Set Up the Automatic Emailing of Ballots

The Email run in Deliver Ballots can email ballots automatically along with a PDF of instructions to UOCAVA voters who have requested delivery of their ballot by email.

  • Verify that the option Email Ballots Delivered through Deliver Ballots is selected in VOTER FOCUS ADMIN > System Options > Vote By Mail.
  • A PDF file for each ballot must be present in the folder:

I:\Vr6Sharedbinaries\MAIS\OfficialBallots

The name of each ballot file must be:

<election number>-<ballot style>.pdf

For example: 369-01D.pdf.

  • One or more PDFs containing instructions to voters must be present in:

I:\Vr6Sharedbinaries

You have the option of using a single general PDF of instructions, which must be named:

EmailAbsenteeGeneralInstructions.pdf

or specific PDFs with different instructions for the different types of UOCAVA voters, which must be named:

Absent domestic military

EmailAbsenteeInstructionsAbsenteeDomesticMilitary.pdf

Overseas military

EmailAbsenteeInstructionsOverseasMilitary.pdf

Overseas civilian

EmailAbsenteeInstructionsOverseasCivilian.pdf
  • The text for the email message defaults to:

This is your ballot. Print it out, complete, scan it in and attach to a return email.

Important:  This text is simply a placeholder for customized instructions from your county. The text SHOULD NOT BE USED as-is because voters must not return the ballot via email. It is imperative that you change these instructions. You can change this text when you do the run and any changes will apply only to that run. Or you can change the message for all runs by editing the text file, which can be found here: I:\Vr6Sharedbinaries\AbsenteeEmailBallotInstructions.txt
Tip: Click here for an example of customized instructions.

In the text file, you can insert the following substitution parameters, which will be replaced during the run by the database value for the voter being emailed:

[VoterName]

[VoterId]

[ElectionNumber]

[ElectionDate]

[ElectionName]

[Precinct]  (inserts the voter's precinct, not their precinct split)

Note that the square brackets are part of the substitution parameters.

If you are editing the text file to include Spanish, Creole, or any language having accented or non-English characters, you must save the file with UTF-8 encoding so that the accented characters will be rendered properly in the email. To save a file in Notepad, click File > Save as and select UTF-8 in the Encoding field.

For instructions on emailing ballots to voters, see Use the Email Run to Email Ballots to Voters.

Before doing an Email run, we recommend you read Verify the Success of Outgoing Emails.