Hide the Money

August 8, 2007 by Cato  
Filed under Campaign Finance, Maryland, Maryland Politics

O’Malley Watch reports that the State Board of Elections has removed the identities of those who contribute to Maryland elected officials. As someone who advocates no limits on campaign contributions (by individuals), I also believe in total and near instantaneous disclosure.

In the internet age it’s definitely doable, politicians just don’t want it. Since we will (probably) never get the ideal, at least those of us in Maryland could enjoy something like VPAP.

The Virginia Public Access Project electronically takes info from the Virginia Electoral Board and stores it in a searchable database. Want to know who lawyers are contributing to? It’s available. How about your neighbors? You can find that out as well. Want to know who gave to Martin O’Malley, sorted by contribution size? It’s simple.

I realize that UMBC and a couple other entities have attempted something similar. While helpful, they don’t quite make the mark.

Technorati Tags: Maryland, politics, marylandpolitics, campaignfinance, VPAP, OMalleyWatch