webElect.net - Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

The main voter data is updated every month. You can see the date of the last SOE book closings loaded on the Main Menu in the Voter Info section header. We usually have the previous month's book closing data processed and live between the 11th and 15th of each month. So the voter data is usually never more than 2 to 6 weeks behind the daily county data.

The 2024 release schedule from the Division of Elections is as follows, and takes us about 3-4 days to receive and process the data:

January 10, 2024
February 7, 2024
March 6, 2024
April 10, 2024
May 8, 2024
June 12, 2024
July 17, 2024 (pushed back from 7/10)
August 14, 2024 (pushed back from 8/7)
September 25, 2024
October 23, 2024 (pushed back from 10/9 to 10/16, then to 10/23)
November 13, 2024 (pushed back from 11/1)
December 18, 2024

Vote-by-Mail and Early Voting

For VBM and Early voted data in the statewide elections, we download and process each morning as the counties upload their previous day's data (within 60 days of the upcoming election date). You can check that today's reports have been loaded by clicking the County EV/VBM Status link on the Main Menu.

Note that access to the VBM data is restricted and must be granted from the state DOE or county SOE for the campaign to have access to the information. To submit a request for access in webElect, click "Campaign Setup" on the Main Menu, then scroll all the way down to complete the VBM Data Access Request Form. For information on targeting within VBM data, click here .

Phone Numbers

Phone number data is updated at different times. Some phone numbers come from the voter registration data, other phone data comes from an annual residential phone directory we receive and match around March/April each year. Other phone numbers come from the various license list matches we do towards the beginning of each year. We also offer 3rd party enhanced phone numbers that can be ordered at any time. Finally, campaigns can provide their own phone number lists matched to voter numbers for us to load into their dataset.

We update the Florida Do Not Call List every quarter and identify phone numbers on the list with a "!" or "DNC"

License Lists

We obtain additional information on voters such as professional licenses lists at different times during the year. If you have purchased access to these lists, you can see the date they were last updated by hovering over the name of the list. These are usually updated once every election cycle around March/April.

Public Finance Contribution Info

State public finance contribution information is updated approximately every quarter.

2. Who owns and who has access to the data?

Only you do, unless you choose to share it. With webElect, the owner of the data is the person or organization that pays for it. With most other systems, your data is not private and may be seen or shared without your knowledge. In our system, however, any proprietary data the customer supplies is their data and we do not use it for any other purpose than providing that customer service. In fact, we are so committed to the confidentiality of customer data that we made it an explicit section in our Privacy Policy as part of the Terms of Service .

3. What happens to the data if the subscription expires?

Nothing, unless you explicitly direct us to delete it. Our customers retain proprietary rights to their data even as a subscription lays dormant. While webElect requires a subscription for bulk reporting of data, you can continue to access it for individual lookups and reference. At any time, a past customer can either resubscribe to retain full access to the data and webElect features, or request an export of their proprietary data at no charge.

4. What happens to my data if my district changes?

The data that you collected, input, and saved will never be deleted, even if your district changes (thus changing the voters in your data set.) All data remains tied to the voter's voter I.D. regardless of whether or not they are in your current district/data set or not. Click here for a more detailed breakdown of how data is retained.

5. How do I access and target upcoming election Vote-By-Mail Ballot data?

Access to the VBM data is restricted and must be granted from the state DOE or county SOE for the campaign to have access to the information. To submit a request for access in webElect, click "Campaign Setup" on the Main Menu, then scroll all the way down to complete the VBM Data Access Request Form.

To pull a list of VBM voters, click "Targeting" or "Query Targeting" on the Main Menu. On the Voter Targeting page you will see the VBM Data section at the very top. While the default setting is to ignore this data, use the drop down menu to toggle "Include only the VBM voters" or "Exclude the VBM voters". There will then be additional parameters you can select, including the Date, Mailed Status, and Returned Status. For more detailed instructions, please visit our Vote-By-Mail Info page .

6. Why do my voter counts not match the SOE?

Your counts should be very close to the SOE as long as you are comparing the same data. What usually accounts for the small difference is:
a) Voters whose records are legally protected from public disclosure do not contain any district information so can not be included in webElect counts except for countywide. Since the SOE has access to the protected info, they are able to include those voters in their counts.
b) Due to the state's release schedule of the monthly voter updates, webElect is typically 2 - 6 weeks behind the live county data. webElect shows the date of the voter file in the Voter Info section header on the main menu. SOE reports usually display the date they were run on the report. The further the 2 dates are apart, the larger the expected difference between the counts.
c) webElect counts will not match historical turn out reports for previous elections. webElect is based on current registered voters, so pulling a count for the 2016 primary election shows how many of the currently registered voters in the district voted somewhere in the state on the 2016 primary election date. That is different then the count who voted in the district in the 2016 primary election. Since webElect is used to target voters for future elections, the count (and list) you receive from it is much more valuable.

