Target Voters

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Voter Targeting is a powerful feature in webElect.net and allows the user to pull complex queries with relative ease.

We begin the process using the Query/Targeting tool. The first page allows you to specify demographic criteria based on voter registration and election history information.

To include all the values for any section, do not select any value. To specify values for race, gender, or precinct, click on the values you want to include. Hold the control key down while clicking to select multiple values or to de-select a value.

There are two methods for specifying which parties and voter history to include. The default method is "Events" and allows the selection of voters based on their turn out in specific elections. The other method is "Scores" and based on the webElect.net voter scoring system and is much more effective when targeting very small percentages of a district.

Events


Event Criteria Selection

The event selection options are specified for Republicans, Democrats, and Others (non-Reps/non-Dems) in their respective groups. Setting options in each party's group combines each party's conditions with an "OR".

Each party grouping has a row of check boxes covering the last 8 election cycles for the Primary (Pri) and General (Gen) elections. The column headers indicate the last two digits of the election year. At the end of each row is a drop down selection box that tells webElect how any checked boxes on the row should be evaluated.

  • All - include those that have voted in at least all of the checked boxes
  • None - include those that have not voted in any of the checked boxes
  • Only - include those that have voted in exactly the checked boxes (if they voted in all the checked elections plus some that were not checked, they are excluded)
  • Any 1+ - include those that have voted in at least one of the checked boxes
  • Any 2+ - include those that have voted in at least two of the checked boxes
  • Any 3+ - include those that have voted in at least three of the checked boxes
  • Any 4+ - include those that have voted in at least four of the checked boxes

For example, if you want voters that voted in all three of the 2006, 2004 AND 2002 elections, you can check the proper year boxes and specify "ALL". If instead you wanted to include more voters and just require that they voted in at least one of the 2006, 2004 OR 2002 elections, you can specify "Any 1+". The option "ALL" can be thought of as combining conditions with an "AND" while the option "Any 1+" combines conditions with an "OR".

Selecting criteria on the Primary AND General rows will restrict voters to those matching both rows of criteria. This can be thought of as combining each set of conditions with an "AND". This might be done to select pure general election voters. For example, if you want voters that voted in at least 2 of the last 3 general elections but did not vote in any of the last 4 primaries, you would check the last 4 elections for the primary row and select the drop down option "None" then check the last 3 elections for the general row and select the drop down option to "Any 2+".

To change the joining of conditions between the Primary and General rows from an "AND" to an "OR" combination, you have to select the advanced events option from the Party/Voting History drop down selector ("Adv Events"). This provides an additional selection box between the primary and general rows allowing you to select the proper join options. An example of why you might select an "OR" option would be if you want to include consistent general election voters who would not fit your primary voting event selection. For instance, you could ask for those voting in at least 3 of the last 5 primary elections OR have voted in all of the last 3 generals.

scOracle

Scoring is a much more efficient method for micro-targeting districts and can be very useful in low-turnout races or for campaigns that have a small budget relative to district size.


Voter Score Analysis Report

Voter scoring is accomplished through a complex formula which analyzes a voters turn out and their eligibility for the past eight elections. This is explained in detail on the scoring page.

To get an understanding of what voting and registration history different scores represent, you can run the primary or general "Voter Score Analysis" report. These reports list each score from best to worst (99 to 3 respectively), the count of voters matching that score, a running total of voters in the district having that score or better, and then columns for each of the past eight elections. A green bar indicates the voter was eligible and voted, a red bar that they were eligible and did not vote, and neither means they were not registered for that election.


Score Criteria Selection

To use voter scores in the Query/Targeting process, change the "Party/Voting History" selection to "Scores". Now select to target based on primary or general election score and enter the minimum score to include in your selection (the higher the score, the smaller the selection but the more likely they are to vote in the next election). For general election targeting, you have the option to specify which party and voter types you want to include. "Hard" voters are those that have a strong history of voting in primary elections while "Soft" voters have a weak history. Specifically, "Hard" voters have a primary score > 30 and soft voters have a score of 30 and below.
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