February VoteSource Newsletter

Welcome to the first edition of the VoteSource Newsletter for 2022.

In the first instance, we are pleased to report our team of two is back up to full strength.

Please read below for important information to assist with your campaign efforts.

Missed our last edition? Catch up by clicking here.

Or click here to browse all previous editions.

Auto Archiving Target Audiences - 4th March

Please be aware, due to the large number of out-of-date target audiences in VoteSource, we will be auto-archiving anything created before 1st January 2022 on Friday 4th March.

As readers will no doubt be aware, target audiences are snapshots of the electoral register at the time they are run. As we apply monthly register updates to the system, as well as annual register updates, these target audiences become outdated - and should be archived by their creator.

To archive a target audience you no longer require, simply go to Campaigns, Target Audiences, click on the target audience you no longer require and when it loads, simply select the Finish and Archive option in red. The system will then ask you to confirm if you wish to archive the target audience.

These target audiences will be archived not deleted. If you require access to a target audience created before 1st January 2022 you can re-activate it by going to Campaigns, Target Audiences and then select Archived Targets.

From here you can search for your archived target audience by name and re-activate it if it is required.

If you have any questions regarding the above, please contact the VoteSource Support Team on 020 7984 8000 or votesourcesupport@conservatives.com

A reminder to name your Target Audiences correctly

When you create a Target Audience in VoteSource, do remember to give it a description that would make sense to an ordinary elector, even if it is just a test.

This is because when someone puts in a Subject Access Request, which is a daily occurrence, the report that they receive will include a list of the campaigns they were included in. If we are unable to explain the meaning of a campaign the Data Protection Team may need to contact you for details.

For more information, please contact dataprotection@conservatives.com or 020 7984 8300

VoteSource Accounts – this article contains information that will not be relevant to all recipients of the Newsletter

VoteSource user accounts can be created by anyone aiding the Party – but they require authorisation before they can be accessed.

A very important reminder for everyone – VoteSource Support do not automatically approve all new user requests.

Association and local Campaign Teams should be approving new user requests themselves, as you ask people to sign up for accounts to assist with your campaigns. The VoteSource Support team will only approve a new user if we have an email instructing us to approve an account from a constituency organiser, campaign manager or higher. The email will need to also let us know where the user needs access to and what level of access they require. But all these users roles listed can approve new accounts or edit account by themselves and should be doing so.

For more information on how to approve user accounts or edit user accounts please refer to the following user guides in the Help Centre under the heading Users:

• Users – Approving New Users
• Users – Adding roles to existing Users

Following on from last year, it is an ideal opportunity for users with senior access to be checking who has access to VoteSource in your assigned areas. Remember – it is your responsibility to check who has access to the Party’s data and remove users who no longer require it.

If you go to Users, click on Existing Users, you will find lists of accounts recorded by the first letter of their last name. If you find a user account that is no longer required, simply click on their name and click the Details option. This is found above User Security. The page that loads will contain a Delete Account option.

Please note: You may find a user that you do not recognise, this does not mean they necessarily have access to your data. Remember to carefully check their Electoral Area Permission. It could be that they are a registered elector in your area but have access to another area legitimately. If in doubt, contact VoteSource Support and we will be happy to investigate.

This will also be an ideal opportunity to check if your users can access VoteSource correctly:

• If there is a Green U next to their name, this means the account is Unlocked and can be accessed.
• If there is a Red L next to their name, this means the account has become Locked because the wrong password has been entered.
• If there is a Blue F next to their name, this means the account has become Frozen due to inactivity.

Only VoteSource Support, campaign managers, campaign staff and constituency organisers can Unlock or Unfreeze accounts. If you have such access, you will find the Unlock and Unfreeze options in the same area as the Delete Account option.

The following user guide found in the Help Centre can also assist with the above:

How to unfreeze, unlock and delete VoteSource accounts

Don’t forget to check the New Users list. It is the responsibility of associations and campaign managers to be approving legitimate requests for access. The VoteSource Support can only approve a new user if we have an email with authorisation from the association or relevant campaign staff.

If you have any questions regarding any of the above, please contact VoteSource Support on 020 7984 8000 or votesourcesupport@conservatives.com

2022 Local Election Targets

Many local campaigns have been using the local election targets that have been on VoteSource since December last year. They get refreshed to take account of your canvassing - so if you’ve been using them, you might see the numbers in different audiences change slightly. And if you haven’t been using them, why not start today? The targets are split into the following groups, which should be familiar:

The Turnout group are people who, if they vote, are likely to vote Conservative. They are split into four audiences – 1,2,3 and Postal Voters. Voters in Turnout 1 are the top priority – because they are the sorts of people whose decision whether to vote or not is most influenced by canvassing. Turnout 2 are second priority and 3 third.

The Persuasion group includes people who are very likely to vote, and who are likely to be considering voting Conservative. There is also a separate group for Persuasion targets with a Postal Vote.

The P1 group are people we think were likely to usually be Labour voters but who voted Conservative for the first time in the General Election in 2019. Many of them kept voting for us in May - and we want these folks to make voting Conservative a habit.

The P3 group are people we think were usually Conservative voters but may have been considering voting for another party during the General Election in 2019, or in local elections this year. We want to keep talking to these types of voters to make sure, if they did defect, they come back.

And this year, there’s an extra group - VoterID. These are the people who we don’t have much information about - so are trying to encourage local campaign teams to canvass them. They might be new to the area, or they might just have not filled in a survey they’ve been sent. But any information we can gather about these sorts of people will help us put them in to the right sort of audience closer to May’s elections.

If you have any questions about any of these audiences, or how we plan to update and refresh them then please email insight@conservatives.com.