Like a detective snapping photos of a cheating spouse, Kim Alexander doesn't ask permission to get the goods on public officials.
As head of the California Voter Foundation, a nonpartisan group that uses technology to educate voters, Alexander is pushing for a law that would require political candidates, parties, and lobbying organizations to file electronic lists of campaign contributions. Once in digital form, the records would be publicly posted online.
After state lawmakers killed electronic filing legislation last year, Alexander set the ball rolling herself. During the final two weeks of the November election, the California Voter Foundation posted a list of the biggest contributions at www.calvoter.org and emailed it to hundreds of journalists. Alexander's efforts resulted in significant media coverage on last-minute campaign donations and earned her a James Madison Freedom of Information Award from the Society of Professional Journalists Northern California chapter.
"If you ask voters what they want, they say, 'I want to know where the money is coming from,'" she reports. "We need to give voters every opportunity to make informed choices."
