FEDERAL ELECTION 

COMMISSION 

FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT

ANNUAL REPORT

FISCAL YEAR 2012
Federal Election Commission

Freedom of Information Act Annual Report

Fiscal Year 2012

I. BASIC INFORMATION REGARDING REPORT

1. Person(s) to be contacted with questions about the Report. 

Gregory R. Baker, Chief Freedom of Information Act Officer

Eyana J. Esters, Freedom of Information Act Public Liaison

Candace J. Salley, Paralegal, Freedom of Information Act Requester 

 Service Center

Federal Election Commission

999 E Street, NW

Washington, DC 20463

(202) 694-1650

2. Electronic link for access to the Report on the agency website. 

http://www.fec.gov/press/foia.shtml

3. How to obtain a copy of the Report in paper form. 

Contact:

FOIA Requester Service Center, ATTN: Candace J. Salley

Federal Election Commission

999 E Street, NW

Washington, DC 20463

(202) 694-1650

II. MAKING A FOIA REQUEST 

1. Agency components1 that receive FOIA requests.

Federal Election Commission

FOIA Requester Service Center

999 E Street, NW

Washington, DC 20463

1 Please note that because the Commission is a small agency, the entire agency is 

considered to be one component (as opposed to individual divisions).
2

(202) 694-1650

(202) 219-1043 (fax number)

foia@fec.gov (email address)

2. Brief description of why some requests are not granted and an overview of 

certain general categories of the agency’s records to which the FOIA 

exemptions apply.

The Federal Election Commission (FEC) is an independent regulatory agency 

with jurisdiction over the financing of campaigns in federal elections (that is, those for 

President and Vice President of the United States, United States Senator, and United 

States Representative). It also administers the public financing program for Presidential 

elections. The Commission enforces the limits on the sources and amounts of 

contributions to candidates for federal office, reviews the registration and periodic 

reports filed by political committees supporting federal candidates, and publicly 

discloses those reports.

By far, the most frequent reason requests are denied at the FEC is that the 

agency has no responsive records. Some FOIA requesters do not clearly understand 

the limits on the agency's jurisdiction and ask for documents that the agency does not 

maintain: such as information pertaining to elections to state and local office, 

registration and voting information, and information regarding the qualifications of 

candidates. Other documents are not released because the release of conciliationrelated material and information concerning open enforcement cases is prohibited from 

disclosure by the Federal Election Campaign Act. See 2 U.S.C. § 437g(a)(4) 

(conciliation); § 437g(a)(12) (open enforcement matters). Consequently, this material is 

exempt from disclosure under FOIA Exemption 3.

Other FOIA exemptions that often apply to FEC records include, but are not limited 

to:

a) Inter-agency or intra-agency communications that are protected by legal 

privileges (Exemption 5); and

b) Information involving matters of personal privacy (Exemptions 6 and 7(C)).

III. ACRONYMS, DEFINITIONS, AND EXEMPTIONS 

1. Agency-specific acronyms or terms used in this Report. 

a. FEC – Federal Election Commission

b. FECA – Federal Election Campaign Act

2. Definitions of terms used in this Report: 

a. Administrative Appeal – a request to a federal agency asking that it 

review at a higher administrative level a FOIA determination made by 

the agency at the initial request level. 
3

b. Average Number – the number obtained by dividing the sum of a 

group of numbers by the quantity of numbers in the group. For 

example, of 3, 7, and 14, the average number is 8. 

c. Backlog – the number of requests or administrative appeals that are 

pending at an agency at the end of the fiscal year that are beyond the 

statutory time period for a response. 

d. Component – for agencies that process requests on a decentralized 

basis, a “component” is an entity, also sometimes referred to as an 

Office, Division, Bureau, Center, or Directorate, within the agency that 

processes FOIA requests. The FOIA now requires that agencies 

include in their Annual FOIA Report data for both the overall agency

and for each principal component of the agency.

