Major parts of the Secretary of State's Office Web site are back up again, but some say the site is not any better than it was before it crashed about two weeks ago.

Some parts of one popular feature, the campaign-finance reports section, still don't work at all, while other parts of that section have been restored but are essentially the same as they were when the site crashed.

Officials were in the process of updating that part of the site when it went down. The office had a self-imposed deadline of June 30 for finishing the "base product" of the new campaign reporting system, something Deputy Secretary of State Francisco Trujillo II said didn't happen.

The news is getting old with some lawmakers.

"I definitely think the new site should be done by now," said Rep. Brian Egolf, D-Santa Fe. "I can't imagine why this is taking so long. ... This is not a minor issue."

The Web site hosts information for all kinds of users, from business partnership information to voter-registration information, campaign-finance reports and lobbyist registrations, as well as trademarks and information on agricultural liens.

Experts including some from the Department of Information Technology had been working on the site after a recent security review — part of a computer-network upgrade — found several vulnerabilities that in part led to the crash.

The office has declined to specify what the vulnerabilities are.

Meanwhile, the office has begun an investigation into an employee who is on leave, Trujillo said. Because this is a personnel matter, he said he couldn't name the employee, but the only employee of the office on leave is Brad Allen, a database developer. He has been on paid administrative leave since June 24.

Trujillo said, "Some of the information we've been given from the (computer network security) assessment led us to investigate more in depth."

In an e-mail, Allen said, "I still have not been told what I am being investigated for despite asking several times." He said he hasn't been in the office for more than two weeks and has not spoken to anyone other than Bureau of Elections Director A.J. Salazar, who has not told him anything.

Allen said in the e-mail that he hasn't had any access to the office's computer system "that was not strictly observed and supervised" since 6 p.m. June 18. "At that time, the contractors hired by the SOS changed all the computer system passwords and took over all computer system management," he said.

When asked whether the investigation involves law enforcement, Trujillo said "there are other agencies we have solicited" involved.

The situation has riled Republicans and Democrats alike.

Egolf, among a handful of people invited to inspect the new campaign-finance reports database, said lawmakers will be asking questions about the hundreds of thousands of dollars that have been allocated to upgrade the site in recent years.

"I want to know what it was spent on. We're going to be looking at that," he said.

Trujillo said the office spent "some" of two allocations of $70,000 and $112,000, then realized it would be better to save up for a new campaign-finance system rather to keep putting money into the existing system. The office set aside another appropriation of $176,500 for a future system.

Egolf also said making sure the site functions should be a priority for the office.

"The secretary of state (Mary Herrera) in 2006 campaigned on this issue. I hope that by the conclusion of her first term, which is nearing, we see some tangible progress. ... When things are priorities, they get done."

Contact Kate Nash at 986-3036 or knash@sfnewmexican.com. Read her blog at www.greenchilechatter.com.