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Save two files, not one: download the official filing unchanged, then make a duplicate with an OCR text layer. Keep the original scan, the searchable copy, and a provenance note together. That preserves evidentiary fidelity while letting you search names, dates, amounts, and totals.
Start with the right jurisdiction and source
First decide which agency holds the filing. Federal campaign reports are published through the Federal Election Commission (FEC). State and local disclosures may instead be maintained by a state records office; the FEC public-records guidance links to a directory for finding those offices. A copy downloaded from an unofficial mirror can be useful for discovery, but your archive should point to the agency record.
The FEC says it must make required designations, statements, reports, and notifications available for public inspection at the Commission and online within 48 hours of receipt, or within 24 hours when the item was filed electronically. It also notes that most reports are electronic, while paper filings are scanned and posted on the FEC website. Availability and version can therefore change as an amended report or a newly processed filing appears.
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Find the official filing
Use Browse Filings
- Open the FEC Browse Filings tool.
- Search by committee or candidate. Narrow the result by state or territory, filing date, form type, document status, and version.
- Open the filing record and confirm the committee or candidate, reporting period, form, filing date, and status before downloading.
- Use the document link supplied by the FEC, rather than printing a search-results page.
Use electronic-file retrieval when you know the report details
The FEC’s Electronic Filing Report Retrieval page provides additional filters: committee ID, partial committee name, state, party, committee type, report type, date filed, and form type. These filters are useful when a common committee name produces many results or when you need a particular reporting period.
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Resolve amendments and versions before archiving
Do not assume the first result is the final record. Compare the document status and version shown by the FEC. If an amended filing supersedes an earlier one, retain both when your research depends on the historical sequence, and label which version is current. Record the FEC ID when it is available so another person can distinguish similarly named committees.
Download and preserve the untouched original
Save the PDF or image exactly as delivered before opening it in an OCR program. Never run OCR over the only copy and never replace the downloaded file with the OCR export.
- Create a dedicated folder for the committee or candidate and reporting period.
- Download the official document and keep the original extension. If the FEC supplies an image rather than a PDF, retain that image as the original.
- Use a descriptive filename such as
committee_form_period_receipt-date_version_original.pdf. Replace each word with the actual value; keep the date format consistent across your archive. - Record the source URL and the UTC or local download timestamp in a text or spreadsheet note.
- Optionally calculate a checksum with your normal archival tool. A checksum lets you detect accidental changes later, but it does not prove that the agency’s file was correct.
Keep the downloaded file read-only when practical. Make a working duplicate with a name such as committee_form_period_receipt-date_version_ocr.pdf. The suffixes make it obvious which file is the source image and which one contains machine-generated text.
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A page can look crisp and still contain no text layer. Open the document in a viewer and try three tests:
- Drag across a word and copy it into a plain-text editor. If you can select only the whole page as an image, there is probably no text layer.
- Search for a distinctive committee name, form number, or dollar amount. A zero-result search is a warning, not conclusive proof, because the term may genuinely be absent or spelled differently.
- Zoom into a page with a table. If letters become pixels rather than selectable characters, treat the document as image-only.
Run the tests on several pages, including a cover page and a transaction page. A filing can contain selectable text on some pages and scanned images on others.
Create a searchable PDF without altering the source
1. Duplicate the source
Work only on the duplicate. Keep the original in the same archive folder or in a linked read-only location. If your OCR software offers an option such as “create searchable PDF” or “add text layer,” choose that rather than an image conversion that discards the page image.
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2. Select OCR settings that fit the filing
Use the document language used in the report and enable page-order or layout analysis when the filing contains columns and tables. Preserve the original page images at a useful resolution. OCR settings vary by application, so do not assume that a “text export” is equivalent to a page-faithful PDF; your deliverable should retain the visual pages and add hidden, searchable text.
3. Export to a new PDF
Give the OCR output a separate filename. Do not flatten, rotate, crop, deskew, or enhance the original in place. If a tool asks whether to replace the source, choose a new output path.