e. Consultation – the procedure whereby the agency responding to a 

FOIA request first forwards a record to another agency for its review 

because that other agency has an interest in the document. Once the 

agency in receipt of the consultation finishes its review of the record, it 

responds back to the agency that forwarded it. That agency, in turn, 

will then respond to the FOIA requester.

f. Exemption 3 Statute – a federal statute that exempts information from 

disclosure and which the agency relies on to withhold information 

under subsection (b)(3) of the FOIA.

g. FOIA Request – a FOIA request is generally a request to a federal 

agency for access to records concerning another person (i.e., a “thirdparty” request), or concerning an organization, or a particular topic of 

interest. FOIA requests also include requests made by requesters 

seeking records concerning themselves (i.e., “first-party” requests) 

when those requesters are not subject to the Privacy Act, such as nonU.S. citizens. Moreover, because all first-party requesters should be 

afforded the benefit of both the access provisions of the FOIA as well 

as those of the Privacy Act, FOIA requests also include any first-party 

requests where an agency determines that it must search beyond its 

Privacy Act “systems of records” or where a Privacy Act exemption

applies, and the agency looks to FOIA to afford the greatest possible 

access. All requests which require the agency to utilize the FOIA in 

responding to the requester are included in this Report.

Additionally, a FOIA request includes records referred to the agency 

for processing and direct response to the requester. It does not, 

however, include records for which the agency has received a 

consultation from another agency. (Consultations are reported 

separately in Section XII of this Report.)
4

h. Full Grant – an agency decision to disclose all records in full in 

response to a FOIA request.

i. Full Denial – an agency decision not to release any records in 

response to a FOIA request because the records are exempt in their 

entirety under one or more of the FOIA exemptions, or because of a 

procedural reason, such as when no records could be located.

j. Median Number – the middle, not average, number. For example, of 

3, 7, and 14, the median number is 7.

k. Multi-Track Processing – a system in which simple requests requiring 

relatively minimal review are placed in one processing track and more 

voluminous and complex requests are placed in one or more other 

tracks. Requests granted expedited processing are placed in another 

track. Requests in each track are processed on a first in/first out basis. 

i. Expedited Processing – an agency will process a FOIA 

request on an expedited basis when a requester satisfies 

the requirements for expedited processing as set forth in 

the statute and in agency regulations. 

ii. Simple Request – a FOIA request that an agency using 

multi-track processing places in its fastest (non-expedited) 

track based on the low volume and/or simplicity of the 

records requested. 

iii. Complex Request – a FOIA request that an agency using

multi-track processing places in a slower track based on 

the high volume and/or complexity of the records 

requested. 

l. Partial Grant/Partial Denial – in response to a FOIA request, an 

agency decision to disclose some portions of the records and to 

withhold others that are exempt under the FOIA, or to otherwise deny a 

portion of the request for a procedural reason. 

m. Pending Request or Pending Administrative Appeal – a request or 

administrative appeal for which an agency has not taken final action in 

all respects. 

n. Perfected Request – a request for records which reasonably 

describes such records and is made in accordance with published 

rules stating the time, place, fees (if any) and procedures to be 

followed. 
5

o. Processed Request or Processed Administrative Appeal – a

request or administrative appeal for which an agency has taken final 

action in all respects.

p. Range in Number of Days – the lowest and highest number of days 

to process requests or administrative appeals. 

q. Time Limits – the time period in the statute for an agency to respond 

to a FOIA request (ordinarily twenty working days from receipt of a 

perfected FOIA request). 

