Editorial: Campaign scofflaws are bereft of shame

Friday, Sept. 29, 2000 | 10:38 a.m.

It took more than two decades for advocates of campaign finance reform to get tougher disclosure requirements placed in Nevada law. The 1997 Legislature finally lowered the threshold for identifying individual contributions from $500 to $100, a change that finally threw some needed sunshine on who was financing those running for public office.

While that was landmark campaign-reform legislation in Nevada, accountability requirements don't do much good if candidates fail to turn in their campaign contribution disclosure forms. As the Sun's Cy Ryan reported earlier this week, as of Sept. 22, 60 candidates in the current election still had failed to file in the last reporting period, whose deadline was Aug. 29. The secretary of state's office sent the 60 candidates letters last Friday notifying them they're being fined $1,475 for their failure.

The overwhelming number of candidates met the deadline, but it is amazing so many didn't bother to take the time to do so. The shame involved should have been enough to make them file these reports on time. And if humiliation isn't in their vocabulary, it's shocking that the prospect of hefty fines, which can reach as high as $5,000, didn't make them cough up their reports. Maybe the secretary of state's office could borrow a page from the attorney general's office, which posts "most wanted" posters to expose deadbeat parents who aren't paying child support. A "most wanted" list of candidates who don't file their disclosure reports just might be the ticket to producing enough embarrassment -- and compliance with the law.

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