The Federal Election Commission (FEC) is looking to move its current filing platform to a cloud-based platform, according to a Nov. 23 request for information (RFI). In the RFI, the FEC said it is looking to create a “modern, state of the art, cloud-based, secure, platform-independent electronic filing data application.”
The FEC is tasked with enforcing the Federal Election Campaign Act (FECA), which includes managing campaign finance filings. Currently, the FEC filing platform – known as FECFile – is a free Windows-based software system that allows political campaigns to electronically file their compliance report to the FEC.
In terms of its capabilities, FEC noted that the FECFile allows campaigns to file all required FEC reporting forms except Debt Settlement Plans. The platform can be used to file itemized receipts, disbursements, and independent expenditures. FECFile allows users to manage their contacts. FECFile manages user data and validates user data prior to upload to the FEC to reduce errors. FECFile also provides filers with the option to generate a PDF file of their compliance report.
The move to modernize the platform started back in 2017 when the FEC published a study of its current platform, including a survey regarding the platform’s existing functionalities and an investigation of needs expressed by filers. Based on the study’s findings, the FEC began Phase 1 of the modernization process in 2018. Since completing the first phase, FEC has begun work on Phase 2 for its new NextGen eFiling platform.
As part of Phase 2, the FEC’s objectives are:
- a modern, state of the art electronic filing data application,
- improved data quality,
- improve vendor community integration,
- a web/cloud based electronic filing data application,
- a cloud based electronic filing back-end infrastructure (EFI),
- eliminate user-facing OS dependencies,
- improve amendment processing and
- improve child transaction processing.
Submissions are due by Jan. 8, 2021.