3. Concise descriptions of the nine FOIA exemptions.

a. Exemption 1: classified national defense and foreign relations 

information.

b. Exemption 2: internal agency rules and practices related to personnel 

matters.

c. Exemption 3: information that is prohibited from disclosure by a federal 

statute other than the FOIA.

d. Exemption 4: trade secrets and other confidential business 

information.

e. Exemption 5: inter-agency or intra-agency communications that are 

protected by legal privileges.

f. Exemption 6: information involving matters of personal privacy.

g. Exemption 7: records or information compiled for law enforcement 

purposes, to the extent that the production of those records (A) could 

reasonably be expected to interfere with enforcement proceedings; (B) 

would deprive a person of a right to a fair trial or an impartial 

adjudication; (C) could reasonably be expected to constitute an 

unwarranted invasion of personal privacy; (D) could reasonably be 

expected to disclose the identity of a confidential source; (E) would 

disclose techniques and procedures for law enforcement investigations 

or prosecutions, or would disclose guidelines for law enforcement

investigations or prosecutions; or (F) could reasonably be expected to 

endanger the life or physical safety of any individual.

h. Exemption 8: information that is contained in or related to examination, 

operations, or condition reports prepared by, or on behalf of, an 

agency for the regulation or supervision of a financial institution.

i. Exemption 9: geological and geophysical information and data,

 including maps, concerning wells.
6 

IV. EXEMPTION 3 STATUTES 

A. Exemption 3 Statutes Relied upon to Withhold Information 

Statute Type of Information

Withheld Case Citation

Number of Times 

Relied upon per 

Component

Total Number of 

Times Relied 

upon by Agency

2 U.S.C. § 437g(a)(12)(A)

Any notification or 

investigation made under 

this section of the Federal 

Election Campaign Act 

pertaining to federal 

campaign funds.

Citizens for 

Responsibility and 

Ethics in Washington 

v. FEC, No. 04-1672, 

slip op. at 5 (D.D.C. 

May 16, 2005).

AGENCY 

OVERALL

5 

2 U.S.C. § 437g(a)(4)(B)(i)

Any action made by the 

Commission, or 

information regarding, 

conciliation attempts 

made during law 

enforcement matters. 

AGENCY 

OVERALL 2 

V. FOIA REQUESTS 

A. Received, Processed and Pending FOIA Requests 

Column 1 Column 2 Column 3 Column 4

Number of 

Requests 

Pending as of 

Start of Fiscal 

Year 

Number of 

Requests 

Received in 

Fiscal Year 

Number of 

Requests 

Processed in 

Fiscal Year 

Number of 

Requests 

Pending as of 

End of Fiscal 

Year 

AGENCY 

OVERALL 14 60 66 8 
7 

B. (1) Disposition of FOIA Requests – All Processed Requests 

Number 

of Full 

Grants 

Number 

of 

Partial 

Grants/ 

Partial 

Denials 

Number of 

Full Denials 

Based on 

Exemptions 

Number of Full Denials Based on Reasons Other than Exemptions

No 

Records

All Records 

Referred to 

Another 

Component

or Agency

Request 

Withdrawn

FeeRelated 

Reason

Records not 

Reasonably 

Described

Improper 

FOIA 

Request 

for Other 

Reason

Not 

Agency 

Record

Duplicate 

request

Other

*Explain in 

chart below

TOTAL

AGENCY 

OVERALL 13 23 3 15 3 7 0 1 0 1 0 0 66
8 

B. (2) Disposition of FOIA Requests – “Other” Reasons for “Full Denials 

 

Component

Description of “Other” 

Reasons for Denials from 

Chart B (1) & Number of Times 

Those Reasons Were Relied 

upon

TOTAL

AGENCY OVERALL

Description #

N/A 0

B. (3) Disposition of FOIA Requests – Number of Times Exemptions Applied 

Ex. 

1

Ex. 

2

Ex.

3

Ex. 

4

Ex. 

5

Ex. 

6

Ex. 

7(A)

Ex. 

7(B)

Ex. 

7(C)

Ex. 

7(D)

Ex. 

7(E)

Ex. 

7(F)

Ex.

8

Ex.

