessment period in 2008, the Secretary of
State’s web site was nicely redesigned
and now features easy-to-follow tabs and drop-down
menus to guide site visitors. Adding a basic
summary of totals raised and spent in the most
recent election would make the site more useful
to the public.
→ Quick
Fix: Provide a simple comparison of the totals
raised and spent by candidates for each
office in the most recent election.
♦ Editor’s
Pick: Clean, attractive
design of the Secretary of State’s
web site. View
image
 Disclosure Agency: Secretary of State
Disclosure Web Site: http://soswy.state.wy.us
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