Secretary of State Mary Herrera's office hasn't used hundreds of thousands of dollars the New Mexico Legislature allocated over the past two years to fix a troublesome campaign finance reporting system.

The current electronic filing system, which dates to the 1990s, remains slow, difficult to use and doesn't allow data searches. Candidates, the public and journalists have long decried the software, which state law requires office seekers to use when filing campaign reports.

Office spokesman James Flores said the agency hopes to bank the money allocated by the Legislature and seek additional funds to eventually buy a new computer system. "We're going to be lobbying aggressively for those funds," he said of the proposed new system, which he estimated could cost between $800,000 and $1 million.

The latest round of complaints came this week, when the office announced it won't be able to post campaign reports on its Web site — including reports that candidates filed online — until May 26.

Monday was the most recent filing deadline for candidates in the June 3 primary elections.

Staffers blame the delay on the slowness of the existing system and say they need more time to scan in and post about 30 reports from candidates who asked for waivers from the online reporting requirement and filed on paper.

The state Board of Elections decided to post all candidate campaign finance information online at the same time, Flores said, to be fair to candidates.

The decision has the state Republican Party crying foul and some lawmakers thinking about what to do with the reporting system.

House Majority Leader Ken Martinez, D-Grants, said he sponsored an appropriation of $176,500 this year for the office specifically to fix the reporting Web site and make it easier to use for people filing — and reading — the reports.

He said he was told by the Secretary of State's Office that it needed some money now, and they would have to talk later about the future of the system. "There's probably going to be some discussion as to 'Do we fix the existing system or do we just scrap it and start anew?' " Martinez said.

Still, as a user of the system, Martinez is frustrated at how long it takes to file. And, he said, an open campaign finance system is part of a strong democracy.

"In my opinion," Martinez said, "for citizens to be able to get information easily, it's an ethical issue."

Problems with the system — and attempts to improve it — aren't new.

The Legislature last year appropriated $70,000 for the system for this fiscal year, according to state Sen. Dede Feldman, D-Albuquerque, who said Monday she's disappointed by the delays.

At the same time, the office also received $112,000 to "to complete the implementation of trademark, agricultural lien and campaign reporting modules of the secretary of state knowledgebase application."

Flores said the office now has at least $246,500 set aside toward a new system.

A review of the state budget approved this winter, however, shows several appropriations totaling more than that. As part of the main budget bill passed this year for the coming fiscal year, which starts in July, the office also was provided with:

• $176,500 "to enhance the secretary of state knowledgebase campaign reporting system to include records management, area code changes, and Help America Vote Act voter identification requirements."

• $150,000 to implement upgrades to the voter registration election management system for political finance reporting.

• $112,000 a year reauthorized through 2010 for the office "to complete the implementation of trademark, agricultural lien and campaign reporting modules of the secretary of state knowledgebase application."

Flores said the office recently has made small adjustments to the program in an effort to improve it, and Martinez praised some of the moves. In particular, he said candidates can download the software to their computers instead of having to be online while entering data. In addition, the filing system now has an easily identifiable link off the Secretary of State's home page.

Still, he said, the program "seemed easier to use six or eight years ago."

"I'm happy they are working on it," he said, "but I think we still have a long ways to go."

In particular, he said, he wishes the data would be searchable. Searches would allow users to see how many developers gave to a campaign, for example.

For now, the campaign finance reports are available in person at the Secretary of State's office in Santa Fe.

Herrera suggests people make appointments to view the records. Her office says requests for copies must be made in writing, and a pre-payment of 25 cents a page is required. There is no charge to view the reports.

State Republican Party executive director Adam Feldman said that's unreasonable.

"Mary Herrera campaigned on making campaign finance information more available and open to the public and the media, and she has clearly failed to fulfill that promise. It is unreasonable for her to tell people throughout the state that they must travel to Santa Fe, make an appointment with her office, and pay 25 cents per page to view and copy campaign finance reports," he said.

Meanwhile, several candidates, including Martinez, said they had problems trying to file. Martinez said he spent most of Saturday working on his report. "It was one of those times where you want to rip the computer off the desk and throw it through the window," he said. "It's frustrating."

The program kept asking him for previously filed reports — reports he's not required by law to fill in because he's unopposed this campaign season. The program didn't want to accept his current report, because he hadn't filed the ones it thought he needed first.

Brian Egolf, a Democrat running unopposed for the state House seat currently held by state Rep. Peter Wirth, D-Santa Fe, also faced frustration. "As we filed (Monday), the SOS's system knocked all my data out, lost many contributor occupations, scrambled information and ended up generating a 'final report' for me stating that my campaign is over," he wrote in an e-mail.

Contact Kate Nash at 986-3036 or knash@sfnewmexican.com. Read her blog, Green Chile Chatter, at www.sfnewmexican.com.