Ysursa goes to court to force disclosure of secret donors

Idaho’s Secretary of State went to court today, seeking a court order to make a defiant secret-donations group reveal the source of more than $200,000 spent on statewide campaign commercials backing three controversial school-reform measures. “The voters made it clear, when they passed the Sunshine initiative, that public disclosure is an essential element of Idaho elections,” Secretary of State Ben Ysursa said in a statement. “The citizens want to know where the money comes from and how it’s spent. That’s been the policy and the law of this state for 38 years. My job is to enforce that law.”

You can read Ysursa’s full statement here , and read the state’s 13-page complaint here , filed today in 4th District Court in Ada County; read my full story here at spokesman.com.

Idaho’s Sunshine law, enacted by voter initiative in 1974, says its purpose is “to promote openness in government and avoiding secrecy by those giving financial support to state election campaigns and those promoting or opposing legislation.”