Things to Do Before Creating the Sample Ballot File for a Commercial Printer

Verify that the assignment of precincts to polling places has been finalized and that the directions to each polling place are correct and complete. The directions to each polling place are maintained on the Place Maintenance dialog.

To do one of the following:

  • print the ballot style on sample ballots

or

  • provide ballot styles to the commercial printer so they can determine which ballot to send to each voter

you must first verify that all ballot styles for the election have been set up correctly.

Forward-activate pre-registered voters so that those who will be 18 on election day will be included in the report that is generated.

To activate these new voters:

  1. Go to LIST MAINTENANCE > List Maintenance Tasks > Activate 18 Year Olds.
  2. In the field Latest Date of 18th Birthday, enter the date of the election, and then click OK. Voter Focus displays a report with the voters who need to be activated for the election.
  3. Examine the report to verify its accuracy and resolve any discrepancies.
  4. When you have a clean report, click Update to activate those voters.

Does the commercial printer want the file sorted by zip code? How do they want you to transmit the file—via an FTP site, CD, or some other method? Should the file be compressed? Will you produce a work file for verification? The answers to these questions are important to know before you begin. Voter Focus prompts you for this information during the sample-ballot run.

Allocate sufficient time in your schedule to create and verify the export file. Although initiating the sample ballot run does not take much time, the processing by Voter Focus, particularly when performing a household sort, can take a while. Verification of the output can also be time-consuming.