9

AGENCY 

OVERALL 0 2 5 5 10 17 2 0 4 0 4 0 0 0
9 

VI. ADMINISTRATIVE APPEALS OF INITIAL DETERMINATIONS OF 

FOIA REQUESTS 

A. Received, Processed and Pending Administrative Appeals 

Column 1 Column 2 Column 3 Column 4

Number of 

Appeals Pending 

as of Start of 

Fiscal Year 

Number of 

Appeals 

Received in 

Fiscal Year 

Number of 

Appeals 

Processed in 

Fiscal Year 

Number of 

Appeals 

Pending as of 

End of Fiscal 

Year 

1 4 4 1

B. Disposition of Administrative Appeals – All Processed Appeals 

Number 

Affirmed 

on Appeal

Number Partially 

Affirmed & Partially 

Reversed/Remanded 

on Appeal

Number Completely 

Reversed/Remanded 

on Appeal

Number of 

Appeals 

Closed for 

Other 

Reasons

TOTAL

3 0 0 1 4

C. (1) Reasons for Denial on Appeal – Number of Times Exemptions Applied 

Ex. 

1

Ex. 

2

Ex.

3

Ex. 

4

Ex. 

5

Ex. 

6

Ex. 

7(A)

Ex. 

7(B)

Ex. 

7(C)

Ex. 

7(D)

Ex. 

7(E)

Ex. 

7(F)

Ex.

8

Ex.

