Since its inception, the Commission has disclosed campaign finance data and provided information on the election law to both the general public and the regulated community. Doing so helps to create an educated electorate, and it promotes compliance with the campaign finance law.
Both the public disclosure program and the agency's educational outreach efforts promote compliance. Public scrutiny of campaign finance records encourages the regulated community to comply with the law, while educational outreach to the regulated community helps promote compliance by fostering understanding of the law. The Commission's public disclosure and educational outreach programs are described below.
Disclosing the sources and amounts of funds spent on federal campaign activity continued to be the centerpiece of the Commission's work during 1996. This process is complex, as it involves receiving the reports filed by committees, reviewing them, entering the data into the FEC's computer database and making the reports and database available to the public. Changes in filing requirements, increased use of computer technology, and greater staff efficiency enhanced the Commission's disclosure program during the year.
Kent C. Cooper, the FEC's Assistant Staff Director for Disclosure, received the 1996 Council on Governmental Ethics Laws (COGEL) Award for Distinguished Achievement. The award honored his work in creating and directing the FEC's Public Disclosure Office, which is considered a model for other agencies implementing public disclosure mandates.
Point of Entry, Data Imaging and Electronic Filing
On April 15, 1996, as a result of a 1995 legislative change, House candidates began filing campaign finance reports directly with the FEC, rather than with the Clerk of the House. The change in point of entry improved both the timeliness and quality of the Commission's public disclosure process. Under the old system, the Commission had received copies of the reports filed with the Clerk. Under the new system, House candidate committees filed the original report with the Commission. As a result, reports were available sooner to the public and were easier to read.
The new point of entry also allowed the Commission to expand its digital imaging program. Now, the public can access digitized copies of the actual reports filed by House candidates, PACs and party committees. (Senate candidates continue to file with the Secretary of the Senate, so their reports are not available on the digital imaging system.) The Commission has installed 13 imaging stations in its Public Disclosure Division, and--thanks to a newly installed high-speed communications link--three viewing stations in the office of the Clerk of the House. Soon, digital imaging will also be available to state filing offices that wish to participate.
The Commission also took steps during 1996 to implement an electronic filing system that will allow committees to file reports via computer disk or other electronic format on a voluntary basis. The Commission adopted interim rules defining the format and verification requirements for filings, and hired a contractor to develop and operate the system. (For details on the interim rules, consult the November 1996 issue (PDF) of the FEC newsletter, the Record.) That system went into operation January 2, 1997.
In addition to these high-tech advances, the Commission's Disclosure Division added a night shift to speed the processing of reports, and extended its public-access hours during the weeks preceding the November election. The Disclosure office also began accepting Visa and Mastercard as payment for FEC materials in 1996. While most materials are available free of charge, some are sold, including financial statistical reports, candidate indexes and PAC directories. Since the FEC cannot fill an order until it has received payment, credit card customers received items 4 to 5 days sooner than those paying by check. Credit cards also reduced the costs and paperwork associated with check processing, enabling FEC staff to better serve walk-in visitors.
Review of Reports
The Commission's Reports Analysis Division also contributes to the agency's disclosure program. Analysts review all reports to ensure that the public record provides a full and accurate portrayal of campaign finance activity. If an analyst finds that a report contains errors or suggests violations of the law, he/she sends the reporting committee a request for additional information. The committee treasurer can then make additions or corrections to the report. Apparent violations, however, may lead to an enforcement action.
Campaign finance activity increased during 1996 due to the Presidential and Congressional elections. As the number and length of reports increased, so did reports analysts' workload. To handle its burgeoning workload, reports analysis staff utilized the Commission's electronic imaging system to view reports at their own desks and used refined computer programming tools that helped them identify possible compliance problems more quickly.
Processing Campaign Finance Data
The Commission codes and enters information from campaign finance reports into the agency's disclosure database, which contains data from 1977 to the present.
Information is coded so that committees are identified consistently throughout the database. Consistency is crucial to maintaining records of which committees received contributions from individuals and which PACs made contributions to a specific candidate. For example, if a PAC's report states that it made a contribution to the Smith for Congress committee with a Washington address, staff must determine which candidate committee, among those with the same name, the report referred to.
Despite the increased workload, data staff improved the timeliness of its data entry and coding. In the past, it took up to 45 days to enter, code and disseminate all of the detailed information from reports. During 1996, staff completed that process within 30 days.
|
Election Cycle |
No. of Detailed Entries* |
| 1986 | 526,000 |
| 1987 | 262,000 |
| 1988 | 698,000 |
| 1989 | 308,000** |
| 1990 | 767,000 |
| 1991 | 444,000*** |
| 1992 | 1,400,000 |
| 1993 | 472,000 |
| 1994 | 1,364,000 |
| 1995 | 570,000 |
| 1996 | 1,887,160 |
Public Access to Campaign Data
The Commission opened a new avenue of public access to campaign finance data with the February 14 launch of its home page on the World Wide Web. Visitors to www.fec.gov could peruse a variety of statistical summaries and download data to their own computers via the Commission's FTP site. The FEC home page attracted more than 2 million hits during its first ten months of operation.
The Commission's disclosure database, which contains millions of transactions, enabled researchers to select information in a flexible way. For example, the database can instantly produce a profile of a committee's financial activity for each election cycle. As another example, researchers can customize their searches for information on contributions by using a variety of elements (e.g., donor's name, recipient's name, date, amount or geographic location).
During 1996, visitors to the Public Records Office used computer terminals to access the disclosure database and more than 25 different campaign finance indices that organize the data in different ways. Those outside Washington, DC, could order such information using the Commission's toll-free number.
