Election finance laws in Utah garner a D-

Utah also doesn't require last-minute contribution disclosures, as many states do, noted Stern. That means in Utah and other states with similar loopholes, candidates can time their cashing of large donation checks until after the pre-final election reports are filed, and citizens don't know about the giving until after Election Day.

In the mid-1990s, a state Senate candidate accepted more than $15,000 from a group of unions just after the last campaign filing deadline, the giving only showing up on a post-election filing.

While some may see the report with so many "Ds" and "Fs" as depressing, Stern said he's actually pleased how most states are using online election sites for campaign finance disclosure. You can read Utah campaign finance reports online now at www.elections.utah.gov, for example.

But Missouri has spent a lot of money trying to computerize its paper campaign finance filings and still doesn't have them right, he added.

"Electronic reporting is the Holy Grail of campaign finance disclosure," he said. "And many legislators don't like people looking at their disclosures" and so have hampered or harmed the effort.

Meggers said the Georgia secretary of state was the most unpopular person in the Legislature when she started putting legislators' reports online.

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