Although it received a C grade, Michigan's rank at number ten
reflects a fairly strong campaign finance disclosure program. Michigan's
biggest strength is its Disclosure Content Accessibility, but
it has room for improvement in all of the other categories.
Under Michigan law, candidates must file one statement in non-election
years and one statement eleven days before an election. Details
of all contributions must be disclosed, with a contributor's
occupation and employer reported for contributions greater than
$100. Last-minute contributions are required to be disclosed
prior to an election. Expenditures of $50 or more are
required to be disclosed, but subvendor information does not
have to be reported. Independent expenditures and last-minute
independent expenditures are also required to be disclosed before
an election. Although there is adequate funding, training
and free software for electronic filing, Michigan currently has
voluntary electronic filing for statewide and legislative candidates,
which brings down its grade in this category. In 2004,
electronic filing will become mandatory for both statewide and
legislative candidates who reach a threshold of $20,000.
Michigan's
effort to make campaign finance data accessible to the
public is, along with Washington State, the best in the
country. All campaign finance data is available in databases
of contributions and expenditures that allow for detailed
searches, sorting, and downloading of itemized records.
Campaign finance records that are filed on paper are entered
into the databases by disclosure agency staff. The site appears
to function well for most users, though Macintosh users
have a hard time accessing and using the site.
The usability of Michigan's web site has weaknesses, particularly
in the contextual information. The web site does not feature
lists of total amounts raised and spent by all candidates to
help the public better understand campaign financing in Michigan. Also,
Michigan is the only state that does not provide the disclosure
agency's contact information on its web site. There is
contact information featured on the site, but it is for the department
of motor vehicles (also within the Secretary of State's office)
and not for the campaign finance disclosure agency. In
addition, there is no list of candidates for recent or upcoming
elections and the disclosure reporting periods are not detailed
in electronically filed reports. Also, the instructions
describing how to use the site could be much more comprehensive. Michigan's
usability testing scores reflect its shortcomings.
