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The State of Disclosure in Arizona
Arizona
earned a B-, ranked 23rd in 2008, and was
the fifth most improved state since 2007, when
the state earned a C- and ranked 30th. Arizona
was also the most improved state in the Online
Contextual and Technical Usability category
this year, jumping from an F and ranking 42nd
last year to a B and a top ten ranking in 2008.
Arizona
earned a C+ and ranked 27th in the Campaign
Disclosure Law category in 2008. Candidates
must report detailed information about their
contributors, including occupation and employer
data. Candidates must also disclose all campaign
expenditures, but subvendor information is
not reported. Last-minute contributions and
independent expenditures are not reported until
after the election, representing a significant
weakness in the state’s disclosure law.
Arizona’s electronic filing program retained
its first place ranking and A+ grade, requiring
both statewide and legislative candidates raising
$500 to file electronically. The Secretary
of State’s office debuted a new web-based
filing system in 2008 that makes both filing
and reviewing campaign disclosure reports a
more user-friendly process.
In
the Disclosure Content Accessibility category,
the lack of an online, searchable database
of campaign expenditures prevented Arizona
from improving over the D+ earned in the past
three assessments. Electronically-filed reports
can be accessed in a PDF format on the Secretary
of State’s
web site instantly upon filing.
Site visitors can also search a database of
campaign contributions by a donor’s name
or zip code, though the zip code option is
of limited value since users must first specify
a contributor’s name. Neither database
search results, nor the itemized data within
the PDF copies of electronic reports can be
sorted or downloaded to a spreadsheet for offline
analysis.
Arizona
was the most improved state in the Online
Contextual and Technical Usability category
in 2008, jumping from an F to a B and moving
up 33 places in the rankings since 2007. Improved
contextual information on the Secretary of
State’s redesigned web site and a stronger
usability test performance led to the strong
gains. One significant improvement to the site
came in the form of an exceptional “Compare
Candidates” feature
that allows users to easily view the totals
raised and spent by each candidate for a specific
office. Another benefit of the upgraded web
site is that the public now has the ability
to view all filings made by a candidate, including
both original and clearly-labeled amended reports.
→ Quick
Fix: Add the ability to search
the contributions database by employer,
contribution amount, and date,
all of which are contained in the
search results.
♦ Editor’s
Pick: The Secretary
of State’s
web site offers a “Compare
Candidates” feature that allows
the public to easily review funds
raised and spent by each candidate
in a selected race. View
image
 Disclosure Agency: Secretary of State
Disclosure Web Site: http://www.sos.state.az.us
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