More than $16.7 million in campaign donations received by local candidates in last fall’s general elections can now be easily searched on the New Jersey Election Law Enforcement Commission (ELEC) Internet website.
According to a press release, Jeff Brindle, executive director of the commission, encouraged members of the public, media members and candidates to take advantage of the new local contributor database, which is available at www.elec.state.nj.us/publicinformation/sear chdatabase.htm.
Brindle said expanding disclosure to include local candidates helps fulfill ELEC’s central mission to make it as convenient as possible for citizens to track the flow of campaign cash to their elected officials.
According to the press release, such disclosure also can help enforce pay-to-play laws by ensuring that public contractors abide by contribution limits intended to thwart corruption. In April, reports filed directly by public contractors that list their donations also will be viewable on ELEC’s website.
“Hopefully, the availability of this information will help citizens become more actively engaged in their communities. Enlightened citizens make the best citizens,” Brindle said.
All candidates for elected office in New Jersey who raise more than minimal amounts of donations are supposed to file reports that list their donations. Facsimiles of these reports can be called up on ELEC’s website and printed out.
Until last fall, people also could do quick computer lookups of donations to gubernatorial candidates, legislators, and state and county party committees.
In November, Brindle announced that ELEC, for the first time, was including within its searchable database $5.5 million of primary donations to local candidates.
This group includes candidates for municipal offices such as mayor and council, along with candidates for county positions such as executive, freeholder, or clerk. With the latest additions, contributions from the general election are now available for these candidates.
Donations to last year’s May and June municipal runoff candidates also will be available shortly, according to the press release.
If someone wants to see if a company made a donation to a particular mayoral candidate or even several candidates, they now can enter the firm’s name and find out instantly. Or the same person could find all donations contributed to a particular candidate. Lists of donations can be sorted by names, dates or amounts.
ELEC staff can help with searches or answer other questions. To reach them, call the toll-free hotline at 1-888-313-3532 (within New Jersey only) or by dialing 609-292- 8700.
Not all local donations are yet available within ELEC’s searchable database. In the future, the commission also hopes to include political contributions to municipal party committees, school boards, and fire commissioners. Until then, facsimiles of reports filed by these groups can be obtained through ELEC’s website, according to the press release.