New Research from Ballotfunding.org

For Immediate Release: July 18, 2002
Contact: Galen Nelson (617) 734-1313

* * * News Release * * *

DESPITE FEDERAL CAMPAIGN FINANCE REFORM,
BALLOT MEASURE DONORS REMAIN ELUSIVE

Washington, D.C.— Every election cycle, voters decide hundreds of ballot measures with little or no knowledge of the groups or individuals backing the initiatives. The Campaign Finance Reform Blind Spot: Ballot Measure Disclosure, a new report released today by the Ballot Initiative Strategy Center (BISC) Foundation, finds that the varying quality of state online disclosure contributes to a growing financial blind spot in American politics. The report is available as a PDF document - Ballot Measure Donor Disclosure. If you would like a hard copy mailed to you, please e-mail us with a request.

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“Ballot initiative donor disclosure is the ‘next big thing’ in the campaign finance reform debate,” said Galen Nelson, author of the report and Director of Ballotfunding.org, a project of the BISC Foundation. “While McCain-Feingold sharply limited soft money, it did nothing to disclose the millions of dollars fed into state ballot initiative campaigns every year,” said Nelson.

During the 1998 election cycle alone, ballot initiative campaigns outraised political candidates two-to-one, racking up $400 million in donations. This gap is only likely to grow as former soft money donors look to ballot initiatives as new donation shelters. Contributions themselves are not in question. Courts have repeatedly struck down laws limiting contributions to ballot measures. The problem is that weak and inconsistent state disclosure laws make it easy for wealthy interests to fund their agendas unbeknownst to the voting public.

Blind Spot assesses state disclosure agencies’ ability to adequately disclose ballot measure donor data through their websites. The assessment criteria included: filing requirements, data quality, voter access, and data format. The findings show that by failing to present donor data on their websites in a timely nature and accessible format, many initiative states make it difficult for journalists, activists or interested citizens to research funding sources of initiative campaigns.

Disclosing detailed initiative donor data in timely fashion is essential for voters to gain insight into the economic and special interests at stake in each ballot question. Studies show voters depend heavily on organizational endorsements and an awareness of the chief funders of a ballot measure effort when casting their vote.

For example, in Florida, signature gathering for a counter measure was stopped when opponents of a smoking ban initiative were revealed to be entirely bankrolled with Philip Morris. And in Washington State, campaign finance reform advocates educated voters about the tobacco money behind an initiative effort to roll back cigarette taxes and effectively stopped what many saw as a foregone conclusion just one month ago.

These examples from the 2002 election cycle illustrate the influence of money in politics in the post McCain-Feingold era.

“Voters have a right to know who is bankrolling ballot initiatives affecting their communities,” said Nelson. “And the government has a duty to remove barriers to this information by mandating full disclosure.

Highlights of The Campaign Finance Reform Blind Spot: Ballot Measure Donors:

• Ballot measure disclosure plays 2nd fiddle to candidate disclosure, resulting in sloppy and unusable information. Only 4 of the 24 ballot initiative states received a grade of “A” or “B (Washington, California, Massachusetts and Illinois). 17 states received “D’s” or F’s” and 4 states received an “Incomplete” for failing to disclose any data online at all.

• Most initiative states’ donor disclosure practices fail to provide voters with enough initiative funding information to cast informed votes on Election Day. For example, current laws make it difficult for Florida voters to know that Philip Morris was the main contributor to the Committee for Responsible Solutions, a fact sure to change some voter’s minds.

• Reforms such as mandatory electronic filing and easily accessible online donor databases can help voters make more informed decisions.

• State disclosure practices fell short largely because disclosure agencies are chronically under funded and under staffed.

“Blind Spot makes it clear that reforms now can avert campaign finance abuses before they become overwhelming,” said Kristina Wilfore, Executive Director of the BISC Foundation. “The report shows state legislatures have an opportunity to better inform voters about the important ballot initiatives they vote on every year.”

Survey data for Blind Spot was gathered from February–May 2002. Online disclosure practices were evaluated based on extensive phone interviews with disclosure agency staff, evaluation of statutes governing donor disclosure, thorough investigation and “test driving” of state disclosure websites and additional web-based research.

Founded in 1999, the Ballot Initiative Strategy Center Foundation is a national, nonpartisan, educational policy center that tracks ballot measure activity and contributions, trains individuals to work on ballot initiative campaigns, and facilitates greater understanding and strategic use of the initiative process.

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Read the Executive Summary.

Read the State Press Releases.

For more information about Ballotfunding.org, a project of the Ballot Initiative Strategy Center Foundation, go to www.ballotfunding.org.