County parties, precinct chairs, SDEC members, and other organizations such as clubs (referred to in this document as activists) are given VAN as representatives and volunteers of the state party to organize their communities. This granting of VAN is a privilege and can be revoked by the TDP at any time. Campaigns and other committees pay a fee for access to VAN and have certain rules that need to be followed. Please refer to the following document to better understand appropriate uses of VAN and the consequences of violating this agreement.
All activists MUST affirm their acceptable usage guidelines as defined on this document by going to txdem.co/confirm-van-guidelines and completing the form. Failure to do so will result in inactivation of VAN account. To find out how to remedy the situation and more, please visit the VAN Usage Policy for Activists section of our VAN FAQ.
General usage guidelines
Activists should use their VAN access to organize their communities around a progressive message and agenda. For example, folks might do some or all of the following:
Folks cannot engage in activity benefitting a candidate who does not have a VAN license including (but not limited to):
Campaigns and other committees who have paid for access to VAN by request/approval/fee payment via txdem.co/VAN-Request and their users may only assist their own campaign with their VAN use unless allowed in proper coordinated circumstances explained in this document or in the Online Voter File Use and Access Policy.
Exports
VAN data is to be used either directly inside VAN or through authorized API connections directly to VAN. When a voter contact tool does not connect directly to VAN, limited exports might be allowed from VAN on a limited basis and will be approved on a case by case basis solely in the discretion of TDP. Any such permitted exports must comply with TDP terms. Repeated exports for the purposes of getting around export limits are not allowed and could result in loss of VAN access and/or other penalties at the discretion of TDP.
Data exported must be used for the sole purpose of voter contact (e.g., for a mailing). Exported data must be destroyed within 30 days of an export and no copies may be retained.
Data cannot be exported and maintained in other systems including, but not limited to AWS servers, Google BigQuery Databases, Airtable, Google Sheets, etc. without the express written approval of TDP
User creation
Only the County Party Chair/delegated County Party VAN Committee Administrators or Campaign VAN Admin will receive access from the TDP. Please see our User Profile Levels pages under Creating and Managing Users on the different user profiles(permission sets) so you can see on who should get what level. Each level of user is able to create users of the level below theirs.
County Party VAN Committees
Other county party officials, including, but not limited to, precinct chairs, co-chairs, advisory committee members, local Democratic club leaders, GOTV chairs and other positions within the County Party structure, as well as general Democratic Activists, should work with their County Chair, staff, where applicable, and Precinct Chairs to gain VAN access. They are forbidden from granting access to candidates, officeholders or individuals working on specific campaigns and must refer these users to the TDP—unless that Campaign has their own currently paid VAN access.
Campaign Committees (Individual Candidates) & Other Committees
Campaigns & Other Committees can give access to staff or volunteers who need VAN access to assist that campaign. They are forbidden from granting access to other candidates, officeholders or individuals working on other specific campaigns and must refer these users to the TDP—unless that Campaign has their own currently paid VAN access.
Data sharing for the purposes of a coordinated campaign
Data sharing for the purposes of a coordinated campaign is encouraged and must follow specific guidelines. All candidates engaging with the coordinated must request access directly from the TDP. Once candidates have obtained and paid for access, candidates are welcome to share data, obtained through the Candidate’s VAN committee, with other candidates and activist groups. Candidates with paid access may also work out of another VAN committee such as a County Party, State Senate or State House campaign committee based on the coordinated setup in that geography.
For example, a State Senate Candidate may not give a walk list to a State House Candidate where their districts overlap if the State House Candidate does not have paid access. In this case, the State House Candidate must arrange for independent access through the TDP. Only at that time can the campaigns share data.