Visitors could also inspect images of committee reports on the electronic imaging system installed on the personal computers in the Public Records Office. Reports filed by House and Presidential candidates, party committees and PACs were available for viewing.
The Public Records Office continued to make available microfilmed copies of all campaign finance reports, paper copies of reports from 1996 Congressional candidates and Commission documents such as press releases, audit reports, closed enforcement cases (MURs) and agenda documents.
The FEC also continued to offer on-line computer access to the disclosure database to 1,241 subscribers to the eleven-year-old Direct Access Program (DAP) for a small fee. Subscribers included journalists, political scientists, campaign workers and other interested citizens. DAP saved time and money for the Commission because providing information on line is more efficient than processing phone orders for data. During 1996, the Commission's State Access Program gave 31 state election offices free access to the database. In return, state offices helped the Commission track candidate committees that had failed to file copies of their FEC reports with the appropriate state, as required under federal law.
Despite budget cuts in 1996, the Commission continued to educate committees about the law's requirements, thereby helping them avoid violations.
Home Page (www.fec.gov)
For the first time, the Commission used the World Wide Web for educational outreach. In addition to the statistical data described above, visitors could access brochures on a variety of topics, read agency press releases, look up reporting dates and download reporting forms, copies of the Record newsletter and the Campaign Guides for PACs, parties and candidates. The Record was placed on the Commission's home page the same day that copy was sent to the printer. This meant that the public could access the newsletter a full week before the printed copy was available.
Telephone Assistance
A committee's first contact with the Commission is often a telephone call to the agency's toll-free information hotline. In answering questions about the law, staff will research relevant advisory opinions and litigation, as needed. Callers receive, at no charge, FEC documents, publications and forms. In 1996, the Information Division responded to 34,152 callers with compliance questions.
Flashfax
When committees need a publication or other document-including informational brochures, texts of regulations, reporting forms, and texts of advisory opinions-they can call the agency's automated "Flashfax" system at any time and quickly receive the information by fax. Use of this free service grew rapidly in 1996 as 7,729 callers sought information and received 12,206 documents. In response to the high demand, the Commission doubled the system's capacity in 1996.
Reporting Assistance
During 1996, reports analysts, assigned to review committee reports, were also available to answer complex reporting and compliance-related questions from committees calling on the toll-free line.
The Commission continued to encourage timely compliance with the law by mailing committees reminders of upcoming reporting deadlines three weeks before the due dates. The Record, the Commission's newsletter, and the FEC's web site also listed reporting schedules and requirements.
Assistance to Presidential Campaigns
FEC auditors assigned to Presidential committees helped them understand the requirements of the public funding law. In 1996, the Commission published new primary and general election compliance manuals for these committees.
Conferences
The Commission conducted a regional conference in Chicago to help the regulated community prepare for the 1996 elections. Conference participants attended workshops for candidate committees, party committees and corporate and labor PACs and their sponsoring organizations.
The agency also hosted two Washington, DC conferences. These conferences were tailored to meet the needs of specific audiences. The first was geared toward membership organizations and trade associations, and the second was designed for candidate committees.1
For the second consecutive year, budget constraints prevented the agency from continuing its informal outreach program whereby one or two staff members met with candidates, parties and PACs in different cities.
Tours and Visits
Visitors to the FEC during 1996, including 37 student groups and 67 foreign delegations, listened to presentations about the campaign finance law and, in some cases, toured the agency's Public Records office.
Media Assistance
The Commission's Press Office continued to field questions from the press and navigate reporters through the FEC's vast pool of information. Press Office staff answered 23,459 calls from media representatives and prepared 139 news releases. These releases alerted reporters to new campaign finance data, illustrating the statistics in tables and graphs.
Publications
During 1996, the Commission published several documents to help committees, the press and the general public understand the law and find information about campaign finance.
In August, the Commission published a brand new edition of its Campaign Guide for Political Party Committees (PDF). The guide offers a clear explanation of the laws applicable to party committees and demonstrates how to fill out reports.
The Combined Federal/State Disclosure Directory directs researchers to federal and state offices that provide information on campaign finance, candidates' personal finances, lobbying, corporate registration and election results. The 1996 directory was available both in print and on computer disks formatted for popular hardware and software.
The Commission also published a new edition of Pacronyms, an alphabetical list of acronyms, abbreviations, common names and locations of federal PACs. The publication lists PACs' connected, sponsoring or affiliated organizations and helps researchers identify PACs and locate their reports.
In 1996, the Office of Election Administration (OEA)--formerly the Clearinghouse on Election Administration--continued to help states implement and refine various provisions of the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 (NVRA)--the "Motor Voter Law." OEA also provided the National Voter Registration Form to organizations conducting voter registration drives on both the local and national level.
Typical of a Presidential election year, staff answered numerous questions from the public on voting and registration, voting equipment and methods, the Presidential election process and the U.S. political system. OEA staff spoke about the American political process to foreign political figures, election officials, journalists and others from the many emerging democracies in Eastern Europe and Africa.
In addition, the OEA released several publications this year, including updates to Campaign Finance Law and Federal Election Law and the first edition of the FEC Journal of Election Administration since 1989. The OEA added three new titles to its Innovations in Election Administration series. The new volumes focused on simplifying election forms and language, recruiting poll workers and ensuring the accessibility of the election process to the disabled.
Finally, OEA staff worked with the Commission, the Staff Director and the International Foundation for Election Systems (IFES) to organize the third Trilateral Meeting of federal election officials from Canada, Mexico and the United States, held in Washington, DC, in May.
1 The Commission had already conducted a conference for corporations and labor organizations in December 1995.