Check out the improvements to TRACER

TRACER Improvements

 

 

The Secretary of State’s office began 2011 with a goal to increase the usability and functionality of our online campaign finance system, TRACER. We have made several changes with this goal in mind. The changes aim to make TRACER more intuitive, and quite frankly, easier to use. Below is a list of some of the improvements we’ve made recently.

 

Better public search – The TRACER system includes several “non-scheduled” reports such as Major Contributor reports (high dollar donations in the days leading up to the election). A new search feature will allow users on the public site to search for these reports more easily within a specified date range.

 

Quick Stats – Visual improvements to graphs display a variety of useful campaign finance information including interactive maps that provide candidate listings and political race summaries for Senate, House and District Attorney candidates.

 

Bulk data download – For those looking for general trends and mass quantities of data, the bulk data download will once again be offered free of charge.

 

Report Due reminders – When committee members log in to TRACER, messages will be prominently displayed on the home page if a report is due or past due. Report due messages will appear anytime between the end of the filing period and the due date, and past-due notices will remain so long as the report needs to be filed.

 

“Nothing to report” button – All committee types will have a new option for a single “nothing to report” button. This will bypass the contribution, expenditure and filing functions, reducing clicks and time spent for committees with no activity to report during a given period.

 

Consolidated updating for emails – Users will be able to update contact emails on file with TRACER in a single place. Currently, email address changes must take place in several places depending on the permissions and the type of user the email is associated with.

 

Confirmation of filed report – A confirmation email will be sent to users immediately after a report has been successfully filed.

 

Changes to prevent user lockouts – Caps Lock Warning, Login Tips, forgot PIN and forgot username links and now available.

 

My Message Center – A new feature on the candidate workspace displays messages such as filing confirmations, registration amendments, filing calendars and other important information.

 

We will continue to increase the usability of the system for the public and find additional efficiencies for filers. Please feel free to contact (303) 894-2200 ext. 6383 or cpfhelp@sos.state.co.us with any suggestions or other options you feel might improve the system.

 

Thank you.

 

Scott Gessler

Secretary of State