Arizona voters will soon ‘See the Money’ with launch of political website
May 30, 2017, 4:50 AM | Updated: 10:11 am
A cyclist rides past a sign directing voters to a primary election voting station early Tuesday, Aug. 30, 2016, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Matt York)
(AP Photo/Matt York)
A new website launching this fall allows Arizona voters to follow the money.
“Right now, you really need to be almost an investigative journalist to follow some of this stuff,” said Arizona Secretary of State Michelle Reagan.
It’s called See the Money, and Reagan said it’s the first of its kind in the country.
“Users who are interested in looking up to see lobbyists and the money that they spend in campaigns,” she said. “And then also the campaigns that are cashing those checks.”
“This is all public data, however, it’s all on paper right now,” she said.
The Secretary of State’s office has been aggregating that info so you can find where Arizona’s elected officials get their campaign money.
“And putting it on a very, very easy website where people can navigate,” she said.
What person, industry or lobbyist gave that money to them?
“You want to look Michelle Reagan up? You can see everyone who’s contributed to me with the dollar amounts,” she said, also adding that you can see everyone else to whom that person or group has contributed.
“The same is going to be available for political action committees: Where’s the money coming from, where’s the money going, [and] what’s it being spent on?” she said. “And then also for those independent expenditure groups.”
It shouldn’t be so hard for voters find this information, she said.
“We want the person on the See the Money website to be able to not have to know where to go to get all these different pieces,” she said. “It’s going to come through one portal.”