4. Test the text layer immediately
Search the OCR PDF for a committee name, a candidate name, a reporting date, a large amount, and a form number. Select text from both ordinary paragraphs and a table. This catches a file that appears to have completed OCR but contains no usable text layer.
Verify names, dates, amounts, and page order
OCR is an aid to discovery, not a substitute for the filing image. Compare a sample of every page type against the visible scan.
- Names: Check committee, candidate, treasurer, contributor, and payee names. OCR commonly confuses similar characters and can remove punctuation.
- Dates: Verify reporting periods, receipt dates, transaction dates, and amendment dates. A single digit can change the period a filing represents.
- Amounts: Inspect dollar signs, decimal points, commas, minus signs, parentheses, and leading zeros. Compare subtotals and totals rather than trusting a copied number.
- Tables: Check that columns were read in the right order. A visually correct table can produce a text stream that interleaves dates, descriptions, and amounts.
- Page numbers and order: Confirm that no page was skipped, duplicated, rotated incorrectly, or placed out of sequence.
When you find an obvious recognition error, record it in a review log with the page number and the correction you made for searching. Do not silently rewrite the filing image or present a corrected value as if it came from the agency. For quotations, cite the visible original page and, when relevant, note that the searchable text was OCR-generated.
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Store a plain-text or spreadsheet record beside the files. Include:
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- Committee or candidate name and FEC ID, when available.
- Form type and reporting period.
- Receipt date, filing date, and document status or version shown by the agency.
- Exact source URL and download timestamp.
- Original filename and OCR filename.
- OCR tool, version if shown, language, layout mode, and other material settings.
- Review date, pages checked, and any corrections listed in the review log.
- Checksum values if your archive uses them.
This note lets another researcher locate the same agency record and tells them which copy is authoritative. It also prevents an amended filing from being mistaken for the first submission.
Use raw FEC data for calculations, not as a replacement for the filing
The FEC’s Data Tutorial explains that .FEC files contain transaction data and can be exported to CSV. Raw files can appear before processed summaries. Use CSV or another structured export to sort, filter, and calculate transactions, but retain the filing PDF or scan as the human-readable, page-faithful record. A CSV does not preserve the layout, signatures, footnotes, or visual context of the filed document.
Choose an archive format deliberately
| Format | Best use | Main trade-off |
|---|---|---|
| Original downloaded PDF or image | Legal or evidentiary fidelity and later visual review | May contain no searchable text |
| OCR PDF copy | Full-text search, quoting, and quick navigation | OCR can misread names, figures, and symbols |
.FEC or CSV export |
Sorting, filtering, and calculations | Transaction data is not a page-faithful filing image |
| Original plus OCR plus metadata note | Long-term research archive and reproducible handoff | Needs extra storage and review work |
For most records projects, the last option is the safest: the original answers “what did the agency publish?”, the OCR copy answers “where does this term appear?”, and the metadata answers “which filing and process produced these files?”
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Common problems and fixes
The FEC search returns too many records
Add the committee ID, state, party, committee type, report type, filing date, and form type in the electronic retrieval page. In Browse Filings, narrow the state or territory, document status, and version. Verify the reporting period on the opened record before downloading.
The expected filing is not visible yet
Check the filing date and status, then try the electronic retrieval page using a partial committee name or committee ID. The FEC publishes records after receipt, and electronic and paper submissions can follow different posting timelines. If the filing is a state or local disclosure, use the relevant state records office rather than assuming it belongs in the FEC system.
OCR produced an image-only PDF
Choose the OCR application’s searchable-PDF or hidden-text-layer output, not “export pages as images.” Open the new file and test text selection. If the software cannot create a text layer, use another OCR-capable application while retaining the same untouched original.
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Search finds a name but the displayed text is wrong
Compare the hit with the page image. Record the correction in the review log, and use the image when quoting or calculating. Do not overwrite the OCR copy repeatedly; export a new revision if you change settings.
Columns or totals are scrambled
Re-run OCR with table or layout analysis, or OCR the page as a single image and inspect the resulting reading order. Regardless of settings, verify totals and signs visually. For arithmetic, use the structured FEC data when available and retain the filing page as evidence.