9

0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
10 

C. (2) Reasons for Denial on Appeal – Reasons Other than Exemptions 

No 

Records

Records 

Referred 

at Initial 

Request 

Level

Request 

Withdrawn

FeeRelated 

Reason

Records not 

Reasonably 

Described

Improper 

Request 

for Other 

Reasons

Not 

Agency 

Record

Duplicate 

Request 

or Appeal

Request in 

Litigation

Appeal 

Based 

Solely on 

Denial of 

Request for 

Expedited 

Processing

Other

*Explain in 

chart below

2 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0

C. (3) Reasons for Denial on Appeal – “Other” Reasons from Section VI, C (2) Chart 

Description of “Other” Reasons for 

Denial on Appeal from Chart C (2) & 

Number of Times Those Reasons Were 

Relied upon

TOTAL

Description #

N/A 0 
11 

C. (4) Response Time for Administrative Appeals 

Median Number 

of Days

Average Number 

of Days

Lowest Number 

of Days

Highest Number 

of Days

70.5 112.5 19 290

C. (5) Ten Oldest Pending Administrative Appeals 

10th

Oldest

Appeal 9th 8th 7th 6th 5th 4th 3rd 2nd

Oldest

Appeal

Date of 

Receipt of 

Ten

Oldest 

Appeals

Date

N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A 2/28/12

Number of 

Days 

Pending

# 

0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 150
12 

VII. FOIA REQUESTS: RESPONSE TIME FOR PROCESSED AND PENDING REQUESTS 

A. Processed Requests – Response Time for All Processed Perfected Requests 

SIMPLE COMPLEX EXPEDITED PROCESSING

Median 

Number

of Days

Average 

Number 

of Days

Lowest 

Number 

of Days

Highest 

Number

of Days

Median 

Number 

of Days

Average 

Number

of Days

Lowest 

Number 

of Days

Highest 

Number

of Days

Median 

Number 

of Days

Average 

Number 

of Days

Lowest 

Number 

of Days

Highest 

Number 

of Days

AGENCY 

OVERALL 20 49 1 326 81.5 132.6 16 354 12.5 12.5 10 15

B. Processed Requests – Response Time for Perfected Requests in Which Information Was Granted 

SIMPLE COMPLEX EXPEDITED PROCESSING

Median 

Number

of Days

Average 

Number 

of Days

Lowest 

Number 

of Days

Highest 

Number

of Days

Median 

Number 

of Days

Average 

Number

of Days

Lowest 

Number 

of Days

Highest 

Number

of Days

Median 

Number 

of Days

Average 

Number 

of Days

Lowest 

Number 

of Days

Highest 

Number 

of Days

AGENCY 

OVERALL 45 67.1 1 326 187.5 177.6 25 354 12.5 12.5 10 15
13 

C. Processed Requests – Response Time in Day Increments 

Simple Requests

1-20 

Days

21-40

Days

41-60

Days

61-80

Days

81-100

Days

101-120 

Days

121-140

Days

141-160

Days

161-180

Days

181-200

Days

201-300

Days

301-400

Days

401 +

Days

TOTAL

AGENCY 

OVERALL 27 4 5 4 4 1 1 0 1 0 2 1 0 50

Complex Requests 

1-20 

Days

21-40

Days

41-60

Days

61-80

Days

81-100

Days

101-120 

Days

121-140

Days

141-160

Days

161-180

Days

181-200

Days

201-300

Days

301-400

Days

401 +

Days

TOTAL

AGENCY 

OVERALL 3 3 0 1 1 0 0 1 0 0 4 1 0 14

Requests Granted Expedited Processing

1-20 

Days

21-40

Days

41-60

Days

61-80

Days

81-100

Days

101-120 

Days

121-140

Days

141-160

Days

161-180

Days

181-200

Days

201-300

Days

301-400

Days

401 +

Days

TOTAL

AGENCY 

OVERALL 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2
14

D. Pending Requests – All Pending Perfected Requests 

SIMPLE COMPLEX EXPEDITED 

PROCESSING

Number 

Pending

Median 

Number 

of Days

Average 

Number

of Days

Number 

Pending

Median 

Number 

of Days

Average 

Number

of Days

Number 

Pending

Median 

Number

of Days

Average 

Number

of Days

AGENCY 

OVERALL 1 6 6 7 42 102.1 0 0 0

E. Pending Requests – Ten Oldest Pending Perfected Requests

10th Oldest 

Request 

and 

Number of 

Days 

Pending

9th 8th 7th 6th 5th 4th 3rd 2nd

Oldest

Request 

and 

Number 

of Days 

Pending

Agency 

Overall

Date

N/A

Number of 

Days

0

N/A

0

9/27/12

1

9/20/12

6

9/19/12

7

7/2/12

42

7/2/12

42

6/20/12

70

11/9/11

223

6/9/11

330
15 

VIII. REQUESTS FOR EXPEDITED PROCESSING AND REQUESTS FOR FEE 

WAIVER 

A. Requests for Expedited Processing 

Number 

Granted

Number 

Denied

Median 

Number of 

Days to 

Adjudicate

Average 

Number of 

Days to 

Adjudicate

Number 

Adjudicated 

Within Ten 

Calendar 

Days

AGENCY

OVERALL 2 13 0 1.5 15

B. Requests for Fee Waiver 

Number 

Granted

Number

Denied

Median 

Number of 

Days to 

Adjudicate

Average 

Number of 

Days to 

Adjudicate

AGENCY

OVERALL 15 0 1 1

IX. FOIA PERSONNEL AND COSTS

Column 1 Column 2

PERSONNEL COSTS

Number of 

“Full-Time 

FOIA 

Employees”

Number of 

“Equivalent 

Full-Time 

FOIA 

Employees”

Total 

Number 

of “FullTime 

FOIA 

Staff”

(The sum 

of 

Columns

1 & 2)

Processing 

Costs

(At initial 

request and 

appeal 

levels)

LitigationRelated 

Costs

Total Costs

AGENCY 

OVERALL 0 1.6 1.6 $148,861.82 $55,883.59 $204,745.41
16 

X. FEES COLLECTED FOR PROCESSING REQUESTS

Total Amount of Fees 

Collected

Percentage of Total Costs

AGENCY OVERALL 0 N/A

XI. FOIA REGULATIONS

 

PUBLIC RECORDS AND THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT

11 CFR 4.1 Definitions.

11 CFR 4.2 Policy on disclosure of records. 

11 CFR 4.3 Scope. 

11 CFR 4.4 Availability of records. 

11 CFR 4.5 Categories of exemptions. 

11 CFR 4.6 Discretionary release of exempt records. 

11 CFR 4.7 Requests for records. 

11 CFR 4.8 Appeal of denial. 

11 CFR 4.9 Fees. 
17 

XII. BACKLOGS, CONSULTATIONS, AND COMPARISONS 

A. Backlogs of FOIA Requests and Administrative Appeals 

 

