This election season, MapLight was hot on the trail of the money fueling California’s ballot measure campaigns. It was a record-breaking election in California: with 17 statewide initiatives up for consideration, on issues ranging from the death penalty to school funding and beyond, spending on ballot measures topped $446 million.

This fall, MapLight continued our collaboration with the California Secretary of State to launch the Quick Guide to Propositions, a user-friendly tool to help voters follow the money behind each of the 17 measures on the 2016 ballot.

As part of a series of articles exposing how companies circumvent anti-corruption laws designed to restrict their political influence, MapLight and the International Business Times investigated the Wall Street contributors supporting a Massachusetts ballot measure.

In May, MapLight launched Dark Money Watch, an online hub for information about election spending by groups that don’t disclose their donors. The site explains how dark money works, profiles the key players involved with it, and includes a comprehensive guide to sources of data for investigating dark money.

MapLight is combining the top online resources on secret political spending with our own reporting to provide a hub for information about "dark money," a growing force in our democracy. Dark Money Watch, features profiles of dark money groups, the latest news coverage related to dark money and a searchable database of research and tools for users to easily explore the sources and targets of dark money spending. We invite you to learn more by exploring the website and following Dark Money Watch on Facebook and Twitter.

MapLight's investigations into Congress' top 10 chemical industry donors show increases in spending that correspond with the introduction of the Toxic Substances Control Act and its precursors.

Today MapLight celebrates a milestone: 10 years of shining light on our broken system of money-dominated politics.