Create A List is the primary search feature in VoteBuilder, used for creating universes for voter contact. The following tables explain many of the fields available in the Create A New Search menu available at most access levels. Please note that this is not a complete list, and that the names of these items may vary across different states.
Create A New Search offers a multi-step search function; users may create a search in one step, and may then add subsequent steps to expand or narrow the search.
The following describe the functions of each field within a single step; whether a field ultimately expands or reduces the size of a universe depends on whether the step is structured to add, remove, or narrow people.
¶ ⭐ Activist Codes |
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| What it is: | A flag applied to a group of voters indicating a known attribute |
| What it does: | Restricts a search step to voters tagged with one or more of the selected activist codes. Selecting multiple activist codes in the same step returns people who have any of the selected codes. |
| Common uses: | This varies by state, but could include: donor history, early-voting status, petition signatures, constituencies (e.g., labor, university employees, LGBTQ+ support, etc.) |
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| Be aware: | Activist codes confirm what we know about a voter, but they do not include all voters with the quality in question. E.g., if someone signed a petition and their signature was not validated, they will not appear in that activist code list |
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 Drop-down options allow you to restrict results to people who were coded at a specified time, by a specified campaign/committee, or via a specified contact method. |
¶ Addresses |
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| What it is: | Voter street and mailing address |
| What it does: | Restricts search step to people whose physical address has the defined attributes. Specifying multiple criteria will restrict results to people whose address meets all those criteria. |
| Common uses: |
Finding voters living on a specific street or within a given radius of a specific zip code. Restricting lists to walkable houses, USPS-verified addresses, in-state mailing addresses, etc. |
| How to search: | Enter as many criteria as appropriate. |
| Be aware: | Results will be limited to people who meet all criteria. |
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¶ Age · Registration Date |
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| What it is: | Estimated voter date of birth and related calculations AND voter registration dates. |
| What it does: | Restricts search step to people born and/or registered within the defined parameters. Specifying multiple criteria will restrict results to people who meet all such criteria. |
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Identify newly-registered voters to supplement lists of “super voters” Target people who are likely in specific age groups (senior, first-time voter, etc.) |
| How to search: | Enter one or more attributes. When entering a range, you may leave one end blank (e.g., age from 65 to [blank] will return people estimated to be 65 or older). |
| Be aware: | Age may be estimated, depending on whether the state voter file includes age/birth date. |
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¶ ⭐ Canvass Status |
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| What it is: | Data on when, where, how, and by whom a voter has been canvassed |
| What it does: | Your choice: restricts search step to include or exclude voters who have been recorded as canvassed or skipped, as specified. |
| Common uses: | Remove voters who were recently contacted; Identify voters flagged for follow-up |
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Choose whether to include/exclude Select the relevant committee. |
| Be aware: | This data is only as good as the canvas results that are uploaded to VAN. The more campaigns commit canvas data, the more helpful this field will be. |
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¶ Custom Contact Fields |
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| What it is: | Custom fields - may or may not be used in your state |
¶ Early Voting |
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| What it is: | Ballot request, receipt, and return status for a specified election. Varies by state. |
| What it does: | Restricts search step to people with the specified ballot-chase status |
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Identify voters who have received but not returned a ballot Restrict search results to exclude people who have already voted |
| How to search: | Choose whether to include/exclude voters based on your specified criteria |
| Be aware: | Applies to only one election at a time. |
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| What it is: | Voter’s email address. Most come from commercial databases. |
| What it does: | Restricts search step to voters with an email address that meets the specified criteria. Can be used to limit search step results to only voters with email on file. |
| Common uses: | To limit results to only people with email addresses, enter an old date (e.g., 01/01/1970) in the Added Since field or use the Source field and select “Check All”) |
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Fields function as follows:
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| Be aware: | Because most come from commercial databases, there are some mismatches, especially among family members. When creating an email blast, you may wish not to use the first-name field. |
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¶ Household Party Counts |
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| What it is: | Number of registered Ds and Rs in a household |
| What it does: | Restricts search step to voters living in households with the specified number of Democrats or Republicans. |
| Common uses: | Identify households with a minimum or maximum number of D or R voters |
| How to search: | Enter the range of D or R voters you wish to identify. Entering criteria for both parties limits results to households meeting both criteria (e.g., entering 2-4 Democrats and 2-4 Republicans will return households of at least 4 people). |
| Be aware: | Addressing errors may occur; multi-family buildings, general delivery, and work-based addresses may appear as one household but reflect multiple. |
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¶ Household Sex Counts |
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| What it is: | Number of male, female, and total voters in household Functions as Household Party Counts, above, but reflecting sex as indicated in the state voter list |
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¶ ⭐ Location Districts |
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| What it is: | Congressional, State House, State Senate, and municipal district designations |
| What it does: | Restricts search step to voters registered in the specified district |
| Common uses: | Used by users with multi-district VoteBuilder permissions to restrict results relevant to one campaign |
| How to search: | Select a state-legislative district or a county. After that, an option to select by precinct will appear. To change districts, change the original selection to blank (in example, select the blank line above “008”) |
| Be aware: | n/a |
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¶ My Campaign Record |
