Voter File Matching - TargetSmart

What is TargetSmart voter file matching?

TargetSmart’s SmartMatch API allows users to match a list of records to the TargetSmart voter file. CTA has created a custom workflow allowing PAD users to leverage their SmartMatch API within the PAD environment.

What is the purpose of voter file matching, and what are some features of doing this in PAD?

There are infinite reasons voter file matching is useful, but it depends on your use case! Maybe you want to enhance existing data or check to see if records in an ad hoc file are registered to vote. We designed this tool to be easy, intuitive, and flexible, allowing you to fine-tune your needs and create matching jobs most relevant to you! By using this workflow in PAD, there are a couple of key features that make this special:

1. Enhancing a list with existing VoterBase IDs - By uploading a list with existing IDs, you can use our matching workflow to enhance the information on the records. This means that you can draw more insights and find the most useful data for your campaign.
2. Retrieving a list of VoterBase IDs for ad hoc files - You can upload a list of raw data and retrieve VoterBase IDs for the records. This allows you to centralize, enhance, and clean this data all within the PAD environment.

How do I get access to TargetSmart Matching via CTA PAD?

If you want to use the TargetSmart Matching workflow in PAD, you must first obtain a contract from TargetSmart to gain access to a SmartMatch API key. Once you have the API key from TargetSmart, you can send it to us, and we will integrate it into your PAD project and activate the workflow in PAD.

To securely share the key with us, you can place it in your CTA-provided 1Password vault and then send a help ticket to help@techallies.org, notifying our team that you’ve shared it. Afterward, we'll implement the key into your PAD project. Once that process is complete, you can start matching your records in PAD!

Do you need help contacting TargetSmart to get this process started? You can email us at help@techallies.org – we’re happy to get you connected with TargetSmart and help facilitate this process!

How do I use the TargetSmart Matching workflow in PAD?

PAD UI

• Log in to PAD UI by navigating to cta.tools in your PAD account web browser.
•  Click on “Matching Jobs” in the main navigation. From here, you can create or manage any matching jobs.
• To create a new job, click on the Create New Job button on the upper right-hand side of the page.
• Choose a name for your job that’s less than 100 characters long.
• Select a BigQuery data source from your PAD project.
• Next, select a source table from within the dataset that you’d like to match. Currently, the Match job requires the source to be a table, not a view.
• Under Choose Provider, be sure to select the “TargetSmart” option and then hit “Next: Match Columns”.
• From here, you’ll match the associated “Fields” to the designated “TargetSmart header” and “Column” you are matching.
  • Required fields are noted with an asterisk (*)
• Once complete, hit the “Submit TargetSmart Matching Job” button, and your job will start running. You will then be navigated back to the job list page and see your newly created job in the list table.
• Wait for your job to finish running with a status of ‘Successful’. The completion time depends on the size and complexity of the job. 
• Once your job has succeeded, click on ‘View matches in BigQuery’ to view the matches in your PAD.
  • Alternatively: To find your data in PAD, navigate to the dataset where the source table is nested, and you’ll see your results as a table.

BigQuery UI/Workflow:

• Log in to your cta.tools account and access your PAD Project.
• Head over to Google Workflows by searching and selecting workflows in the search bar in the top center of your page or by going directly to: https://console.cloud.google.com/workflows.
• Select the “voterfile-matching” workflow and click execute (to the right of ‘workflow details’). 
• Update the following arguments based on what you’d like the workflow to match and copy/paste them into the input box that appears after you click Execute. Under fields, you need to include at least the required fields for matching for the vendor and can add/remove additional pairs as needed. For a valid JSON input example, see below.   

{
"vendor": "targetsmart",
"fields": [
{ "fieldName": "vendor field name",
"mappedColumn": "source table column name"
},
{ "fieldName": "vendor field name",
"mappedColumn": "source table column name"
}
],
"source_dataset": "dataset name",
"source_table": "table name"
}

• Run your workflow by clicking “Execute” in the bottom left corner! We recommend you select “All Calls” for the call log level.
• Once completed, navigate to the Executions Header and click on your execution ID to see the logs, results, and additional metadata for your run.
• You will also be able to see the output containing the results table or an error indicating that the matching job failed. Assuming your workflow ran, you can find the results in your project with the table ID contained in the output. Table IDs will generally start with “merged_results”.
• If you wish to execute the match again, click “Execute Again” next to “Execution Details”.
   

TargetSmart accepted fields: 

Your CSV header record should contain one or more of the following field identifiers. SmartMatch will adapt its matching strategies based on the field identifiers found. However, we recommend including as many fields as possible in order to get the best match.

• voterbase_id
• smartvan_id
• voter_id
• exact_track
• full_name
• first_name_combined
• first_name
• middle_name
• last_name
• name_suffix
• address1
• address2
• city
• state
• zip
• age
• gender
• dob
• phone
• email
• latitude
• longitude

Questions or Feedback

We welcome all questions and feedback on the TargetSmart Matching workflow! Please feel free to send us a message at help@techallies.org.