Number of Backlogged 

Requests as of End of 

Fiscal Year

Number of Backlogged 

Appeals as of End of 

Fiscal Year

AGENCY OVERALL 5 1

3. Explanation of Backlog.

The main causes of the current backlog stem from limitations of resources 

(including the vacancy of the FOIA Public Liaison position until the end of 

the second quarter, and the vacancy of two staff attorney positions); and 

the fact that there were several voluminous requests. Despite these 

challenges, the FEC was able to significantly reduce its backlog by 61.5% 

(from 13 pending requests at the end of FY 2011, to five pending requests 

at the end of FY 2012). Additionally, all five of the backlogged FOIAs had 

received interim responses by the end of the fiscal year (2 within 20 

business days of the request). 

B. Consultations on FOIA Requests – Received, Processed, and Pending 

 Consultations

Column 1 Column 2 Column 3 Column 4

Number of 

Consultations 

Received from 

Other Agencies 

that Were 

Pending at Your 

Agency as of 

Start of the 

Fiscal Year

Number of 

Consultation 

Received from 

Other Agencies 

During the 

Fiscal Year 

Number of 

Consultations 

Received from 

Other 

Agencies that 

Were 

Processed by 

Your Agency 

During the

Fiscal Year

Number of 

Consultations 

Received from 

Other 

Agencies that 

Were Pending

at Your Agency 

as of End of 

the Fiscal Year

AGENCY 

OVERALL 0 1 1 0

 
18 

C. Consultations on FOIA Requests – Ten Oldest Consultations Received from

 Other Agencies and Pending at Your Agency 

10th Oldest 

Consultation 

and Number 

of Days 

Pending 9th 8th 7th 6th 5th 4th 3rd 2nd

Oldest 

Consultation 

and Number 

of Days 

Pending

Agency

Overall

Date

N/A

Number of 

Days

0

N/A

0

N/A

0

N/A

0

N/A

0

N/A

0

N/A

0

N/A

0

N/A

0

N/A

0

D. Comparison of Numbers of Requests from Previous and Current Annual

Report – Requests Received, Processed, and Backlogged 

Column 1 Column 2 Column 3 Column 4

NUMBER OF REQUESTS 

RECEIVED

NUMBER OF REQUESTS 

PROCESSED

Number 

Received 

During Fiscal 

Year from Last 

Year’s Annual 

Report

Number 

Received 

During Fiscal 

Year from 

Current Annual 

Report

Number 

Processed 

During Fiscal 

Year from Last 

Year’s Annual 

Report

Number 

Processed 

During Fiscal 

Year from 

Current Annual 

Report

AGENCY 

OVERALL 83 60 82 66

Column 1 Column 2

Number of Backlogged 

Requests as of End of the 

Fiscal Year from Previous 

Annual Report

Number of Backlogged 

Requests as of End of the 

Fiscal Year from Current 

Annual Report

AGENCY OVERALL 13 5
19 

 

E. Comparison of Numbers of Administrative Appeals from Previous and Current 

Annual Report – Appeals Received, Processed, and Backlogged 

 

Column 1 Column 2 Column 3 Column 4

NUMBER OF APPEALS 

RECEIVED

NUMBER OF APPEALS 

PROCESSED

Number 

Received 

During Fiscal 

Year from Last 

Year’s Annual 

Report

Number 

Received 

During Fiscal 

Year from 

Current Annual 

Report

Number 

Processed 

During Fiscal 

Year from Last 

Year’s Annual 

Report

Number 

Processed 

During Fiscal 

Year from 

Current Annual 

Report

AGENCY 

OVERALL 1 4 3 4

Column 1 Column 2

Number of Backlogged 

Appeals as of End of the 

Fiscal Year from Previous 

Annual Report

Number of Backlogged 

Appeals as of End of the 

Fiscal Year from Current 

Annual Report

AGENCY OVERALL 1 1

F. Discussion of Other FOIA Activities (Optional) 

N/A