Wrong numbers: FEC error reported

WASHINGTON – The Federal Election Commission early this month reported on its Web site incorrect campaign contribution numbers for all Senate candidates after making an error when transferring the candidates’ paper filings to an electronic version. The numbers have been corrected.

The mistake occurred because of a coding error programmed by the commission within its data integration software, according to Bob Biersack, spokesman for the commission. Contributions of less than $200 and contributions of more than $200 are totaled on separate lines on the commission’s site and added together to form the total contributions. The mistake occurred when contributions of less than $200 were included in the total for contributions of more than $200, causing the under-$200 contributions to be counted twice.

The commission was informed of the error earlier this month when Boston University’s Washington News Service, which covers Washington for a number of daily newspapers, including the Bangor Daily News, discovered the error in reporting the Senate race in Maine between Republican Sen. Susan Collins and Democratic Rep. Tom Allen. The commission corrected the error within days of being notified, Biersack said.

Massie Ritsch, communications director for the Center for Responsive Politics, said the error isn’t indicative of the FEC’s abilities.

“There is great potential for error when you’re working with campaign finance data,” he said. “It’s not as simple as balancing your checkbook. Mistakes get made.”

Biersack said the mistake had not occurred in the past, and only the Senate campaigns were affected because the House candidates file electronically.

“We’re very concerned about accurately representing the information that’s provided to us,” said Biersack, who also said it would be easier if both the House and Senate filed electronically. “We’ve always encouraged the Senate to change their process and allow their candidates to file electronically.”

Kent Cooper, co-founder of CQ MoneyLine, an organization that analyzes campaign finances, said the problem could have been avoided with electronic filings by the Senate, noting that the chamber has followed the “status quo” of filing on paper since the 1970s. Any change would require legislative action on the Senate’s part.

He said the FEC’s computer error “is the kind of example that should open their eyes” and push the Senate to enact electronic filings.

Some senators have already pushed for that to no avail. In January 2007, U.S. Sen. Russell Feingold, D-Wis., introduced a bill requiring the Senate to file electronically. The bill has drawn the support of 40 co-sponsors, but the bill has not been voted on.

Stephen Weissman, associate director for policy for the Campaign Finance Institute, a nonprofit, nonpartisan research organization, said his organization is working to encourage the Senate leadership to schedule a vote. He noted that while computational errors in FEC reports are a concern, the graver issue is getting information to voters in a timely manner.

“The people don’t have information about who has been giving contributions,” Weissman said.

Though the average voter doesn’t scour the FEC’s reports of candidate filings daily, errors in presenting the filings could have an effect on the numerous organizations and journalists who report on campaign finances, said Josh Israel, a researcher at the Center for Public Integrity.

“It’s vital that the information presented to [the public] be drawn from an accurate source,” he said.