Remediation process
In the event that a user is found to be violating these rules, TDP reserves the right to limit VAN access including (but not limited to):
First violation: Warning to activist, admin of activist committee, and candidate; VAN invoice sent to candidate (for a candidate who is not current for their VAN Committee fee)
Second violation: Suspension of activist account for 30 days, notification to admin of activist committee
Third violation: Suspension of activist account indefinitely, pending review of TDP, potentially through the end of the election cycle; notification to admin of activist committee
Non-Campaign VAN Access
SDEC Caucuses/Members and State Party Officials
SDEC caucuses/members and State Party Officials can receive VAN access in SDEC committee at User Profile Texas (3); at the direction of the Executive Director, SDEC Caucuses can have their own SDEC committee
Like county parties, access is for general party-building activities, including constituent voter contact and straight ticket voter IDs
No candidate specific survey questions will be shared until only one Democrat is in the race for non-partisan races, only in situations where the candidate has already purchased VAN—if the campaign agrees—there will be no need share partisan race survey question since those would only be available after a nominee is chosen and all nominees use the same cross-committee survey questions
If a caucus plans to raise and spend more than $500 and/or support specific candidates they must incorporate / file as a PAC and apply for VAN access through that PAC
Statewide clubs, Sub-chapters
If granting access through county parties isn’t feasible (see Clubs in a single county & Clubs in multiple counties below), statewide clubs could ask the state party for access for them and their sub-chapters. This is the least preferred approach and should be exhausted only when all other options don’t make sense.
Like county parties, access is for general party-building activities, including constituent voter contact and straight ticket voter IDs
No candidate specific survey questions will be shared until only one Democrat is in the race for non-partisan races, only in situations where the candidate has already purchased VAN—if the campaign agrees—there will be no need share partisan race survey question since those would only be available after a nominee is chosen and all nominees use the same cross-committee survey questions.
If the club plans to raise and spend more than $500 and/or support specific candidates they must incorporate / file as a PAC and apply for VAN access through that PAC at txdem.co/VAN-Request; State party will pursue a data swap agreement / in-kind when applicable
Clubs in a single county
Clubs should seek VAN access through their county party
Clubs will not be granted their own MyVoters/MyCampaign, and will instead use their county parties’
Like county parties, access is for general party-building activities, including constituent voter contact and straight ticket voter IDs
No candidate specific survey questions will be shared until only one Democrat is in the race for non-partisan races, only in situations where the candidate has already purchased VAN—if the campaign agrees—there will be no need share partisan race survey question since those would only be available after a nominee is chosen and all nominees use the same cross-committee survey questions
In the vast majority of situations, the committees will be only be shared on cross-committee survey questions
TDP recommends assigning the “Club VAN Admin” User Profile Level 3, 4 or 5 — depending on what that user needs to be able to do
Clubs in multiple counties
Even if a club is in multiple counties, clubs should seek VAN access through their individual county parties and the state party will help facilitate creating an account that crosses county lines and that one county party (a county party with the majority of the precincts) will manage
Clubs will not be granted their own MyCampaign, and will instead use their county parties’ MyCampaign
Like county parties, access is for general party-building activities, including constituent voter contact and straight ticket voter IDs
No candidate specific survey questions will be shared until only one Democrat is in the race for non-partisan races, only in situations where the candidate has already purchased VAN—if the campaign agrees—there will be no need share partisan race survey question since those would only be available after a nominee is chosen and all nominees use the same cross-committee survey questions
In the vast majority of situations, the committees will be only be shared on cross-committee survey questions
TDP recommends assigning the “Club VAN Admin” User Profile Level 3, 4 or 5 — depending on what that user needs to be able to do
Allied Groups / Other PACs
If the Allied Groups / Other PACs plans to raise and spend more than $500 and / or support specific candidates they must incorporate / file as a PAC and apply for VAN access through that PAC at txdem.co/VAN-Request; State party will pursue a data swap agreement / in-kind when applicable
The rules above mentioned in Data sharing for the purposes of a coordinated campaign apply to Allied Groups / Other PACs insomuch as if the Allied Groups / Other PACs is doing uncoordinated work in VAN for a candidate who does not have a current VAN Committee is acceptable, but for a candidate who does not have VAN and is using the Allied Groups / Other PACs current VAN Committee in lieu of paying for their own VAN Committee.
Allied Groups / Other PACs committees will be shared on cross-committee survey questions unless not appropriate. Private SQs will be created or shared from other committees when appropriate and working with TDP