A recent blog raised concerns that the FEC may have deleted certain data with respect to large contributions during a certain timeframe in the recent past. The suggestion is incorrect. The data have always been available to the public on the FEC website through the Report Image Search and also through our Public Disclosure Office. At no time was this or any other campaign finance information removed from the public record. On April 15, 2012, the FEC transferred some files that are used to transmit large data sets to researchers from an older database to a more modern database. During this process, it appears that a transaction code from the data files was inadvertently overlooked. As a result, some data reported on the FEC Form 5, the Report of Independent Expenditures Made and Contributions Received, were not transmitted to the newer database. This technical problem will be corrected by tomorrow night (07/18/2012). As part of an ongoing effort to improve our systems, the FEC is currently in the process of implementing a new Data Warehouse. This and other initiatives spurred by public input will assist the public, press, and researchers to access campaign finance data in a more efficient and user-friendly manner. The FEC encourages researchers and reporters to raise issues such as this with our press or public information officers in order to avoid inaccurate reporting and resolve technical issues as expeditiously as possible
Steve has asked a question about reconciling summary information about PAC contributions to candidates with the detailed reporting of those contributions. It's an important issue that sheds some light into the complexity of the reporting and processing of this information here at the FEC.[Read More]
We're going to try to use this category of the blog to deal with specific questions or problems you find in the data you get from us. If you find something you don't understand or you think is simply wrong - post a comment here and we'll look into it and report back.
I'll probably turn some of the comments into new posts -- threads that deal with common problems or issues - but you can also think of this as the tool to use to make us accountable - everyone will see your questions and whether and how and when we respond to them.
This is the sausage-making, so it may not always be pretty, but contrary to the old adage, I think it will be better if everyone can see it happen. . .
