Query Instructions

How To Search The Electronic Filing Database

On the main menu under the heading QUERY THE ELECTRONIC FILING DATABASE, you will find several ways to search the database:

1. View Contributors -- Takes you to the Contributor Search Page (See below for detailed instructions) and allows you to search by type of contributor: Corporations; Committees, Partnerships, Unions, Associations, etc.; Individuals.
2. View Committee By Name -- Takes you to the Committee Search Page (See below for detailed instructions) and allows you to search by filer name.
3. View Committees By Office -- Takes you to the Elected Office Search Page (See below for detailed instructions) and allows you to search by office and district.

You may also choose to view 24 Hour Notices Filed--Any contribution or loan which exceeds $1000.00, and which is received after the cut-off date for filing the 11 Day Pre-Election report but before Election Day, must be reported within 24 hours of receipt.

Key Concepts

The Contributor, Committee and Elected Office Search Pages all allow you to view more detailed information from your search results by clicking on the Recipient or the FilerID Detail Link. You may then select and view the following information about a specific filer:

• Financial Disclosure Forms
• A list of contributors

All search results may be printed, but some of the results may require a large number of pages to print an entire report or list.

Search results may also be downloaded as a "htm" file and viewed with an Internet browser. It is highly recommended that you use the newest version of your Internet browser.

A Note About the Percent Sign on Results Pages.

The "%" sign is a wild card in the Electronic Filing Database. The wild card is a very powerful database search tool. It is used to represent any value, and the location of the wild card dictates where that value will appear. Your selection in the "Appearing" Section of the search form will automatically insert the "%" sign in the proper the location to retrieve the search results you want.

At any time you may return to the Electronic Filing Main Menu or the NYSBOE Home Page.

Using The Contributor Search Page

Instructions-- Provide your search criteria in the interactive search form and submit your query.

Search Form -- Allows you to customize your search requirements. You may search by the following criteria:

• [Contributor Type] -- Note your selection here. The same name may retrieve different information depending on the type of contributor selected. Your search results will show the search criteria you selected which will include one of the following contributor types:
  • Corporations
  • Committees, Partnerships, Unions, Associations, etc.
  • Individuals
• [Filing Year] -- The first year available for searching will be 1999. The Electronic Filing System commenced with the July 1999 Periodic Filing. Filings prior to July 1999 may be viewed in their original format, i.e., paper, at the State Board.
• [Amount of Contribution] --You may choose to view all contributions given by the contributor or you may select to view only the contributions over a specific dollar amount.
• [Sort By] -- Name or Amount
  • Name - Will put your search results in alphabetical order y contributor.
  • Amount - Will put your search results in ascending numeric order by amount contributed.
• [Look For] box --You may enter the full name or part of the contributor's name for which you would like to search. You may also leave this box empty and retrieve a list of all contributors that meet the search criteria previously selected. Please note that retrieving all contributors will result in a large search result and will require more search retrieval time.
• [Appearing] -- You may choose to have your "Look For" search term appear at the beginning of the contributor name retrieved or appear anywhere in the contributor name that is retrieved.
  • At the Beginning -- Retrieves a contributor's name which has the search term only at the beginning of the name. For example, Smith may retrieve names similar to the following based on contributor type:
    • Corporations: Smithersons, Inc., Smith and Co.
    • Committees, Partnerships, etc.: Smithson for Senate
    • Individuals: Smith, Smithers, Smithson
  • Anywhere in the Name -- Retrieves a contributor's name which has the search term anywhere in the name. For example, Smith may retrieve names similar to the following based on contributor type:
    • Corporations: R. H. Smith and Company;
    • Jones and Smithtown, Inc.
    • Committees, Partnerships, etc: Committee to Reelect John Smith;
    • John Q. Smithers for Judge Individual: Smith, Silversmith
• [Submit Query] -- The final step is to click on the "Submit Query" button to send your search to the Electronic Filing Database. You may also select the "Reset" button if you want to clear your previous criteria and select new search criteria.

Results Returned from a Contributor Search

Search Criteria -- Listed at the top of every search result page you will find the search criteria you entered and the number of records retrieved that matched your criteria. The following will appear:

• "List of {the committee type you selected} where Name is like % {the name you entered in the 'Look For' box will appear after the '%'(the wild card symbol) or a blank space will appear after the '%' if you left the 'Look For' box empty}."
• Records Retrieved - the number of records matching your search criteria.
• Filing Year
• Contribution Amount
• Sort By (Name or Amount)

Schedule Legend - A list of schedules and the type of contribution each represents.

