Released February 18, 2020. Updated April 14, 2021.
To view the VAN Export Guide, please click HERE.
State Party Discretion
While this section of the document serves as the guidelines and rules for how exports are generally handled, the State Party reserves the right to approve or deny any export request for any reason.
Approval Process
Any time a VAN user wishes to receive a list from VAN in an excel, csv, or txt format, an export request is required. Certain users with lower levels of access may not be able to export or may be limited in the size of export they can make. If the “export” button on the “My List” page in VAN is greyed out, this is generally the reason.
Once an export request is made, the State Party will review the request within 1-3 business days. During that time, additional information may be asked to be provided. Please provide any additional information requested on the export request itself, not through emails or calls to the State Party, as it allows us to keep information all in one place and review the exports faster. Once reviewed, if the export request is approved the user will have 48 hours to log back into VAN, choose the export type needed, and download the list. If the user is outside that 48 hours, they will need to request the export again.
Export requests made before 6:00 pm EST will be reviewed as quickly as possible. Export requests made after 6:00 pm EST will be reviewed the following morning, Monday - Friday. Export requests made between the hours of 11:00 am EST and 4:00 pm EST on Saturday will be reviewed as quickly as possible; requests outside those hours will be reviewed Monday morning. Please note that the support hours after Election Day will decrease and will vary.
Export Messages
If approved or denied, the user will receive an automatic email from VAN that states this and instructs them to log into VAN to see more details. If during the review process, additional information is needed a message will be sent on the export itself within VAN. Due to some recent changes with VAN, the user will no longer receive an email if additional information is requested. Users can see whether they have a pending message on the front page of VAN in the “My Requests” section. You can then click on the export request to see what additional information may be needed and provide a response.
On the front page of VAN under the user’s name, you see there is a pending notification in My Requests. Click on that and you will be brought to the Export Requests page.
Once on the Export Requests page, you can see all the exports and their statuses. A bolded export means there is a message waiting for you. Click on that export’s name to see the message.
Once you click on the export, you will see all messages associated with the export and can click on “Add Action” to send a response.
Targeted Lists
All lists being requested must be a targeted list, used for a specific purpose. Any list consisting of every registered voter within the district/county you have access to will be denied. Users should place a new request each time they need an export as we are constantly adding in new voters and updating information, so an old list may contain bad data.
Choosing Export Format
After an export is approved, the user will be given the option to choose which export type they need. Most users only have access to householded mailing lists, notes exports, and email exports. Please make sure to choose the correct export type (for example if you are requesting a notes export, only choose a notes list export type). While the choice of what export type you make is done after the export is approved, the State Party Data Director can see what export type is chosen and regularly monitors this. Users who choose an export type other than what has been requested may lose their export privileges.
Mail Exports
The most common type of export needed is an export for mail. Please make sure to include in the export request summary that the export will be used to send out mail.
Request Requirements
The State Party requires that users also provide us with the print vendor being used for the mail piece and whether that vendor is a union vendor. Please include this information on all your mail exports, even though you may be using the same vendor for all your mail as it allows us to keep information all in one place and review the exports faster.
Once reviewed, if approved you can download the list as a “Householded Mailing List” Export type. This export type will give you:
• Voter File VANID (unique VAN voter ID)
• EnvName (householded Names)
• City
• State
• Zip 5
• Zip 4
• Address
Timing
We will review all export requests in 1-3 business days.
Yard Sign Exports
Campaigns may need to export a list of individuals who have requested yard signs so that they may deliver them or add them to another database. Please make sure to include in the export request summary that the export will be used for yard signs and whether the list will be used to help with dropping of the signs or if the information will be added to another database.
Request Requirements
No special information is required in the export details, but users should ensure that the list is targeted towards individuals who have requested yard signs.
Once reviewed, if approved you can download the list as a “Householded Mailing List” export type. This export type will give you:
• Voter File VANID (unique VAN voter ID)
• Env Name (householded names)
• City
• State
• Zip 5
• Zip 4
• Address
Notes Exports
Some campaigns use the “Notes” section in VAN to collect special information about voters that cannot be easily captured as survey questions or activist codes. VAN allows for a notes export to get that data. Notes are not shared across committees, so the only notes a campaign will have access to are ones they have entered themselves. Please make sure to include in the export request summary that the export will be used for retrieving notes and what you will be doing with this information.
Request Requirements
No special information is required in the export details, but users should ensure that the list is targeted towards individuals who have notes on their profile as a Notes List export type will only give you those voters with notes on their profile.
Once reviewed, if approved you can download the list as a “Notes List” export type. This export type will give you:
• Voter File VANID (unique VAN voter ID)
• Contact Name (voter’s name)
• Date Entered (when the note was entered)
• Entered By (who entered the note)
• Note Category (note Category if any)
• Note Tags (note tags if any)
• Note Text (text of the note)
Email Exports
While VAN is not a great email management system for campaigns, users can add emails to voter profiles. VAN allows for two different kinds of email exports to get that data. Emails are not shared across committees, so the only emails a campaign will have access to are ones they have entered themselves. Please make sure to include in the export request summary that the export will be used for retrieving emails.
Request Requirements
No special information is required in the export details, but users should ensure that the list is targeted towards individuals who have emails on their profile as an Email Type List export type will only give you those voters with emails on their profile.
Once reviewed, if approved you can download the list as a “Email Type List” export type. This export type will give you:
• Voter File VANID (Unique VAN voter ID)
• Email Type (Personal, Work, Other, etc.)
• Email Source (almost always be ‘User Added’)
• Email (email address)
• Date Created (date it was added to VAN)
Users can also choose to export the list as an email blob export which will provide users with just the email addresses separated by semicolons or colons. It will then generate that information so you can just copy it out of VAN to paste into an email.
Text Message Exports
With the Peer-To-Peer (P2P) texting services that are available - and if the system is set up correctly with a vendor such as Hustle, ThruText, or TextOut - there is no need to request exports for texting because that information should be able to be directly exported from VAN using the 'SMS Button' and the data should automatically flow back into VAN.
Beyond removing the need for manual exports, using a texting service with an API ensures that important backend data is not lost. Most notably the unique identifier associated with the VOTER + PHONE NUMBER combo is only exported to the platform via API. This unique identifier ensures that the correct result is written back to VAN in the short term; in the long term, this helps ensure that future modeling around phone contactability has correct data to base the model on.
Export requests for peer-to-peer texting will not be approved and users will be directed to setting up and utilizing VAN API's.
Please note that due to various laws, using a Broadcast Texting platform is against regulations unless those you wish to contact have explicitly opted-in to receive communications from your campaign.
Ringless Voicemail
A newer robocalling method referred to as "ringless voicemail" is a calling method where a prerecorded message is placed directly into a voicemail inbox without normally making the target phone number ring or display a missed call.
After consultation with KDP's legal counsel, the practice of using ringless voicemail drops is one that is legally in question. Due to this, this method is not recommended per our counsel and requests for ringless voicemail exports will be denied.
Other Request types
All other request types will be reviewed on a case-by-case basis. Any user that will be taking the data and giving it to a third party (other than a mail vendor) will be required to have a vendor agreement on file for that vendor. Please contact the State Party Data Director with any questions or concerns.