Filing directly on to the Internet would mean that the candidate' s disclosure report would become available instantaneously to the public. Agency software was developed to accept the reports and allow for immediate analysis of the data. The aim of the commission is to eliminate any intervention of the campaign finance information from the candidate to the public. The candidate, under clear guidelines, inputs information with the use of customized software. The software program, additionally, functions as a record-keeping system to enable financial management by the candidate.
Prompts inform the candidate of any potential illegal contributions.
With a click of the send key, the data is on the Internet. The candidate and the Commission receive a fax message to confirm the transmittal. The information on the Internet is raw data which details each contributor, how much they donated, and the employer and occupation of large donors. The contributor information on the Internet can be manipulated by the user to answer questions such as who the largest contributors were and where they worked. Public access to candidates' contribution and expenditure data is now as close as your computer.