Races & Initiatives
Races allows you to manage several actions related to races and referenda: adding, ordering, editing and deleting. Please note that we refer to any non-candidate race as initiatives, including Referenda, Propositions, Ballot Initiatives, etc.
Covered in this section:
About Races
Add Races & Initiatives
Determine Race Order
Delete Races
Race Detail Page
Fields
Special Instructions for Referenda
There are a number of ways to add, delete, edit, categorize, district, and delete races and referenda within our system. For the easiest method to add a single race, see Race Wizard page. For making other changes, such as district, category, or to assign Bio Fields or Questions Sets to a single race, see Race Detail. For the fastest method to add multiple races, see Script Library. For the fastest way to delete, district, or categorize multiple races, see Race Manager. This section will walk you through adding, deleting, races use the Races.
From this page you can add and order races for your guide.
Add Races & Initiatives
To add one or more races or referenda, select Races on the NavBar. Scroll to the field beneath Add Additional Races enter the race name (i.e., Governor, Senator, U.S. Congress 8th District) followed by a return in the field. You can add any number of races, separated with a return.
If you are adding referenda you must also check the box at the bottom of the form. When creating a referendum, the voter guide will automatically insert two candidates: Yes and No.
Note that this will only add the race; you will still need to select a race category and a district. You can do this by editing a race, (see Race Detail Page, below).
Determine Race Order
To order races, select Races on the NavBar. Under Add/Manage Races, use the arrow icons to the left to drag and drop races into the desired order.
Delete Races
To delete races, select Races on the NavBar. Under Add/Manage Races, select the race to delete by clicking Delete.
Race Detail Page
When you click on a race or initiative from the Races & Initiatives Page, it will take to you the Race Details page for that specific race. From this page you can edit or modify every aspect of a race, from its name, districting and description to candidates, questions and biofields.
Fields
Here is a description of each field, its properties and the data that should be entered.
Name Enter the name of the race as it appears on the ballot.
Preview Click on the magnifying glass icon to preview the race.
Description Enter details about the office. Details can include links to articles or video.
District District is made up of three fields. Some choices will not be visible unless you have made the appropriate selection in the previous field. In the first field, you must choose your state. In the second field, the districts are presented in the following order: Built-in districts (Statewide, County, US House, State Upper House, State Lower House), followed by Composite Districts, Zip Code Districts, District Sets, and GIS Districts. If you have not created one of the types of districts, you may not see it in this field. In the third field, you will be able to select specific districts. For example, if you have selected COUNTY in the second field, the third field will be populated with a list of counties for your state. If you have selected US House, the third field will be populated with a list of Congressional Districts.
Race Category Select the appropriate, previously created category from the drop down list. To learn how to create and manage race categories, click the blue ‘i’ at the top of the Race Category page.
Bio Field Set Select the appropriate, previously created category from the drop down list. To learn how to create and manage Bio Field Sets, click the blue ‘i’ at the top of the Bio Fields page.
Question Set Select the appropriate, previously created category from the drop down list. To learn how to create and manage Question Sets, click the blue ‘i’ at the top of the Question Sets page.
Candidates Candidates that have been previously uploaded will appear here, and you also have the option of adding candidates by following the instructions.
Special Instructions for Referenda: For Referenda, there are specific changes: In the Description field, enter the referendum exactly as it appears on the ballot. You should include an explanation of what a ‘Yes’ vote means and what a ‘No’ vote means. You can include links to pro and con arguments, articles, or videos or include a simple description of the pro and con arguments (one or two sentences) in the Description field. In the Question Set field, you should select ‘Referenda’ (if you have not created a Referenda Question Set, click the blue ‘i’ on the Question Sets page). In the Candidates fields you should enter the Pro Argument ONLY in the Yes candidate (accessed by clicking on ‘Yes for the Measure’ then enter the Con argument ONLY in the No candidate.