The PDF has missing, duplicated, or rotated pages
Compare the page count and printed page numbers with the downloaded original. Start again from a fresh duplicate if the OCR tool altered page order. Keep the original untouched so you can prove which pages were supplied by the agency.
A link later stops working
Your provenance note should include the agency, identifiers, filing date, and version, not just a URL. Keep the downloaded original under your records policy. If you publish contributor information, check the current FEC notice and applicable state rules first.
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If you need a clean visual capture of a filing page or results page before OCR, ScreenshotNeo can return a screenshot or PDF from one GET request. It is useful for the capture step, but a visual PDF may still need OCR before it is searchable; keep the official filing download as your primary record.
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curl -G "https://api.screenshotneo.com/v1/shot" -d access_key=YOUR_API_KEY --data-urlencode url=https://www.fec.gov/data/filings/ -o shot.webpSee the ScreenshotNeo documentation for parameters and output options. The same request in Python is:
import requests
r = requests.get("https://api.screenshotneo.com/v1/shot", params={"access_key": "YOUR_API_KEY", "url": "https://www.fec.gov/data/filings/"}, timeout=90)
open("shot.webp", "wb").write(r.content)In Node.js:
const q = new URLSearchParams({ access_key: 'YOUR_API_KEY', url: 'https://www.fec.gov/data/filings/' });
const res = await fetch(`https://api.screenshotneo.com/v1/shot?${q}`);ScreenshotNeo accepts the cookie or consent banner like a visitor and removes more than 60 known consent platforms, newsletter popups, and chat widgets before capture; each step can be turned off. Bot checks or CAPTCHAs, blank pages, timeouts, failed loads, and cache hits are not billed, and response headers identify the page verdict and whether it was billed. Its MCP server lets AI agents such as Claude or Cursor call take_screenshot, get_page_info, and capture_pdf. The Free plan includes 1,000 shots per month without a card; paid plans start at $5 for 3,000 shots. After capture, apply OCR and archive the official source and provenance note as described above. Sign up for the free ScreenshotNeo plan.
Records-use and privacy cautions
The FEC public-records guidance says copied information from reports may not be sold or used for soliciting contributions or for commercial purposes, subject to the statutory exception described there. Keep a personal research archive separate from redistribution or solicitation activity. Before publishing contributor data, verify the current FEC notice and the rules that apply to the state or local filing.
A practical folder layout
A consistent layout makes the relationship between files obvious:
committee-name/
2024-Q2/
committee_form_period_receipt-date_version_original.pdf
committee_form_period_receipt-date_version_ocr.pdf
provenance.txt
ocr-review.txt
checksums.txtUse the same identifiers in the filenames and metadata note. If you receive an amended version, create a separate versioned folder or filename rather than replacing the earlier record.
Final verification checklist
- The filing came from the correct federal, state, or local authority.
- The official download is preserved unchanged.
- The OCR copy is a separate file with a searchable text layer.
- Names, dates, amounts, totals, table order, and page numbers were checked against the image.
- OCR corrections are documented rather than silently applied to the source.
- The provenance note identifies the committee or candidate, FEC ID, form, period, status or version, URL, timestamp, OCR settings, and optional checksum.
- Structured
.FECor CSV data is used for calculations without replacing the page-faithful filing. - Any later publication or redistribution complies with the FEC notice and applicable state rules.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I delete the original after OCR passes inspection?
No. OCR can misread characters even when a sample looks correct. Keep the untouched agency download so every searchable result can be checked against the source image.
Is a searchable PDF the same as an accessible PDF?
Not necessarily. OCR adds selectable text, but accessibility also depends on reading order, tags, language metadata, and other structure that an OCR program may not create.
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Cite the agency filing and page number as the authoritative record. Identify the OCR copy as a convenience layer when its text or a correction is relevant.
What should I do when a filing is an image rather than a PDF?
Preserve the image as the original, make a duplicate, OCR the duplicate, and export a searchable PDF while retaining the image and provenance note together.
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