Daisychain's integration with the DNC's iwillvote.com lets you easily insert polling place information for US elections into your messages.
This integration will only work if two conditions are met:
1) Polling place information needs to be available on the DNC's iwillvote.com website. The DNC aims offer comprehensive coverage for major elections. More info about this below.
2) The people you are texting have ZIP codes. Without zip codes, the polling place lookup will not work.
Overview
To send out polling information, you can use variables when composing your message in Step 2 of the Campaign Creation process.
You can see key variables that are most commonly used are:
Polling Place Name:{{ person.primary_address.dnc_will_vote.locate.polling_locations[0].location_name }}
Polling Place Address:{{ person.primary_address.dnc_will_vote.locate.polling_locations[0].location_name }}
Polling Place Hours:{{ person.primary_address.dnc_will_vote.locate.polling_locations[0].dates_hours }}.
To put it all together, below are few example messages that include variables.
Sample Messages
Sample Message - Election Day
Hey {{ person.first_name }}, π Election Day is Tuesday, November 3rd.
{% if person.primary_address.dnc_will_vote and person.primary_address.dnc_will_vote.locate %}
Here's all the info you need to vote in {{ person.primary_address.locality }}:
π³οΈ Your polling place is {{ person.primary_address.dnc_will_vote.locate.polling_locations[0].location_name }}.
π Address: {{ person.primary_address.dnc_will_vote.locate.polling_locations[0].address_line_1 }}, {{ person.primary_address.dnc_will_vote.locate.polling_locations[0].city }}, {{ person.primary_address.dnc_will_vote.locate.polling_locations[0].state_code }} {{ person.primary_address.dnc_will_vote.locate.polling_locations[0].zip }}
π Polls are open from {{ person.primary_address.dnc_will_vote.locate.polling_locations[0].dates_hours }}.
{% else %}
π³οΈ Please check your polling location at https://iwillvote.com.
{% endif %}
Using the code above will output a message that looks something like this:
Sample Message - Early Vote
Using the code above will output a message that looks something like this:
Where Does the Data Come From?
The polling place data in Daisychain comes from the DNC's iWillVote API, which aggregates voting location information from state parties and state election authorities. Daisychain does not control when this data becomes available β it depends on when each state's data is published and loaded into the iWillVote system.
What to Do When Data Isn't Available Yet
It's common for polling place data to be unavailable in some states or races, especially ahead of early voting periods. This can happen even when early voting is about to start or is already underway. A few things to keep in mind:
State parties are the source. The data flows from state election authorities to state parties to the DNC's iWillVote platform to Daisychain. If data is missing, the state party's data director is typically the best person to contact about when it will be available and what the plan is to get it loaded.
Coverage varies by race and state. Major statewide and federal elections tend to have the best coverage. Smaller or off-cycle races may not be included at all.
Using Fallback Messages
Because data availability can be unpredictable, we strongly recommend using the {% if %} / {% else %} conditional blocks shown in the sample messages above. This ensures that if polling place data isn't available for a given person, they'll receive a fallback message directing them to iwillvote.com to look up their info manually, rather than receiving a broken or empty message.
Full List of Daisychain Variables Using Info From iwillvote.com
Hey {{ person.first_name }}, Election Day is Tuesday, November 3rd, but you might be able to vote early!
{% if person.primary_address.dnc_will_vote and person.primary_address.dnc_will_vote.locate %}
Based on our records, here's all the info you need for early voting in {{ person.primary_address.locality }}:
π³οΈ Your early voting location is {{ person.primary_address.dnc_will_vote.locate.early_vote_locations[0].location_name }}.
π Address: {{ person.primary_address.dnc_will_vote.locate.early_vote_locations[0].address_line_1 }}, {{ person.primary_address.dnc_will_vote.locate.early_vote_locations[0].city }}, {{ person.primary_address.dnc_will_vote.locate.early_vote_locations[0].state_code }} {{ person.primary_address.dnc_will_vote.locate.early_vote_locations[0].zip }}
π Early voting hours: {{ person.primary_address.dnc_will_vote.locate.early_vote_locations[0].dates_hours }}.
π³οΈ Please double-check to confirm your voting info here: https://iwillvote.com
{% else %}
π³οΈ You can get all the info you need to vote here: https://iwillvote.com.
{% endif %}