Government Agencies

Federal Election Commission. 999 E Street, NW, Washington, DC 20463, (800) 424-9530.

In 1975, Congress created the Federal Election Commission to administer and enforce the Federal Election Campaign Act. Today, the FEC is still the agency charged with overseeing federal election finance laws. An independent regulatory agency, the FEC ensures candidates disclose campaign finance information, enforce the provisions of the law such as the limits and prohibitions on contributions, and to oversee the public funding of Presidential elections. They are one of the best resources for election and campaign laws and would be useful in familiarizing a researchers with those particular laws.

Ohio Secretary of State. 180 East Broad Street Columbus, Ohio, (614) 466-2585.

As Ohio`s chief election officer, the secretary of state oversees the elections process and appoints the members of boards of elections in each of Ohio`s 88 counties. The secretary of state supervises the administration of election laws; approves ballot language; reviews statewide initiative and referendum petitions, chairs the Ohio Ballot Board, which approves ballot language for statewide issues; canvasses votes for all elective state offices and issues; investigates election fraud and irregularities; trains election officials and reimburses counties for poll worker training costs. This agency could be useful in producing past election results as well as voter demographics in certain regions of the state.