Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

SUN EDITORIAL:

Let voters know more

Legislature should pass a bill to provide real transparency in elections

Secretary of State Ross Miller has proposed an overhaul of Nevada’s campaign finance laws, which is badly needed.

In a hearing in the Assembly on Tuesday, Miller noted that on several high-profile studies, Nevada had been given an F for transparency. Miller told the Assembly that his proposals, contained in Assembly Bills 81 and 82, were intended to “let voters know who’s funding the campaigns.”

The bills would certainly do that. For example:

• Miller’s plan would consolidate reports in his office, giving voters a central clearinghouse of information. Under the current system, many candidates file campaign finance reports in their home counties, making it difficult for voters elsewhere to find them.

• Candidates would be required to send in their reports electronically, which would allow the creation of a database. That would allow voters to easily and quickly search for specific candidates, contributors and contributions. Now, voters seeking such information face a cumbersome system that cannot easily be searched. For example, to find out who is contributing to a specific candidate, a voter must download every report the candidate files during an election cycle, which for major races can mean hundreds of pages. Then, the voter would have to go page by page through the scanned copies. To find out if a specific donor has given to other candidates, a voter would have the overwhelming task of downloading all candidates’ reports and searching through them — a page at a time.

• The legislation would require candidates to file their reports four days before early voting starts and four days before Election Day. That would give voters quick and timely information. Now, candidates are required to submit a report seven days before Election Day, which comes well into early voting. As well, candidates currently can mail in their reports, and that can result in lost or delayed reports.

Miller’s proposals also address weaknesses in the law regarding other political groups. In 2008, the state saw problems with the political advocacy group ACORN in its voter-registration drive, which ended in criminal prosecutions. The legislation would require voter-registration efforts to register with the state and receive training on the law.

As well, the legislation would require independent advocacy groups active in the state to register and report donations. Last year, a conservative group linked to former Vice President Dick Cheney fought the state’s demand for disclosure after it ran ads portraying Brian Sandoval as a conservative in his successful campaign for governor. The group, which lost its effort in court, argued that it didn’t have to disclose its actions because it didn’t explicitly campaign for Sandoval.

Miller’s plan would also require candidates or groups to make a disclosure on mass electronic mailings that are sent to more than 500 people, and it would increase candidate filing fees, which haven’t been raised in 20 years.

The proposed legislation has run into opposition, which isn’t a surprise. Similar attempts to reform campaign laws have failed in the past. Some critics have claimed the increase in filing fees would edge minor-party and independent candidates out of elections, but that’s nonsense. A candidate should be able to raise the money to file — the top fee would be $3,000. If not, the measure allows candidates to gather voters’ signatures to get on the ballot instead of paying a fee.

Lawmakers in the past have killed proposals like this, in part because they say the greater reporting requirements are burdensome and would hurt candidates who have small campaigns. But that, too, is nonsense. If candidates are logging donations and taking the checks to the bank, they can certainly take a few minutes to file a quick electronic report.

The bottom line is that this is a matter of good government. It would provide a healthy dose of needed transparency, and it would give the voters more information. It could go further, by mandating daily filing of campaign donations during the last few weeks before an election, but this is a strong effort. The Legislature and the governor should approve it.

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