Tutorial: Working with Downloadable FEC Data Files Using MS Access.
We have also created files containing one record for each candidate for the U.S. House or Senate during each of the last several election cycles. Each of these is a fixed length, undelimited file with one record for each campaign for the U.S. House or Senate. This file includes summary information about the financing of the campaign, including total receipts, the total coming from individuals, totals from each of six categories of Political Action Committees (i.e. Corporate, Labor, Trade/Membership/Health, Cooperative, Corporation without Stock, and PACs with no connected organization or sponsor), totals from Party committees, campaign spending, cash on hand, and debts owed by the campaign.
The amount field may contain overpunch characters (see table below). To convert these to standard integers you will need to replace the right most character with its associated integer and then multiple the number by 1 and the appropriate sign For example, if the amount it 20] replace the ] with 0 and to get 200. Then multiple by negative 1. The correct amount is –200. See overpunch table below.
Candidate Financial Summaries (End of Cycle) Election Cycle File Format Description
PACSUM contains summary information for PACs. This file contains one record for each PAC. It includes financial information from the PAC, e.g. pac receipts and spending, contributions to Senate and House candidates, contributions to Democrats, Republicans and other party candidates, contributions to incumbent members of Congress, challengers, and candidates in open seats.
Since this file summarized detailed information about contributions to candidates, the time period covered by the file will only change when we have completed processing information for a complete reporting period.
We've created similar files with information about specific PACs covering several elections. Each of these is a fixed length, undelimited file with one record for each PAC involved in federal elections. It includes financial information from the PAC, e.g. pac receipts and spending, contributions to Senate and House candidates, contributions to Democrats, Republicans and other party candidates, contributions to incumbent members of Congress, challengers, and candidates in open seats.
The amount field may contain overpunch characters (see table below). To convert these to standard integers you will need to replace the right most character with its associated integer and then multiple the number by 1 and the appropriate sign For example, if the amount it 20] replace the ] with 0 and to get 200. Then multiple by negative 1. The correct amount is –200. See overpunch table below.
PAC Financial Summaries (End of Cycle) Election Cycle File Format Description
Summary files also exist for each federal committee of the political parties. Each is a fixed length, undelimited file with one record for each party committee involved in federal elections. The file includes financial information for the party committee including receipts and disbursements, contributions to federal candidates, and expenditures made on behalf of Congressional campaigns.
The amount field may contain overpunch characters (see table below). To convert these to standard integers you will need to replace the right most character with its associated integer and then multiple the number by 1 and the appropriate sign For example, if the amount it 20] replace the ] with 0 and to get 200. Then multiple by negative 1. The correct amount is –200. See overpunch table below.
Party Financial Summaries (End of Cycle) Election Cycle File Format Description
There are also two more detailed files available for past election cycles. These contain information about specific PACs or party committees' contributions and expenditures related to federal campaigns. In these files, each PAC or party committee has one record for each specific candidate the committee supported. Similarly, for any one candidate there are as many records in these files as there were PACs or party committees who made contributions or expenditures in their campaigns.
A fixed length undelimited file with a record for each candidate to whom a PAC made either a contribution or an independent expenditure. It identifies the candidate and the total amount given or spent by the PAC. This file can be used then to see which candidates a PAC has supported, and alternatively you can see which PACs have given to a specific candidate.
The amount field may contain overpunch characters (see table below). To convert these to standard integers you will need to replace the right most character with its associated integer and then multiple the number by 1 and the appropriate sign For example, if the amount it 20] replace the ] with 0 and to get 200. Then multiple by negative 1. The correct amount is –200. See overpunch table below.
PAC Financial Details (End of Cycle) Election Cycle File Format Description
The same as the PAC detailed file described above, but it contains only party committee activity. (The formats are slightly different in 1995-96 to account for party committees making independent expenditures for and against candidates. 1996 is the first election cycle during which parties made these expenditures.
The amount field may contain overpunch characters (see table below). To convert these to standard integers you will need to replace the right most character with its associated integer and then multiple the number by 1 and the appropriate sign For example, if the amount it 20] replace the ] with 0 and to get 200. Then multiple by negative 1. The correct amount is –200. See overpunch table below.
Party Financial Details (End of Cycle) Election Cycle File Format Description
| Overpunch character | Replace with this sign and integer |
|---|---|
| [ or { | 0 |
| A | 1 |
| B | 2 |
| C | 3 |
| D | 4 |
| E | 5 |
| F | 6 |
| G | 7 |
| H | 8 |
| I | 9 |
| ] or } | -0 |
| J | -1 |
| K | -2 |
| L | -3 |
| M | -4 |
| N | -5 |
| O | -6 |
| P | -7 |
| Q | -8 |
| R | -9 |