7. Can I share my walk data with the GOP?

We now offer the ability to share walk data directly with the GOP for campaigns who need to do so. For step by step directions on how to set up and send, see our GOP Data Sharing page.

Mobile App

1. Where can I find information about the webElect App?

Please visit our Mobile App Instructions page for all information about the App, including a dedicated FAQ list and set up instructions.

2. How can I assign walk packets to multiple walkers?

While you can only assign one walker to a packet, that walker can share the Packet ID number with others to walk as a team. The assigned walker will see the Packet ID in the walk app and the other walkers enter that ID on the first page of the mobile walk page. The packet ID number is also printed in the header of any printed walk packets. This allows multiple walkers to walk as a team while activity is properly logged to each individual.

Payment

1. Do you accept credit cards?

Yes - our new subscription form accepts Visa, Mastercard, and E-checks.

2. What is your renewal policy if I let my subscription expire during the paid period 12 months before my election?

If you let your subscription expire during the paid period 12 months before your election, the campaign has the option to renew for one month starting from the previous expiration date, or renew for the 3-month minimum starting from that day of renewal.

3. Can unused prepaid credits be refunded?

Unused credits can be refunded (less 3%) up to 60 days after a subscription expires or the election date passes, whichever occurs first, after which credits expire and can no longer be used. Refunded credits will go back to the payment sources in descending date order (LIFO). Per Florida Statutes, campaigns can not prepay for services of a future campaign.

4. When does the billing period start?

While many features in webElect are always free, such as voter info lookup, the active campaigning related features require a paid subscription during the billable period. These include the ability to download data/lists and access walk/phone projects. The optional add-on upgrades are not available for free and must be paid for each election cycle at whatever point they are needed, but are a 1-time fee per election cycle and remain enabled through the 3 month grace period (or until the campaign resets the account for the next election cycle).

For most accounts, the billable period to access paid-features in the account will start a year out from the district's next General (or run-off) election date. This means that up until the “year out” date, the account will be in the free period and can access paid-features as long as there are no active elections in the district.

However, if there are active elections in the district, then the account will not be eligible for the free period and will only be accessible with payment or with the paid-features disabled.

A few examples: Miami Dade Countywide is an example of a district that is not eligible for a free period, since the county has ongoing municipal elections. Additionally, if a municipality has multiple districts that are elected city-wide, the district may be ineligible for the free period even if one or more seats are not in an election year. Statewide accounts are also not eligible for a free period to paid-features.

Lists and Reports

1. How can I pull a list of all zip codes in my district?

To obtain a list of zip codes in your district, go through Targeting and enter the criteria for the targeted voters (or leave all blank just to get every voter.) On the output page select "Target Analysis" and then "Zip Export". This will give you a downloadable report that contains a list of all zip codes (and the breakdown of voters in each).

2. Can I create different mailing groups based on voting methods?

You can create different mailing lists from one target based on which method the targeted voters used to vote. This will allow you to segment those who voted early, by mail, and at the polls for your mailings. For step-by-step instructions, see our Segmenting Mailing Lists page.

Miscellaneous

1. What do the different icons and codes mean next to voters' names?

webElect uses several different icons and codes, some unique to our service and others standardized by the state of Florida (such as the Absentee Ballot Codes). Here is a link to our Icon and Code Legend .

2. What do the varying shades of color associated with a voter's score signify?

The three different colors you see indicate the voter's party: Red for Republican, blue for Democrat, and green for Other. The shades of a particular color correspond to how "hard" or "soft" a voter is by using the webElect voter scoring system . Someone who has a Primary Election score greater than 40 has the darkest shade (a "hard" Republican, for example, is shown with a deep red.) A voter who's Primary score is less than 40, but has a General Election score greater than 45 is given the medium shade. And a voter who's General score is less than 45 has the lightest shade.

Note: This section refers to the red, blue, and green colors you see next to a voter's name where his/her party and score is listed (or in the Mobile App next to a name where the age and gender are listed.) The color-coded human figure next to a voter's age and birth-date when conducting a search in webElect corresponds to an age bracket. More information on that can be found in our Icon and Code Legend under "Age Icons".

3. What happens if the candidate changes the office he/she is running for?

Not a problem! We can change the district of voters for a campaign to whatever you require and prorate any change in the subscription fees. Please note, the request has to come from an active administrator's email address on the account (we can only discuss campaign account specifics with email addresses listed as active administrators).

4. How do I add or remove users from a campaign?

To add or remove users from an account, navigate to "Users" under administration, and from there you can select "Add User" and fill out the form. For more step by step instructions, see our Users page.

Last updated by Alli Bundy, created October 28, 2015