Query Results Display - A list of contributors that match your search requirements. The displayed fields include:

• Contributor - Contributor's name and address
• Amount - Amount of the contribution
• Contribution Date - Date contribution was received by recipient
• Filing Year - Year for which financial disclosure statement was filed
• Recipient - Filer who received the contribution
• Schedule - Schedule on which contribution can be found
• Office - Office of recipient (where applicable)
• District - District of recipient (where applicable)
  • You may "DRILL DOWN" to retrieve further details about the recipient/filer by clicking on the recipient's name in the Recipient field. See the Detail Links Section below for further information about this option.

Using The Committee Search Page

Instructions--Provide your search criteria in the interactive search form and submit your query.

• [Look For] box --You may enter the full name or part of the filer's name for which you would like to search. You may also leave this box empty and retrieve a list of all filers that meet the search criteria previously selected. Please note that retrieving all filers may result in a large search result and will require more search retrieval time.
• [Appearing] -- You may choose to have your "Look For" search term appear at the beginning of the filer name retrieved or appear anywhere in the filer name that is retrieved.
  • At the Beginning -- Retrieves a filer's name which has the search term at the beginning of the name. For example, Smith may retrieve names similar to the following:

    Smith for Senate
    Smithers for Supreme Court

  • Anywhere in the Name -- Retrieves a filer's name which has the search term anywhere in the name. For example, Smith may retrieve names similar to the following:

    Committee to Reelect John Smith
    John Q. Smithers for Judge

Results Returned from a Committee Search

Search Criteria -- Listed at the top of every search result page you will find the search criteria you entered and the number of records retrieved that matched that criteria. The following will appear:

• "List of {the committee type you selected} where Name is like %{the name you entered in the 'Look For' box will appear after the '%' (the wild card symbol) or a blank space will appear after the '%' if you left the 'Look For' box empty}."
• Records Retrieved -- the number of records matching your search criteria.
• Sort By (Name)

Query Display -- A list of filers that match your search requirements. The displayed fields include:

• Filer Name
• Office -- Office of the filer (where applicable)
• District -- District of the filer (where applicable)
• FilerID/Detail Link -- The Filer ID Number underlined
  • You may "DRILL DOWN" to retrieve further details about the filer by clicking on the Filer ID Number in the FilerID Detail Link field. See the Detail Links Section below for further information about this option.

Using The Elected Office Search Page

Instructions -- Provide your search criteria in the interactive search form and submit your query.

• [Office] box --Click on the arrow to reveal a drop-down list of offices. Click on one of the offices from the list to select it.
• [District] -- Enter the district number for which you are looking or leave it blank for statewide offices.

Results Returned from an Elected Office Search

Search Criteria -- Listed at the top of every search result page you will find the search criteria you entered and the number of records retrieved that matched that criteria. The following will appear:

• List of filers for the office of {the office that you selected}
• Records Retrieved -- the number of records matching your search criteria.
• Sort By (Name)

Query Display -- A list of filers that match your search requirements. The displayed fields include:

• Filer Name
• Office -- Office of the filer (where applicable)
• District -- District of the filer (where applicable)
• FilerID/Detail Link -- The Filer ID Number underlined
  • You may "DRILL DOWN" to retrieve further details about the filer by clicking on the Filer ID Number in the FilerID Detail Link field. See the Detail Links Section below for further information about this option.

Detail Links Page

If you click on the Recipient field in the Contributor Search Results Display OR the FilerID/Detail Link in the Committee or Elected Office Query Results Display, you will go to the Detail Links Page which contains the following information:

• Filer ID Number
• Filer's Name and Address

Two search options are available on the Detail Links Page:

1. Select and view the filer's entire financial disclosure form.
2. View a list of contributors to the filer.

View Financial Disclosure Forms

1. Select the filing year.
2. Select the filing period.
3. Click on the "Get Form" button.

The results of this option will be the retrieval of the filer's entire financial disclosure statement in report form along with a brief summary at the end.

View a List of Contributors

1. Select the filing year -- Select specific year or all available years.
2. Enter the contributor's last name or corporate/committee name. (Leaving the box blank will retrieve all contributors.)
3. Select a specific contribution amount or all contributions.
4. Click on "Get List" button.

The results of this option will be the retrieval of a list of contributors to the filer, listed at the top of the page, who match your search criteria.

Assistance/Help Desks

You may contact the State Board of Elections at the following numbers or through the NYSBOE Home Page for additional information or assistance:

NYS Board of Elections: 1-800-458-3453
Campaign Finance: (518) 474-8200 option 2
Information Technology: (518) 474-8200 option 3
Public Information Office: (518) 474-1953

SBOE HOME CONTACT SBOE SITE INDEX ACCESSIBILITY