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Study ranks Georgia 4th for campaign disclosure

By J. FRANK LYNCH

jflynch@theCitizenNews.com

Results of a study released this week comparing campaign finance disclosure laws and practices for political candidates nationwide ranks Georgia fourth among all the states.

According to the comparative study called Grading State Disclosures, Georgia received a grade of “B” and showed significant improvement over last year, the first for the study, by jumping 17 places in the rankings.

Washington state ranked number one in the nation, followed by California and Florida.

After Georgia, the remaining top states were Illinois, Michigan, Ohio, Rhode Island, Texas, Alaska and Kentucky.

The disclosure programs in 17 states failed the assessment conducted by the Campaign Disclosure Project, a collaboration of the California Voter Foundation, the Center for Governmental Studies and the UCLA School of Law.

States with the weakest overall campaign finance disclosure programs, ranked in order from 41 to 50, were Nevada, New Hampshire, Montana, North Dakota, New Mexico, Vermont, Alabama, South Dakota, South Carolina and Wyoming.

Tennessee was the most improved state, climbing from 46th place last year to 27th this year, followed by Georgia’s jump from 21st last year to fourth this year. California improved from ninth to second.

"While there were still the same number of failing grades in 2004, the overwhelming majority of states did make some improvements to their disclosure programs," said Kim Alexander, president of the California Voter Foundation. "However, there is still tremendous progress to be made before voters across the country have equal access to the information needed to follow the money and cast an informed vote on Election Day."

The Campaign Disclosure Project evaluated four areas of campaign finance disclosure: state campaign disclosure laws; electronic filing programs; the degree to which the public can access campaign finance information; and the usability of state disclosure web sites.

Within the past year, Georgia Secretary of State Cathy Cox has launched online reporting of campaign disclosures, which has simplified the process. Not only can candidates report their contributions via the Internet, but voters can access the records via the Web to keep up with their elected officials.

The full report on Grading State Disclosures can be accessed online at www.campaigndisclosure.org.