The IRE Resource Center is a major research library containing more than 23,250 investigative stories — both print and broadcast. These stories are searchable online or by contacting the Resource Center directly (573-882-3364 or rescntr@ire.org) where a researcher can help you pinpoint what you need. Browse or search the tipsheet section of our library below. Stories are not available for download but can be easily ordered by contacting the Resource Center:
Search results for "election reform" ...
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Public Pensions: A Soaring Burden
The series included an in-depth look at the questionable public pension practices in Arizona which were costing taxpayers nearly $1.4 billion. The findings prompted a discussion of pension reform among elected officials, as well as support for reform proposals in the 2011 legislative session.
Tags: pension; public pension; public records; pension systems; taxpayer money
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Getting Change
Murphy take a comprehensive review of 20 years of campaign finance reform in New York City and its impact on elections in the city. While aiding in avoiding campaign finance scandals, its done little to level the playing field for those running.
Tags: campaign finance reform; New York City; Campaign Finance Board; incumbent; candidates
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Bundle of Trouble
These articles examine the shady fundraising practice of "bundling" campaign donations. The articles spotlight fundraiser Norman Hsu, who has used bundling to raise money for Hillary Clinton's 2008 presidential campaign. The investigation looks at the impact of this practice on modern campaigns, and also delves into Hsu's shady past.
Tags: campaign finance reform; fundraising; Federal Election Commission; politics; data analysis; fraud
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The Jobs Game
"This series of articles by the AP showed that, despite his 2002 election on a "reform and renewal" platform in which he pledged to "end business as usual," Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich's administration continued some of the old-style practices of patronage- and might have violated the law in the process."
Tags: patronage; bribe; republican party; rutan; supreme court; department of central management
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The McConnell Machine
The Herald-Leader investigates U.S. Senate Majority Whip Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, whose campaign fundraising has reached impressive levels to the tune of $220 million, largely on behalf of fellow Republican senators. As the 2006 mid-term elections approached, McConnell was seen as a likely contender for Senate Majority leader, should the Republicans retain control (they did not, and he is now Senate Minority Leader). Anticipating this news, the Herald-Leader "examined McConnell's 22-year record of aggressive fundraising, cozy ties with top donors and related actions in the Senate." The newspaper found that McConnell benefited from his "influence over a little-known foreign aid committee; his marriage to Labor Secretary Elaine Chao, who regulates his corporate donors; and a former McConnell chief of staff turned Washington "gatekeeper lobbyist," whose clients tend to receive appropriations earmarks and helpful legislation from McConnell." McConnell has gained a reputation as an opponent of campaign-finance reform.
Tags: Campaign finance; Mitch McConnell; Elaine Chao; Senate Minority Leader
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Flaws in state balloting loom large
This investigation details a number of problems in Pennsylvania's electoral procedures. It documents the several ways in which attempts at reform failed, and implicates everything from Supreme Court rulings to a shady vendor.
Tags: U.S. Election Assistance Commission; recount; voter registration database; election workers
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Under the Influence: Money in Trenton
In the face of campaign contribution reforms, the staff at The Record perform an extensive investigation into the major contributors for candidates in the 2003 New Jersey state legislature elections. What they found was that candidates and contributors have discovered new ways around contribution limits through a process called "wheeling," which transfers large sums of money into key candidates' races. Using data from the New Jersey Election Law Enforcement Commission, reporters discovered a number of flaws in the information that had gone unnoticed, and contributors who had gone unpunished. According to the questionnaire, "The Record learned that the toughest penalty these legislatures would face was a fine, and even that was unlikely if they returned the funds befor ethe commission learned about it."
Tags: CAR; New Jersey Election Law Enforcement Commission; Division of Financial Recording; wheeling; lobbying
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Close Connections
The Asbury Park Press' investigations of municipal officials found that politically powerful attorneys had almost free reign to double bill and over bill the agencies they were supposed to serve. An investigation of the township attorney, who is the top elected Republican in the state, found that he double billed the city by more than $8,000. He initially said the double-billing was not his responsibility, but later admitted it was an accident. The Press found that the project in which the double-billing occurred was part of an unfinished seven-year effort to rewrite the city's ordinances. The senator charged more than $100,000 for the incomplete work, although similar projects cost a quarter as much and can take months, not years, to finish. Close examination of these billing records for the ordinance re-writing project showed his bills included rewrites of ordinances that don't exist, and repeated rewrites of ordinances that were little more than a paragraph or two long.
Tags: Marlboro Township-New Jersey; Council Members; Mayor Matthew V. Scannapieco; developers; Anthony Spalliero; Senator John O. Bennett III; political contributions; double-billing; town budget; ordinances; legal invoice; Monmouth County; campaign contributions; Center for Responsive Politics Marlboro Cultural and Improvement Fund; Keansburg Board of Education; New Jersey State Commission of Investigation; reform bill; elected officials
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A Run for the Bench
The taint for big money in judicial elections is moving reformers to find a middle ground between free-spending campaigns and merit selection. For more than 60 years the selection of judges has been a contentious either/or proposition: either you favored the election of judges by popular vote or you supported a merit selection system, under which a nominating commission chooses several candidates to fill a judicial vacancy and an elected official, usually the governor, selects one of the candidates from the list.
Tags: selection of judges; Supreme Court; lobbies; electoral system; judicial elections; Buckley v. Valeo
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Election Day Became a Nightmare, as Usual, for Bernalillo County
A five-part series on America's voting system labelled "Broken Ballot." The Journal reveals the loopholes in the voting system such as lack of resources, limited polling hours, how the process deters minorities, problems during counting, use of technology and, the role 'brokers' play
Tags: Florida; polls; ballot; politician; election reform; voting