FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Friday, October 23, 1996

CONTACT: Kim Alexander Andrea Cook (916) 325-2120 EMAIL: kimalex@netcom.com

CVF LAUNCHES "LATE CONTRIBUTION WATCH"

Last-minute Campaign Money to be Available Online

Sacramento -- Today the California Voter Foundation announced "Late Contribution Watch, an online service that will track last-minute contributions made to California candidates and ballot measures. Beginning today, the California Voter Foundation (CVF) will review reports of late contributions filed with the Secretary of State, compile daily summaries of contributions of $5,000 or more, and email those summaries to journalists around the state, as well as publish them in CVF's California Online Voter Guide, available at:

http://www.calvoter.org

"Historically, last-minute money has played a critical role in deciding the outcome of elections in California," said Kim Alexander, CVF's executive director and one of the state's leading disclosure experts. "For example, in 1994, 25 percent of all the money raised in the General Election cycle was received during the late contribution reporting period. Now, thanks to the Internet, we have a way to quickly and easily disseminate these records to the public."

CVF is a non-profit, non-partisan organization that promotes the use of new technologies to help shape a more informed and engaged electorate. Over the past two years, CVF has played a leading role in promoting Internet access to political disclosure records by supporting electronic filing, rather than paper filing of those records. In 1995, CVF created the first real-time, online campaign finance database in San Francisco, where electronic filing has been the law since 1993.

"There is no stronger way that someone can express their support for a candidate or cause than to give money," Alexander said. "Voters want to know who's financing these campaigns, and they want to know before they cast their ballots, not after the fact. Hopefully through the Late Contribution Watch service, we'll be able to help voters get some answers this election season."

Journalists and others who would like to subscribe to the Late Contribution Watch service can do so by sending email to kimalex@netcom.com. The Late Contribution Watch service is being supported through contributions from California news organizations, including KQED Radio, the Sacramento Bee and the California Journal.

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