Date: July 6, 2026
To: Members of the Ethics Commission
From: Steven Massey, Director of Technology Services
Subject: Agenda Item 8: Electronic Disclosure and Data Analysis (EDDA) Division Report
Summary
This report provides an overview of the activities of the Electronic Disclosure & Data Analysis (EDDA) Division for the period of March 2026 through June 2026. Key activities during this period included the launch of redesigned Campaign Dashboards, administration of the annual Form 700 filing deadline, completion of negotiations for a new Netfile contract, and completion of an accessibility audit of the Commission’s public-facing web services. No action is required by the Commission, as this item is for informational purposes only.
Campaign Dashboards
In March, EDDA staff completed development of the initial version of the Campaign Dashboards for the June and November 2026 elections. The dashboards were designed to make campaign finance information easier for voters, journalists, staff, and regulated communities to find, interpret, and cite. By presenting complex disclosure data through searchable, mobile-responsive, and accessible public tools, the dashboards support the Commission’s broader mission of promoting transparency and accountability in local elections.
The dashboards provide summaries of the contributions and expenditures influencing local elections, allowing users to view campaign finance activity by election, contest, candidate, ballot measure, and committee. They present key metrics such as total funds raised and spent, highlight major contributors and spending, and enable users to navigate from high-level summaries to more detailed disclosure information. The dashboards also include information about candidate committees, ballot measure committees, general purpose committees, recent contributions, late contributions, late independent expenditures, advertisements, election outcomes, and official ballot measure descriptions from the voter guide. Tooltips are available throughout the dashboards to explain campaign finance concepts and how certain metrics are calculated.
The dashboards are supported by structured data pipelines that allow EDDA to refresh campaign finance information as new disclosure data is processed and made available. This structure helps ensure that public-facing information remains current during active election periods. The dashboards also help users answer common questions about campaign finance activity without downloading and analyzing raw filing data, including:
- Who the largest contributors are to different candidates and ballot measures
- How much is being raised and spent across different contests
- The proportion of funds being raised from local San Francisco contributions
- Who is contributing to each committee and how that money is being spent
- Which third-party organizations are spending to influence elections and their funding sources
- How to access copies of complete campaign finance disclosures and datasets
Following development, EDDA collaborated with the Policy Division to conduct user testing with reporters from Mission Local, the San Francisco Standard, and the San Francisco Chronicle, as well as internal staff. Participants were asked to locate specific information within the dashboards and provide real-time feedback on usability and functionality. This feedback informed several refinements prior to launch.
Since completing user testing, EDDA has implemented additional features to enhance usability and data access. The dashboards now include tools to track recent contributions and late independent expenditures, along with the ability to download associated print, video, and audio advertisements. Visual enhancements, such as proportional bars within tables, have been added to improve data interpretation. The site also indicates election outcomes for candidates and ballot measures and includes official ballot measure descriptions from the voter guide.
The redesigned dashboards are fully responsive, providing a consistent user experience across mobile devices and desktop displays. Web analytics indicate that between 30 and 57 percent of daily users access the dashboards from mobile devices. The interface complies with WCAG 2.1 Level AA accessibility standards and successfully passes WebAIM accessibility testing, an industry-recognized evaluation tool. The dashboards also support deep linking, which has facilitated citation and sharing in news articles, online forums, and social media. The site’s structured data also makes the information more accessible to search engines and other tools that index public web content.
The dashboards support operational efficiency by making commonly requested campaign finance information available through self-service public tools. This helps reduce reliance on manual data pulls and allows staff, journalists, and members of the public to access commonly requested information directly. The dashboards are intended to complement, rather than replace, the Commission’s official public disclosure records.
EDDA conducted a soft launch of the dashboards on March 30 at campaign.sfethics.org, followed by a public announcement on April 6. On the day of the announcement, the San Francisco Standard published an article praising the redesigned dashboards and describing them as tools that could support accountability journalism. Since launch, EDDA has continued to receive positive feedback from reporters and other users.
EDDA will continue to maintain and improve the dashboards throughout the 2026 election cycle. Staff will also continue to evaluate opportunities to expand the dashboards’ usefulness for future election cycles and historical research.
Form 700 Filing Season
EDDA staff supported the annual Form 700 filing season by administering filer communications, supporting departmental filing officers, maintaining public non-filer information, and completing required basic reviews for City officials.
