Web Site Shows Neighbor Campaign Donations

By ANICK JESDANUN
AP Internet Writer

NEW YORK (AP) -- It's snooping on the neighbors with a political edge, courtesy of a new Web site. Just type your address and ZIP code into the "Neighbor Search" tool at fundrace.org, and you'll get a list of what your neighbors gave to any of the presidential candidates last year - and how much.

Your nearest neighbors are listed first.

The tool uses technology called geocoding, which matches street addresses with longitude and latitude data. The match works about 70 percent of the time; in cases of failure, results are given based on ZIP code. Visitors can also search by name.

Candidates, by law, are required to disclose contributions of $200 or more, and the Federal Election Commission makes databases available for download. Electronic filings are currently available through Dec. 31, and the site's developer, Michael Frumin, plans to add data as they become available.

Frumin said Friday the site has attracted some 100,000 searches, from an estimated 30,000 to 40,000 people, since the feature's launch Wednesday. He said the site benefited from mentions on prominent Web sites and Web journals.

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Fundrace.org is a project of Eyebeam, a New York organization that explores the intersection of arts and sciences. Frumin, who is a research fellow there, said the Fundrace was set up to explore what it takes to reach a large audience online without advertising.

Other sites have more extensive databases and searching capabilities.

Opensecrets.org, run by the Center for Responsive Politics, lets you search by state, occupation or employer and has data going back to 1989. It also permits searching of so-called soft money to party organizations, in addition to direct contributions to candidates.

The FEC site, at www.fec.gov, also lets you do that using its "advanced search."

President Bush's campaign Web site, meanwhile, has more current data on its contributors - through March 10.

But Fundrace does let you sort by proximity to your home, rather than get listings only by ZIP code.

"The last thing I want to do is recreate the wheel," Frumin said. "If they have something that lets you search by state, I don't want to do that."

Copyright 2004 Associated Press. All rights reserved.