Missouri campaign finance laws exist so voters know who is involved in and supports a campaign, as well as how the campaign spends its money.

Ballot measures, candidates and committees are regulated by the state’s campaign finance laws  — Missouri Revised Statutes Chapter 130 — which are enforced by the Missouri Ethics Commission.

Individuals have been known to attempt to conceal this information either by not filing the required information or reports. These actions prevent community members from deciding if the campaign’s policies are sensible and if those involved in those campaigns are honest and trustworthy.

Along with this “paid for by” disclosure that requires the campaign committee and treasurer’s name clearly displayed, the persons’ involved must also register their committee and file the legally-defined reports. Missouri law even sets out reporting requirements for individuals who are not a committee.

Perhaps the most important test a campaign faces is the “smell test.” Voters make a judgment  about how the candidate or a campaign conducts itself leading up to the election along with the available information to determine how to vote.

A vote earlier in August in Cole County is an example of why these laws are so important.

Cole County voters were asked to decide whether the Missouri River Regional’s tax levy would be increased. When people began putting out signs and flyers without being registered as a committee until the day before the election — and without having the required “paid for by” information on signs and flyers — voters did not have a means to determine who was behind this effort.

Not only did Missouri laws appear to be broken, but misleading and incomplete information was provided that made it difficult for voters to discern the truth

It is not how a person votes that the Missouri laws and the “smell taste” address, but that voters have clear and complete information. In fact, people expressed confusion and dismay over the propaganda being distributed and not knowing the facts.

For example, the flyers contained statements that the library tax would itself increase property taxes by 75%. The library tax is a small portion of our tax bill and the net increase to an individual’s entire property tax bill would have been about 2.5%.

In addition, right before the election, voters received and read about in the newspaper a notice of a 6 to 7% property value increase and rightly feared their property taxes would rise accordingly.

Missouri’s constitution limits annual tax increases to the Consumer Price Index or 5%, whichever is less. In addition, as property taxes rise, today’s library tax levy rate or any future voter-approved levy rate must be reduced to a rate that provides the same amount the library would have received without the property tax rise.

It would have been helpful to voters to have this information before the election.

Candidates, public officials and campaign finance committees should avail themselves of the resources the MEC makes available for compliance with Missouri’s laws. To make the best decisions, voters can use the available on-line MEC tools to dig a bit deeper into the facts.

Equally important, those involved in a campaign and our public officials’ conduct should be observed, and each of us ask: “What would mamma say?”

Then, be sure and cast your vote.

(Julie Allen served in state government for 25 years. In Missouri she served as the executive director at the Missouri Ethics Commission and the elections director at the Missouri Secretary of State’s Office, both nonpartisan positions. She is a certified public accountant (CPA) and a certified project management professional (PMP), with a BSBA from the University of Nebraska-Omaha and a Master of Public Affairs from the University of Missouri-Columbia).