Slate Card Generator/Endorsements File
Description:
Generic slate cards that include all candidates running for office can be complex and difficult for voters to understand. Not all voters will be voting on all candidates and having excess information is confusing that can lead to frustration. Creating slate cards that only contain information on candidates and initiatives that apply to specific voters is a very complex problem. And once the unique paring of candidate campaigns and precincts have been enumerated, the problem of identifying which voters should recieve a specific slate card is also complex.
The Slate Card Generator solves both of these problems. The generator allows you to identify the candidates and initiatives being endorsed in the current election cycle and maps them to voters in the current voter registration file. This provides a comprehensive and accurate mapping of campaigns to precincts at the precinct_split level.
Endorsements File:
The Slate Card Generator requires a file which contains a list of all candidates, amendments, and referenda to be endorsed for the current election. That file must be a csv (Comma Separated Values) formatted text file. You can easily generate this file in any spreadsheet tool and save the results to a csv formatted text file. The file must have the following columns:
| BOC | English Title | Spanish Title | English Amendment | Spanish Amendment | Candidate 1 | Candidate 2 | DataField | Value | Style |
You can copy the above table and paste it into a blank spreadsheet to get started. The column content is as follows:
| BOC | A three letter designation of a spcific Ballot Order Code. (See Ballot Order Codes for a listing of all codes.) These codes are used to place contests on the generated Slate Card in an order that matches the order on an official ballot. Multiple contests within a single BOC will be aphabetized by English Title. |
| English Title | The text of the contest title in english. It is desirable for this to match the title on the official ballot. |
| Spanish Title | The Spanish translation of the english title (optional). |
| English Amendment | The text of an amendment title in english. This column is not used for candidate entries. |
| Spanish Amendment | The Spanish translation of the amendment title (optional). This column is not used for candidate entries. |
| Candidate 1 | The name of the candidate |
| Candidate 2 | The name of the a running mate (Vice President or Lieutenant Governer) |
| DataField |
A VAT field name which defines the scope of the race. One of:
|
| Value | A district number, precinct number or Zone name. (Note: Leave blank for countywide contests.) |
| Style |
A style of indicator (vote for, approve, disapprove). Valid styles are:
|
NOTE: The first two lines on the endosements file can contain title and footer information. They will use the special office codes 'Title' and 'Footer' to distinguish them from the reset of the data. The prototype file generator will automatically populate these rows with default election and disclaimer data. The default election will be the next general election.
Primary Elections:
If you are generating slate cards for a primary election, do the following:
- Replace the default english/spanish election titles as appropriate.
- Remove any/all races not present in the primary
- Add local elections and candidates as needed
- Proceed normally to generate slate cards and digital images.
Output Files Generated:
The Slate Card Generator will create six data files - SlateCards, RaceVarients, Master Precinct List, VAN_Upload_DEM, and VAN_Upload_NPA, VAN_Upload_REP. A seventh file containing infomation required to format digital slate cards is generated and saved internally.
SlateCards - a csv formatted file containing the following columns:
| Column Name | Column defintion |
|---|---|
| SlateCard | The unique identifier (id) of the slate card. Each slate card represents a unique combination of races and precincts. Identifies the specific races that will appear on the ballots for voters in the associated precincts. |
| Active Dems | A count of the number of registered active democrats served by the card |
| LL NPA | A count of the number of registered NPA voters identified as left-leaning (using the VAN Tier 1 definition of left-leaning) |
| Race/Candidate | A list of the races and candidate names covered by this slate card |
| Precincts | A list of precinct numbers served by the list of races for this slate card. This list can be copied and used as in a VAT zone definition |
RaceVarients - a csv formatted file containing the following columns:
| Column Name | Column defintion |
|---|---|
| Precinct_Split | A precinct_split number |
| Slate Card | The Slate Card identifier for this precinct_split |
| Active Dems | A count of the number of registered active democrats in the precinct_split |
| LL NPA | A count of the number of registered NPA voters identified as left-leaning (using the VAN Tier 1 definition of left-leaning) |
| US-House | The Congressional District (US House of Representatives District) of the precinct |
| FL-Senate | The Florida Senate District number for the precinct |
| FL-House | The Florida House of Representatives District number for the precinct |
| Comm-Dist | The County Commission District of the precinct. |
| School-Dist | The School Board District number for the precinct | (R-01 thru R-xx) | Additional columns, one for each defined race. Will contain an 'X' is the race is active in the precinct. |
MasterPrecinctList - a text file.
This file contains a list precincts at the whole precinct number level. For each precinct, a list of all referenced (i.e. there are registered voters) precinct_splits are provided.
VAN_Upload_DEM, VAN_Upload_NPA, VAN_Upload_REP - csv formatted data files:
These files contain voter lists that can be used to update a VAN survey question with the Slate Card ID of each voter. Using a VAN survey question enables the use of VAN selectivity in creating lists of voters. These lists can then be used to text or email voters with slate cards that match their offical ballot. (See Customizing Emails and Texts with Voter Specific Slate Cards for more information on updating VAN with Slate Card Identifiers.)
| Column Name | Column defintion |
|---|---|
| VoterID | The State File ID of the Voter |
| SlateCard | The Slate Card identifier for this voter. |