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PJ Hoberman edited this page Aug 18, 2020 · 2 revisions

Ballotdrop.org Data Gathering Instructions

Our goal is two-fold. One, we want to capture as much context as possible so that individual voters can clearly understand their rights as it pertains to absentee balloting and early voting. Second, we want to capture as many locations as possible where voters can drop ballots off safely rather than wait in line at crowded polling places. To successfully achieve this for every county across the United States, it will require several stages of data collection. Below are some initial instructions for what we envision as a first phase of data collection. So, here are the first steps we are asking you to take:

  1. Adopt a state, or two, or four. Every state helps, so just do as much as you are able! Let Iain tbd contact or PJ tbd contact know what state(s) you want to adopt!

  2. Research how elections are administered across the United States and in your adopted states. Here are some helpful resources:

  3. Review our prototype website. Please note that this is a very preliminary product, but gives you a sense for what it is that we are trying to develop. Link:

  4. Join our Slack (we will also send an invitation), and take part in the conversation! Feel free to ask questions, share insights, and engage with us. This is 100% volunteer-driven and we are here to help make this as easy as possible.

  5. We are using an online platform to gather data: Airtable Election Database. We will send you an e-mail with login instructions. * Note: Airtable is directly powering the website. With that in mind, if we change column headers, or add new columns it will create challenges for the website itself. Please do not change the columns. If you have feedback on something that might be missing, or that we should change, let us know in Slack and we will take care of it!

  6. Using Airtable: On the first tab, titled “State Absentee Voting Data”, please review the information we have collected for your adopted state and verify that it is correct. We recommend checking against the websites we provided under item 1 above.

    1. If you hover your cursor over a cell, the full text included in the cell should pop up. To edit, simply double click the cell.

    2. Please pay special attention to the “Ballot Drop Off Options” and “Can Someone Else Return Your Ballot?” Columns. * Note: Many of the decisions about where ballots can be dropped off, who can drop them off, and whether or not a signature or notary is required fall under state law. That is why we are collecting this information on the state tab.

    3. Within the “Ballot Drop Off Options” column, please include a short sentence that explains whether a ballot must be dropped off at a county election office, if it can be dropped off at an early voting site, or if the jurisdiction provides drop off boxes. Note that specific addresses are not needed here.

    4. This step may require some extended research to find the answer. For example, for the state of Georgia, you will need to dig into their Absentee Voting Guide for the answer:

    5. In the “Can Someone Else Return Your Ballot?” Column, please indicate (as information allows) whether the voter must return their ballot, if a family or close acquaintance can drop off the ballot, or if someone else can return the ballot (i.e. a community volunteer). Some states have a rule that states a maximum number of ballots that any single individual can return. If the information is available, please include in this cell.

  7. Ok – onto Tab 2 (“County Local Election Information”):

  8. Scroll to your adopted state, and begin to fill in the information for each column. In many cases, this information will be available on the state Secretary of State’s website. In some cases, you will need to go to the local chief election official’s website.

    • We are aiming to collect location information for all local election offices because this is most commonly where ballots can be dropped off – especially in rural communities.

  9. Fill out the information (chief election office/officer, address, phone number, website, hours of operation, etc.) as completely as you can.

  10. We have included a “Comment” column in the second table. In that column, please feel free to include any additional explanation, context, or website links that you come across during your research. If you find an inventory of ballot drop off locations, or drop box locations, please include the link to the website here.

  11. Once you complete the second tab within our database, you can take a long, deep breath and let us know that you are finished. We will follow up with additional instructions.

  12. Share this effort on social media, with your friends, family and others. We want to recruit additional volunteers, and raise awareness of this important information. For questions on what to share, contact Katherine at tbd.

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