FEC seeks to demystify campaign finance data with betaFEC

The Federal Election Committee wants to make campaign finance data more interactive and accessible with the launch of betaFEC. The new website, which was created in partnership with 18F, is the first piece in the complete overhaul of FEC’s online presence. In July the FEC launched its first application programming interface as a part of OpenFEC, an initiative aimed at improving the way FEC presents campaign and committee financial information online.

The primary mission of the new site is to take complex campaign finance filings and render them in everyday language. The site offers a glossary tool designed so that non-expert users can decipher campaign finance jargon. Other features allow users to browse basic professional and financial information on candidates and candidate and political committees, including their contributions, disbursements, and other transactions. Additionally, users can narrow searches by location or candidate contribution size for more election information.

The website has been in the works over the past year and is still being actively updated and improved.  FEC officials will release new features and improvements every few weeks and plan to replace the current fec.gov with the improved site early next year -- just as the 2016 presidential election really heats up.