How is the Campaign Finance Database compiled?
Campaign committees that file with the State Board of Elections are generally required to file their reports in an electronic format using software provided by SBE or by a private vendor. The information is sent by the filers to SBE either on a diskette or via the Internet. Once received by SBE, the data is uploaded to a master database.

Certain campaign accounts that have minimal financial activity are exempt from the electronic filing requirement. However, their data is manually entered into the database by the SBE staff.

What period of time is covered in the Campaign Finance Database?
The database begins with data from the 11/23/1999 Baltimore City Post General Report. For the many of the campaign committees, the 11/23/1999 report covers all transaction in 1999. However, certain campaign accounts that were participating in the Baltimore City election filed reports earlier in the year and therefore their 11/23/1999 report only includes transactions beginning on 10/18/1999. It should also be noted that several campaign committees who were participating in the Baltimore City election did file some of their earlier reports electronically.