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| What it is: | Identifies voters who have been copied into the committee’s MyCampaign database |
| What it does: | Restricts search step to voters who are/are not in MyCampaign |
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Identify potential volunteers not already involved in your campaign Identify stakeholders in your campaign who may have an attribute tracked in MyVoters (e.g., donor history). |
| How to search: | Select one of two options from the drop-down |
| Be aware: | MyCampaign records that were not adequately processed (linked to MyVoters records) may not be correctly identified in this step. |
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¶ Name |
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| What it is: | Voter name per registration records |
| What it does: | Restricts search step to voters with a specific first or last name, prefix, suffix, null value (empty name field), or combination thereof |
| Common uses: | Exclude a opponent or other known person from your universe (use “Remove People”) |
| How to search: | Enter one or more criteria. Option to restrict to exact matches. |
| Be aware: | n/a |
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¶ Notes |
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| What it is: | Free text notes taken during canvassing |
| What it does: | Restricts search step to canvassed voters who have a matching text string in their notes field. |
| Common uses: | Search for conversation topics or matters flagged during canvassing that could not be captured through survey question, activist codes, or canvass status. |
| How to search: | Enter relevant text and canvasser parameters (e.g., date range). |
| Be aware: | Generally requires strict consistency in note taking in order to return an accurate list of relevant voters |
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¶ Organizing Turfs |
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| What it is: | Turf defined by committee |
| What it does: | Restricts search step to voters included on a previously-defined turf list |
| Common uses: | Apply other search criteria to a previously-defined turf |
| How to search: | Select saved turf from the menu |
¶ ⭐ Party |
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| What it is: | Current party registration |
| What it does: | Restricts search step to voters in the selected party/parties. |
| Common uses: |
Define a universe of supportive voters or exclude the likely least-supportive voters. Define a universe for party-specific communication. |
| How to search: | Check one or more boxes for party/parties of interest |
| Be aware: |
Prior party registration is not available. Many voters believe they are registered with a different party affiliation than actually reflected in the Voter File Terms such as “Independent” may refer to actual political parties. |
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¶ ⭐ Phones |
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| What it is: | Attributes of phone numbers associated with voters. |
| What it does: | Restricts search step to voters whose phones have the attribute(s) specified. By default, a search without phone criteria includes voters with no phone numbers listed. |
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¶ Relationships |
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| What it is: | Advanced search of documented relationships. Requires additional set-up. |
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¶ Self-Reported Demographics |
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| What it is: | Ethnicity and preferred language as reported by voter |
| What it does: | Restricts search steps to voters with the specified ethnicity/language |
| Common uses: |
Match volunteers with specific language skills with voters who speak the same language Target voters by ethnicity |
| How to search: | Choose one ethnicity and/or one preferred language from the drop-down menus |
| Be aware: | Most voters will not have these self-reported attributes on file |
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¶ Sex (Source File) |
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| What it is: | Sex as reported in the state voter list |
| What it does: | Restricts search step to voters recorded as either male or female |
| Common uses: | Targeting voters by sex |
| How to search: | Check the checkbox for male or female |
| Be aware: | Voters who do not identify with the sex reflected on their voter record will be misgendered. |
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¶ ⭐⭐⭐ Suppressions |
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| What it is: | Data on voters who have opted out of communication, who have been marked as people and/or addresses that should not be approached by canvassers, and people who have been marked as deceased. |
| What it does: | Restricts universe based on voter contactability |
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Remove records of deceased persons to avoid offending family members. Remove “do not mail” and bad-address records when preparing mailing Remove “do not call” records when preparing phone bank Exclude inaccessible addresses |
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| Be aware: | n/a |
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¶ ⭐ Survey Questions |
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| What it is: | Categorical flags for questions asked to voters, e.g. candidate support, volunteer interest, etc. |
| What it does: | Restricts step to voters who have responded to a survey question with the specified answer(s). |
| Common uses: | Identify supportive voters, voters previously identified as supportive in a relevant race, voters who need a yard sign delivered, etc. |
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Choose a question from the drop-down menu and specify responses of interest and other criteria, or: Click the “Question” link and select multiples questions (and responses) of interest |
| Be aware: | Check all the desirable Responses boxes. For analysis, be aware that the denominator should be the number of voters returned when all checkboxes are selected. |
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¶ ⭐ Targets |
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| What it is: | A saved search of voters as defined by the state party or another group |
| What it does: | Restricts search step to voters who appear in the selected target(s) but not in targets higher up in the same group. |
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Quickly identify a group of supportive or persuasion voters Quickly identify a group of voters to exclude from you universe |
| How to search: | Select “ANY” or “ALL” in the drop-down menu and check the box for one or more targets |
| Be aware: | Targets |
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¶ ⭐ Voting History |
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| What it is: | Voters’ voting history within that state only |
| What it does: | Restricts search step to voters whose voting history matches your specifications (voted in all selected elections, a specific number, at least, no more than). |
| Common uses: | Tiering universes by likely turnout |
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| Be aware: |
Elections are listed by type; scroll down to see primary, local, municipal, and special elections. The classification of local vs municipal elections has shifted, check both. |
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