There are two ways to add voters to your poll.
Both are in the poll’s Voters tab.
To add an individual voter, click Add Voter…
You will then enter the voter’s name and email address.
(Note: If you have a Platinum subscription and you have modified the Voter Settings as described in this article, you may be asked for different voter information when you add or import voters. Name and Email are the two things you’ll be asked using our default Voter Settings, and that will be all you'll need if you have a Free, Silver, or Gold subscription plan.)
To enter more than a couple of voters at a time, you will want to click Import Voters… instead.
When you do, you’ll be prompted to select a comma separated value (.csv) file on your computer:
(Note: If you click Download .csv Template, you will get a .csv file that has the right headers in the first row, and is otherwise blank. You can skip that step by starting your own .csv file and inserting those headers yourself.)
Most customers use Microsoft Excel or another spreadsheet program to create and edit their voter list and create that .CSV file. You may also have a membership database or other contact management system that can export information in a comma separated value (.CSV) format.
Here is such a list in Microsoft Excel:
The first row must consist of headers so that there is no ambiguity about what is in each column. In the upper right corner of the Import Voters dialog box, you will see what headers are expected.
For example, in the example below, BallotBox is expecting two columns: Email and Name. These can change based on the Voter Settings if you have a Platinum Plan. In addition, if you are using Voter Groups to customize your ballot questionnaire, "Voter Group" will also be a header you need in your voter file (Gold and Platinum plans only).
Note: Because we’re labeling those columns in the first row of our .CSV file, we can put Email in the first column, or in the second column.
The Name column will contain the full name of each voter. BallotBox cannot import the voter list correctly if you have first names and last names in separate columns.
The Email column will have each voter’s unique e-mail address. Voters cannot share email addresses. If you do not have a voter’s email address, you can import the list anyway, and add that voter’s address later if you get it. Alternatively, if you have a Platinum plan, you can use our VoterSignup service to ask your voters for their email addresses.
Of course, you’ll need to take care manipulating your voter list in the spreadsheet. If for example you inadvertently sort the list on the Name column without simultaneously sorting the Email column, you will change which email addresses are tied to which voters.
When you’re satisfied with your voter list, use your spreadsheet’s Save As… function to save the information as a comma separated value (.CSV) file somewhere on your computer where you can find it.
Then in BallotBox, click Choose .csv File, select that file, and click Import Voters.
BallotBox will tell you what is about to happen before it happens, so you can cancel if you have made a mistake. For example, BallotBox report any missing or invalid email addresses so you can correct them before you import the list.
Some customers prefer to maintain a master voter list, and always import the complete list; in that case, select Replace all voters. Other organizations like to import only what has changed; for that, select Add or update voters.
Then click Import XX Voters - where XX is the number of voters being imported.
Deleting voters from a poll
You can use the Edit… link to the left of an individual voter to remove that voter from your poll. Alternatively, you can import a new voter list, and select Replace all voters to remove voters who are no longer on your list.
When in the process do you import your voters?
You can import your voter list at any point in the process, so long as you complete it before you deploy your poll. However, if your ballot questionnaire is going to use Voter Groups (an Advanced Ballot Feature), you will not be able to assign Voter Groups to your voter list in your poll until you have first set up those Voter Groups in the Questions tab.