EDDA staff implemented a communication plan throughout March 2026 to ensure filers received sufficient reminders of their filing requirements. Reminders were sent to filers who had not completed their requirements on March 2, March 16, March 23, and March 31. Staff also reached out to City officials and commission secretaries on April 2 to inform them of the members who had not yet filed and would be disqualified from meeting participation. In that communication, staff also reminded the secretaries of their obligation to announce the names of disqualified members at the beginning of meetings. Staff also sent late notifications to all designated employees required to file Form 700 filers on April 2. An additional late filing notice was sent to all Form 700 filers on April 22.
EDDA staff held two training sessions for filing officers on April 14 and April 16 focused on their requirement to conduct basic reviews on 20 percent of on-time filings and 100 percent of late filings. The sessions covered how the reviews should be conducted, methods for pulling random samples to review, and tools they can use to help complete and track their reviews more easily. On May 4, staff posted the public list of names of non-filers to the Ethics Commission website, and two additional reminders were sent to all Form 700 non-filers on May 4 and May 18. The public non-filer list was maintained and updated daily by EDDA staff through May 31.
During the period of March 2026 to June 2026, EDDA staff resolved 963 total support tickets and completed 126 basic reviews of Form 700s for City officials, consisting of 20 percent of on-time filings and 100 percent of late filings. These figures reflect the significant operational workload associated with the annual filing season and the division’s role in supporting both filers and filing officers.
Netfile Contract
Staff have reached a tentative agreement, subject to approval by the Office of Contract Administration, on a new contract with Netfile, the Commission’s electronic filing system vendor, which supports campaign finance, public financing, Form 700, and lobbyist reporting. The new agreement preserves the Commission’s core electronic filing services while requiring a change to how public financing participants submit supporting documentation.
The contract extends through June 30, 2029, with two additional extension options, for a total potential term of up to nine years. This is the most complex vendor contract managed by the Commission and the first time it has been renegotiated since 2017. The Commission has contracted with Netfile for electronic filing services since 2007.
Under the new agreement, Netfile will continue operating existing services and implement new functionality over the three-year term. A key enhancement is the addition of Single Sign-On (SSO) for Form 700 filers and internal administrative system users. SSO improves authentication security and simplifies the login process by allowing users to access Netfile using their existing City credentials, rather than maintaining separate login information.
Since the last contract was negotiated in 2017, City contracting requirements have evolved significantly, requiring extensive renegotiation with Netfile. In particular, increased cybersecurity and errors and omissions insurance requirements would be necessary for Netfile to continue supporting all existing services, including the functionality used to administer the public financing program.
Currently, candidates for Board of Supervisors or Mayor who participate in the public financing program can submit qualifying or matching requests by entering contribution data into Netfile. This information can also be used to complete required financial disclosure forms, reducing compliance burdens. Candidates may also upload supporting documentation to verify that contributions were received, deposited, and made by eligible San Francisco residents. These uploads include records containing personally identifiable information (PII), which auditors can review within the system.
Netfile declined to meet the City’s updated insurance requirements for maintaining the supporting documentation upload feature. As a result, Netfile will discontinue this functionality. Netfile will transfer previously uploaded supporting documentation to the Commission and remove that documentation from its service. Going forward, candidates will continue to submit qualifying and matching requests via Netfile, and staff will transition the submission of supporting documentation to the Commission’s Dropbox Records Portal, which is currently used by committees being audited to transfer records to the Commission. Committees currently participating in the public financing program have been notified of the process change.
Web Accessibility and Digital Accessibility Compliance
In April, EDDA completed an accessibility audit of the Commission’s public-facing web services in preparation for the April 24, 2026 compliance deadline established by the City’s Digital Accessibility and Inclusion Standard (DAIS) and the U.S. Department of Justice’s web accessibility regulations. The audit evaluated the Commission’s websites against the Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1 Level AA standards.
The Commission engaged WebAIM, an industry-recognized accessibility testing provider, to conduct both automated and manual accessibility testing using the WAVE (Web Accessibility Evaluation Tool). The automated assessment evaluates accessibility errors, error density, and likely accessibility issues relative to a benchmark sample of one million website homepages. The Commission received an automated score of 9.9 out of 10. The manual, human evaluation resulted in a score of 9.1 out of 10, for a combined overall score of 9.5 out of 10. The audit also found an average of 0.1 accessibility errors per page.
Following completion of the audit, and shortly before the original federal compliance deadline, the U.S. Department of Justice issued an interim final rule extending the compliance date for state and local government entities with a total population of 50,000 or more from April 24, 2026 to April 26, 2027. Based on the audit results, the Commission’s web content appears to be substantially aligned with applicable accessibility standards. EDDA will continue to monitor accessibility, address identified issues, and incorporate accessibility best practices into ongoing web development and content updates.