The Federal Election Commission announced yesterday a new e-mail alert system, which provides updates on campaign finance and other information.

They sure did hide the link, though — the direct URL is http://www.fec.gov/info/fecmaill.shtml . All you have to do to subscribe is enter your e-mail address.

From there you’ll be taken to an additional page and given the opportunity to specify the frequency of e-mail updates (from immediately to monthly) and a password (passwords are optional.)

After that’s over with you can specify alerts for a huge variety of FEC information, including basic stuff like press office information and commission meeting files. But there are also interesting options like audit reports, campaign finance reports and data, and election dates and results.

When you register you’ll get an e-mail acknowledgment about your subscription, and you’ll also get a link to your personalized RSS feed — if you want the RSS feed only, you’ll have to go into your e-mail profile page and turn e-mail delivery off. Seems a bit of going around your elbow, but at least they offer both delivery options.