FOR PLANNING PURPOSES
February 8, 2016
Contact:
Sam Mahood (916) 653-6575
MEDIA ADVISORY
California Secretary of State and MapLight Host Press Demo of Independent Expenditure Search Tool to Increase Campaign Finance Transparency
California Secretary of State Alex Padilla—in partnership with MapLight, a nonpartisan research organization that tracks money in politics—will announce the launch of an Independent Expenditure Search Tool to increase campaign finance transparency.
The new independent expenditure search feature will be added to Power Search—an open source campaign finance search engine already available on the Secretary of State’s website. This new tool allows the public and press to swiftly and easily review the source, recipient, and amount of state-level independent expenditures from 2001 to the present. The data can then be downloaded into a spreadsheet for additional analysis.
A webinar will be hosted by California Secretary of State Alex Padilla and MapLight President Daniel G. Newman to showcase the tool’s features and to answer any questions regarding its use. Please join us as we work to provide California citizens and journalists with access to information critical to a healthy democracy.
Major donor and independent expenditure committees spent $81 million on candidates and ballot measures during the 2014 Election Cycle. Nearly $57 million (71%) of the $81 million was spent in support of candidates and ballot measures, and $24 million (29%) in opposition to candidates and ballot measures.
WHEN:
Tuesday, February 9th at 10:00 a.m. PST
PRESENTED BY:
California Secretary of State Alex Padilla
MapLight’s President & Co-Founder Daniel G. Newman
To register for the webinar, click here.
MEDIA CONTACTS:
CA Secretary of State Alex Padilla
Sam Mahood
O: 916-653-6575
C: 916-661-2633
MapLight
Pamela Behrsin
415-299-0898
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