Add your voter list: paste it or upload a CSV

Which columns your list uses

The grid's columns come from your choices on the Start step. The line above the grid lists them, such as “Columns this list uses: Ballot ID, Label, Email.”

Names are optional: a label only helps you recognize voters on the Voters tab. Each row needs a way to reach the voter, so give it an email address or a phone number for the ways you turned on. A row may have neither when you hand out keys, or when it has a Ballot ID: you then give that voter their key yourself.

Paste from Excel or Google Sheets

1. In your spreadsheet, select the voters' rows and the heading row above them, and copy.
2. On the Voters step, click the first cell of the grid and paste (Ctrl+V, or Cmd+V on a Mac).
3. Check that each column landed under the right heading, and fix any red cell.
4. Press Save or Continue to invitations.

With a heading row, each column goes under the matching heading, whatever order your sheet uses. These headings are recognized, with or without capitals, spaces or hyphens:

Columns with other headings are left out. If your member numbers sit under a heading such as Unit or Lot, rename it Ballot ID before you copy, or upload the sheet as a CSV and match the column. Without a heading row, the columns fill in from the cell you clicked, left to right.

On a tablet, or to paste a whole sheet at once, press Paste rows… above the grid. Paste into the box, choose Add to the voters already in the list or Replace the whole list, and press Add rows.

Upload a CSV file

1. Save your spreadsheet as a CSV file (in most apps, File, then Save As or Download, then CSV).
2. Drop the file on the box that says “Drop a CSV file here, or click a cell below and paste”, or press Upload CSV and choose it.
3. In the Match your columns window, each row is a column of this election's voter list. Under From your file, check which column of your file fills it: columns are matched by heading where they can be, and First values shows a sample. Choose Leave empty for a list column your file doesn't have. Other columns of your file, such as a downloaded list's Voter Key and Status, are never imported; a note names them.
4. Leave The first row has the column headings ticked if your file has a heading row.
5. Press the import button, which shows your count, such as Import 230 voters.

The rows are added to the grid as if you had pasted them, so the same checks apply. Voter keys are always made by ElectionChamp, never read from the file. The file is read in your browser, and nothing is saved until you press Save or Continue.

Excel, Numbers and OpenDocument spreadsheet files aren't read. The page says “That's a spreadsheet file. Save it as CSV first (File, Save As, CSV), or copy the rows and paste them into the grid.”

To start from a blank file, press Download a CSV template. You get voter-list-template.csv with this election's column headings, ready to fill in and upload.

Edit the list in the grid

• Type to replace a cell, or double-click it to edit.
• Enter and Tab move down and across. Delete clears the selected cells.
• Ctrl+Z (Cmd+Z on a Mac) undoes. Undo and Redo are above the grid too.
• Right-click a row for Insert row above, Insert row below or Delete row.
• Add New Row takes you to a blank row after the last voter.

Fix cells that can't be saved

A cell that can't be saved turns red. Hover over it to see why.

Labels, email addresses and phone numbers may repeat. Two owners who share an email address are two rows, and each gets their own invitation and key.

Saving is all or nothing. If any row has a problem, nothing is saved, and the Your Voter List Was Not Saved window lists the rows to fix. Download Records saves that list as a file.

Phone numbers need the country code

With text messages on, saving first shows Check your phone numbers: text messages only reach numbers that start with the country code.

• +447911123456 (United Kingdom) is delivered.
• 5551234567 is delivered: in the US and Canada, 10 digits is enough.
• 00447911123456 is delivered too: 00 is changed to +.
• 07911123456 isn't delivered: it starts with 0 and has no country code.

Press Go back and fix, or Numbers are correct, save.

Hand-out keys and spare keys

Two kinds of key aren't rows in your list: keys you hand out and spare keys. Each box takes a whole number from 0 to 100,000, and both count toward the price.

Keys you hand out

If you picked Hand out keys on Start, you give some or all members their key yourself, on paper or in person:

• With no columns to fill in (no Email, Text message, Voter label, Ballot IDs or Weighted ballots), the page says “No list needed” and asks How many voters?
• With an email or phone list but no Label, Ballot ID or Weight column, a box asks How many keys will you hand out yourself? These keys are on top of the voters in your list.
• With a Label, Ballot ID or Weight column, every voter needs a row, and rows with no email or phone are handed out by you.

After launch, print the keys with Print keys on the Voters tab, or download them as a CSV. A new election starts with Voter label on, so turn it off on Start if you want the count box. See send voting links and printed keys.

Spare keys

Spare keys are “For members you add after launch.” They start at 0. While voting is open, you add a voter with a spare key from the dashboard's Voters tab. That key isn't emailed or texted: it appears in the voter list for you to give the member. See spare keys for latecomers.

Price so far and how voters get their key

Price so far shows Free or the amount, a bar marked Free up to 20, $10 up to 200 and +5¢ each after, and a line such as “230 voters. You pay once, at launch.” The price counts every key: listed voters, hand-out keys and spare keys.

How voters get their key counts the keys by route: Email invitation, Text message, Handed out by you and Spare keys. Check it before you go on: a voter counted as handed out by you gets no email or text message.

Save the list

• Save keeps you on the page and shows “Saved.”
• Continue to invitations saves and moves on. Back saves and returns to the Ballot step.
• Leaving with changes you haven't saved asks first.

The list locks when you launch. Ballots are secret, and voter keys can't be deactivated after launch, so remove anyone who shouldn't vote before you launch. To leave room for members who join later, set spare keys now.