North Dakota gets an "F" for its campaign disclosure laws, according to an annual nationwide study.

The Grading State Disclosure study, conducted by the Campaign Disclosure Project, Center for Governmental Studies, UCLA School of Law, placed North Dakota 47th in the nation. The state's grade has remained unchanged since the study began in 2003.

Among the problems listed in the study:

• North Dakota is the only state that does not require disclosure of campaign expenditures.
• The state is just one of six that does not require disclosure of independent expenditures.
• The state also does not require the state to file reports electronically.

Secretary of State Al Jaeger said little can be done about some of the major issues the group quarrels with, most notably the state not requiring campaigns to disclose their expenditures.

"The study does acknowledge our legislature only meets every two years," Jaeger said. "Unless there's a session, we can't change the law."

The group also faulted North Dakota for not having an electronic filing system for campaign disclosure, something Jaeger said is in the works and should be up and running by the next election cycle.

Jaeger said the state has made strides in campaign disclosure in recent years, most notably updating the Secretary of State's Web site to allow users to search for campaign donors by name and zip code.

The study gave North Dakota a "D+" - 32nd overall - for the accessibility of its donor information. Jaeger said the study did include one bright spot: the Secretary of State's Web site was the "Editor's Pick" for its "simple, clean design," the study said.

The states that ranked the best, according to the study, are Washington, California and Michigan. North Dakota was followed by South Dakota, Alabama and Wyoming.