Electronic Campaign Finance System Promotes Disclosure and Accountability

About the Program

Category: Civic Education and Public Information (Best in Category)

Year: 2011

Macomb County Clerk/Register of Deeds improved public disclosure, tracking, and accountability In campaign finance in what has been called the most transparent of its kind in the state regarding county and local campaign finances. The county’s online campaign finance system was upgraded to include an online disclosure module that disclosures to the public all county and local individual campaign committee donors, and makes the searchable by name. The system has served as a useful tool for the press and public as well, allowing them to determine if governmental contracts have or may be awarded to a contributor. This type of public disclosure allows the public to easily search for contributions to different committees by individual or employer. In the past, individual statements had to be searched, page by page, with no easy way to ascertain the relationship between donors to particular local officials. Now, simply by typing in an individual or employer name, a synopsis of contributions is easy and quickly obtained.