Case Study: State of Hawaii achieves greater voter engagement and campaign finance transparency with Socrata

Hawaii Informs The Electorate and Encourages Voter Turnout With Open Data Visualizations

Socrata partnered with the State of Hawaii Campaign Spending Commission to make campaign finance data accessible and meaningful after the state experienced chronically low voter turnout and rising public frustration over money in politics. The Commission found static tables weren’t informing voters, so they needed an engaging way to build trust and encourage participation.

Socrata built two real-time, API-fed visualization apps (Candidate and Noncandidate Committee) that produce charts and maps showing contribution sources, in‑ vs out‑of‑state giving, spending categories, fundraiser notices, and more. The apps have reduced public inquiry calls, generated increased journalistic coverage, improved public understanding of campaign finance, and positioned Hawaii as a model to be shared at the COGEL conference.

State of Hawaii

Tony Baldomero

Associate Director