If part of your day-to-days operations is to interact with elected officials, elections will represent a key milestone to update your information in Borealis and make sure you always have the most recent information about them.
US Database of Government officials
This article is particularly relevant to you if your elected officials are in any country other than the United States. If your elected officials are in the US, consider checking out our US Database of Government Officials.
Manage Elections Related Data outside the United States
The purpose of this article is to ensure that you have accurate and up-to-date information readily available in Borealis, allowing you to effectively engage with elected officials. By maintaining complete records, you can promptly communicate with officials, build relationships, and manage interactions based on the latest data, such as election results, role changes, or term updates. This data accuracy supports timely and relevant engagement strategies.
This article is designed to help you manage election data using Borealis and covers the following:
Each stage outlines below the specific actions to take, the components of Borealis affected, and how to ensure the data is managed accurately. Let’s consider elections for the city of Boston for instance.
NOTE: Please log a ticket to the Helpdesk requesting to activate the field Re-elected? in your instance to successfully be able to complete all the steps listed in this article.
Initial data import
Enter Elected Officials Information
On a day-to-day basis, it’s essential to keep the records of elected officials up to date in Borealis. This step involves entering and maintaining current information for each official, including their positions, roles, and any recent updates to their affiliations or terms.
Actions Required:
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Download the Excel Import Individuals Template to import Individuals from Borealis. This is where you will insert the information of all the elected officials.
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Complete the necessary fields, including details such as name, position, party affiliation, start date, end date, and the office they are running for under Organization.
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Import the Individuals into Borealis using the import functionality, ensuring that no duplicates or missing information occur during the process.
Tip: Regularly updating this information ensures that Borealis reflects the latest data on elected officials, which supports smooth reporting and effective engagement.
Important Fields to Fill:
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Categorization
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Location: Where the Individual is situated (e.g. Boston)
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Position: The title the official is running for (e.g. Mayor)
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Organization: The office to which the official is elected (e.g. Boston City Government)
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Role: Create as many roles as you have election types - make sure to mention the election type in the role (e.g. Local Elected Official)
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Start Date: Date that the official was elected
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End Date: Date of the next election
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Party Affiliation (if applicable)
Observation:
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Ensure that besides the fields mentioned above, all mandatory fields are also filled out to importing Individuals.
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If you plan on sending any Smart Communications to your elected officials, also fill the Language of Communication and Salutation Title fields.
Before an Election
Before an election, it's essential to review the current data of all elected officials. This step ensures that positions, end dates, and roles are up to date and ready for the upcoming election.
Purpose:
The report will be used to validate data quality, ensuring that information on elected officials is accurate ahead of the election. This helps prevent errors in the election management process, such as outdated roles or incorrect dates.
Actions Required:
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In the Analytics section of Borealis, search for the report called Managing an election and duplicate the report.
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NOTE.: If the Filter Report Organisation is not available when you duplicate the system report, make sure to edit the report and add this filter to only see data pertaining to the election you wish to track.
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For each widget, add 1 or more filters, corresponding to the election (displayed in the field ‘Role’) that you want to manage.
Boston City Council Elections Example:
Filters:
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Include Organizations with “Boston City Council” (the name of the organization).
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Role = Local Elected Official.
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Status = Active. This makes sure that the table is updated after each subsequent election.
After an Election
In Borealis, this stage will take place in 3 steps:
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Gather your election data, outside Borealis, from a trustworthy source you will have identified
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Import Individuals (without positions) that do not exist in Borealis yet. This would typically be officials elected for the first time
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Import the positions of both officials elected for the first time, and officials that were re-elected.
Important: The position of officials that would not have been reelected will automatically be disabled at the end date of their position. There is no action required for them.
Once all these steps are completed, your last step will consist in checking the accuracy of your new data.
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Gather Election Data (Outside of Borealis)
After the election results are in, you need to gather the information of newly elected officials. This data is essential for updating Borealis with accurate records.
Actions Required:
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Obtain the names and details of all newly elected officials, including their positions, party affiliations, and relevant dates.
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Collect this information in 2 Excel files, which will be used for the import process in Borealis.
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1 list of individuals
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1 list of positions, for newly elected officials AND re-elected officials.
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Tip: Official election results or government databases can serve as sources for this data.
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Add Newly Elected Officials as Individuals, in Borealis
With the gathered election data, you will now import the newly elected officials into Borealis. Remember that you will import Individuals first, without their positions.
Actions Required:
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Download the Excel Template to import Individuals from Borealis. This is where you will insert the information of all the elected officials.
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Complete the necessary fields, including details such as name, party affiliation.
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Import the Individuals into Borealis using the import functionality,
IMPORTANT: The system will flag Individuals that are already in the system to avoid the creation of duplicates. You must then remove these records from your Excel sheet and import only the stakeholders that have not been identified as duplicates.
Important Fields to Fill:
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Categorization
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Location: Where the Individual is situated (e.g. Boston)
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Party Affiliation (if applicable)
Upload the positions (newly elected and re-elected officials)
At this point, all elected officials should exist in the system. You need to add the position for which they were just elected.
Note: For re-elected officials, their old position will turn to Inactive once the end date is passed. A new position will be added for their new mandate.
Note: In cases where a position cannot be imported, check to see if the Elected official's previous position is disabled your instance (An Individual cannot have the same position in the same organization at the same time).
Actions Required:
Download the Excel Importer template for positions.
Fill in the necessary fields such as:
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Position: The title of the elected official (e.g., Mayor).
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Organization: The office they represent (e.g., City Government).
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Start Date: The date they were re-elected.
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End Date: The date of the next election.
- Re-elected?: The most recent prior election they won. (Need to be made a default field in Individuals)
After updating the data, import the positions back into Borealis.
Tip: Ensure all fields, including Start Date, End Date, and Re-elected?, are accurately filled to avoid any discrepancies.
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Check Your Results
After importing the new officials and updating the re-elected officials’ positions, it is important to verify the accuracy of the data.
Actions Required:
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Adjust the Managing an election report, by adding to the widget the filter on the corresponding election.
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Compare this report with your Excel sheet to ensure consistency and correctness.
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Investigate any discrepancies and make corrections if necessary.