WASHINGTON, Oct. 25 (UPI) -- The State of Washington has the nation's most transparent campaign disclosure laws and practices according to a report by the Campaign Disclosure Project.
Project officials said Monday they looked at four areas in grading state performance: 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.
Of the 33 states receiving passing grades, eight were in the A-to-B range, with California and Florida in second and third place behind Washington State. Rounding out the top five were Georgia and Illinois.
"The overwhelming majority of states did make some improvements to their disclosure programs," said the California Voter Foundation's Kim Alexander. "There is still tremendous progress to be made before voters across the country have equal access to the information needed to follow the money."
Seventeen states were given failing marks in the report, "Grading State Disclosure," which was produced through the collaboration of the California Voter Foundation, the Center for Governmental Studies and the UCLA School of Law.
