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Author: Kristenson, Joel
Last Updated: 2017-05-10
Overview
This article walks through the steps to add a new election into your database. You can then use this election to assign contributions to, and set it as your new default election within your Committee Record.
NOTE: This process requires you have system administrative security clearance.
Tip: If you have questions on the different election limits, dates, etc. for your new election you’ll want to contact your FEC analytics (if it’s a federal race) to verify you have the most up-to-date information, as these laws change from time to time.
Steps
Navigate to Application Menu > Lists > Elections.
The list will populate with your current list of elections (usually sorted from oldest to newest). My example is below where I currently had 26 election records, and I decided to sort from newest to oldest by clicking the ID column 2x.
Click the [+ New] button on the search tool strip.
Enter the name for your election. In my example I called mine ‘Runoff 2016’.
Under the General tab you can:
- Enter the Cycle Start Date
- Enter the Election Date
- Select the Election Type
- Check a box if the election is a recount
My example is below for my 2016 runoff election.
Under the Limits tab you can enter the contribution limits for:
- The Candidate
- Corporations
- Individuals
- MCPS’s
- Partnerships
- Political Committee’s
- Reg PPC’s
My finished example is below.
Click [Save] if you want to enable the election for the mobile poll watching app, otherwise click [Save and Close] if you’re finished. In my example I clicked [Save] in order to enable the election for poll watching. You can always return to the election record to enable this later and make further changes if need be.
*If you decide to enable to election for the mobile poll watching app, navigate to the Poll tab, and click the [Activate] button.
You’ll get a popup message once the election has been active, click [OK] to proceed.
If the new election record has been saved you can now click [Cancel] to finish. If the record is still in an unsaved state you’ll instead want to click [Save and Close].
Once you are back in the Elections list click [Search] to refresh the list and your new election will display. My example is below for my new 2016 runoff election.
You can now assign contributions and expenses to this new election as well as assign it as your new default election for the database so these data entry tasks will automatically assign the data to the new election. These options are covered more in depth in the related resources links below, as well as the two screenshots displayed below.
Img 1 – Set your New Election as the Database Default
Img 2 – Assign a New Contribution to the New Election
Related Resources
Article: How to Set your Default ‘Current’ Election Cycle – (Political Only)
Article: Change Your ‘Current’ Election Cycle, Create New Election Cycles, and How to Mass Update a List of Contributions to a Specific Election – (For Political Customers)
Article: How to Setup and Use the Mobile Poll Watching App
Article: Election Day Procedures | Poll Watchers
Article: Voter History – Election List and Voter History
Article: Polling – How to Setup and Run a Poll – Inside your Trail Blazer Database
Video: Election Cycles Updates to Contribution Records (en masse)
Video: Getting Started 106b – Entering Contributions (POLITICAL ONLY)
Video: Filtered Contribution Columns in Format
Video: Reporting 103 – Format with various contribution columns
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