Voting Administrators can spend significant time and resources reaching out to eligible voters; sometimes that can feel like shouting into a void. Running a successful election isn’t only about building the best ballots, it’s also about making sure voters participate. How do you know which of your communication efforts are actually driving participation?
Enter the “Source” report!
What is the “Source” Report
The “Source” report tells you the exact path a voter took to submit their vote. The report clearly shows what communication channel a voter used to access their ballot. This report tracks a variety of access methods, including:
- Email
- SMS
- WhatsApp
- Mailed Notices
- Printed Notices
- Reminders
Why This Matters for Administrators
Understanding how your voters access their ballot allows you to optimize how you communicate with them in the future. Here are some ways this report may help for future voting events:
- What communication channels are voters actually using? Are your SMS notifications getting through to voters; do your voters primarily engage with email or WhatsApp. By understanding voter participation across different delivery methods, you can clearly see the effectiveness and deliverability of each channel. You can stop using methods that don't work and focus on the ones that do or have a sense of why all methods might be the key to reaching all voters and achieving higher turnout.
- What reminder timing works best for voters? Reminders are crucial for hitting your participation goals, but spamming voters isn't the answer. Because the “Source” report distinguishes between scheduled reminders and manually sent reminders, you can see exactly how the timing of each follow-up pushes a voter to finally cast their ballot. This allows you to fine-tune your reminder cadence for future votes.
- How do you make post-election reporting painless? When the vote closes, the work isn't quite done. Boards, stakeholders, and committees often want a detailed breakdown of how the election was run. Administrators can easily download this data and plug it directly into your post-election review reports and spreadsheets. This gives you a simple way to present clear, actionable insights to your team without spending hours entering numbers manually
Empower Your Next Election
Using the “Source” report to see exactly what gets your voters engaged, allows administrators like you to start building communication strategies that really work. Ready to see what's driving your turnout? Check out the "Source" report for your next vote.
