While the Federal Election Commission has responsibility for enforcing federal campaign finance laws, 50 different agencies handle those duties at the state level. This interview is part of a series – “The State of Disclosure: Campaign Finance Enforcement Across America” – examining how the officials responsible for transparency in each state handle those duties.
Allen Norfleet is the director of candidacy and campaign finance at the Maryland State Board of Elections, where he oversees campaign finance reporting and compliance with state election law.
He works closely with campaigns, political committees, and election officials to promote accurate reporting and transparent disclosure.
“The flow of money within the state should be available,” says Norfleet. “There should be some transparency in our process so that people can readily go to our website. … It really kind of tells a whole other picture, I think, in the electoral process for the average citizen.”
Norfleet, who has a bachelor’s degree from Campbell University and a master’s in public administration from Virginia Tech, has spent his entire career in the campaign finance space. Before joining the Board of Elections, he worked at the Federal Election Commission and as a private-sector compliance consultant, gaining experience in all aspects of campaign finance.
Even with the state’s candidate filing deadline looming, Norfleet took some time to speak with me about Maryland’s campaign finance system and his desire to help voters better understand how money flows through the system.