Why figures differ from CAL-ACCESS
Why map totals may differ from CAL-ACCESS, Power Search or published reporting.
Last updated
A figure on the map comes from a public filing, but it can still differ from what you find elsewhere. Before assuming an error, check these common causes.
Different periods
The map's receipts are for the calendar year, through the end of each committee's latest statement period. Other tools and reports often total a whole election cycle, several years, or a committee's activity since it formed. Compare the same dates.
A later statement or an amendment
The map is a snapshot. If the committee filed a new statement or amended an old one after the snapshot date, CAL-ACCESS shows the newer figure. Check the snapshot date in Current data release and the filing dates in CAL-ACCESS.
Late reports and full statements
A late contribution shows up within days on a Form 497, then again on the committee's next Form 460. A search that adds both counts the money twice; the map keeps them apart. A search that uses only full statements won't yet show recent late contributions.
Itemized and unitemized money
Contributions are itemized one by one only above a threshold; smaller ones are reported as a lump sum. A tool that adds only itemized contributions shows less than the committee's total receipts. Power Search, for example, searches itemized contributions.
What counts as a contribution
Tools treat loans, transfers between committees and non-monetary contributions differently. Power Search's own notes explain, for example, that it leaves out forgiven loans and transfers between a candidate's own committees. See About the Data on Power Search.
More than one committee
A candidate can have several committees, and a campaign around a measure usually involves several committees on each side. A news report may add them together; the map shows each committee's own figure and which filings name the candidate or measure.
The map's own limits
The map applies thresholds and may leave a committee or giver out. A record can also be split across two spellings. See Known limitations and Matching records across filings.
Still doesn't match?
If you've ruled these out and the map still disagrees with the filing, the filing is the record. Please send a correction.