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Problems identified in the
Ohio Secretary of State
candidate campaign finance database

   
Data entry problems

The Citizens Policy Center discovered data entry errors in the Ohio Secretary of State database. The errors are essentially a failure to data enter information provided by candidates about the employers of contributors. When the Center first calculated candidate compliance with disclosure requirements, these errors created the appearance that the candidates did a poorer job following disclosure laws (See original grade) than the candidates actually did (See grade after corrections made by Citizens Policy Center).

The Ohio Secretary of State's office (SOS) is to be commended for steps taken in the last year to upgrade their data entry process. However, as this evidence shows, more improvements are needed.   

Candidate Secretary of State Error Original grade based on SOS database Grade after corrections by Citizens Policy Center
Richard Finan Failed to data enter names of employers provided on forms F B
Robert Latta Failed to data enter names of employers provided on forms F A
Betty Montgomery Failed to data enter names of employers and "None" where contributors had no employer B A
Thomas Moyer Failed to data enter names of employers provided in addenda C C
Paul Pfeifer Failed to data enter "None" where contributors had no employers B A
Bill Schuck Failed to data enter names of employers provided on forms F A
Gary Tyack Failed to data enter names of employers on addenda F A
   
Campaign finance forms

Some of the Ohio Secretary of State's campaign finance reporting forms do not include space requesting the name of the employer. For example, forms for 'Contributions for Debt Retirement' and 'In-kind Contributions Received' have no space requesting the employers of contributors. However, the law does not exempt these contribution types or other types from the 1995 employer disclosure requirements. These forms should be updated to reflect legally required disclosure information.