Managing data in Non-Partisan Elections
For local non-partisan races with voting districts not specified in VAN
What geographies do I have access to in VAN? 1
Why do I need to limit my data further if I have what I need? 1
How do I limit my searches to only include voters in my district? 1
Upload Non-Partisan district using a bulk upload 2
How do I narrow my list only to these voters? 3
How do I share this list with everyone else on the team? 3
What geographies do I have access to in VAN?
Most precinct based voting districts (e.g., Congressional, State House/Senate, County) are pre-defined in VAN because we get this information after a voter file update
Smaller districts (e.g., local, non-partisan) are typically are made up of portions of precincts
Because VAN only allows for permissions at the precinct level, we are forced to give your campaign permission to access voter data for entire precincts, rather than just the portion in your jurisdiction. This means that you gain access to data for voters within your voting district, as well as voters outside your district.
Why do I need to limit my data further if I have what I need?
Many local non-partisan districts cover areas that split precincts. As said above, VAN forces us to permission you access to data for the entire precinct. Where this is the case, you’ll want to exercise care to only target the portion of precincts within your voting district.
There is no benefit in talking to voters that cannot vote in your race. It would be a waste of your campaign’s time and resources to interact with voters outside of your district. Because of this we want to limit the voters.
How do I limit my searches to only include voters in my district?
How do I gather voters for my Non-Partisan district and/or the voters who voted in specific elections that may not be in VAN’s Voting History?
You must target the portion of the precinct in your district or by voting history by requesting voter files with jurisdiction and election codes from the appropriate county body (e.g., County Clerk Office, Tax Office, Elections Department, Voter Registration Office)
Links to voter files for different counties:
Other counties - check with your County Clerk/Tax/Elections Dept/Voter Registration Office to find the appropriate entity from which to request a voter file.
Upload Non-Partisan district using a bulk upload
First, prepare .csv, .txt, .xls, or .xlsx with Votebuilder ID or State File ID (VUID). See below for file requirements:
On the main page in VAN, look at the top right box titled “Load Data”. Click “Run Bulk Uploads”, then click “Upload a New File”.
Select to load data with State File ID/Voter File VANID (drop-down menu), and hit next.
On the next screen, select the desired saved mapping template.
Need more help on a step-by-step bulk upload? See our FAQ here.
How do I narrow my list only to these voters?
The first step of your list should limit to only this list using the “My Saved Lists” row. (Do not upload this data to an activist code or survey question.)
How do I share this list with everyone else on the team?
You can and should also make a user group with all the users that will need to use this data list.
On the VAN homepage, go to the Administrative menu, click on “Users/Committees”, and select “User Groups”.
On the next screen, click “Add New User Group” on the top right.
Create a name and choose your committee from the drop down menu.
After clicking to the next screen, choose the VAN users you want to have access to your data list.
Choose the folder with your data for them to access.
If you want other users to be able to save into this folder, then you need to edit the folder and mark the checkbox to allow users to save into this folder.
