Auto-Translate SMS Messages for Multilingual Voter Groups

Vottiv can automatically translate your SMS so each voter receives your message in their preferred language. You write one message in English, and Vottiv generates, lets you edit, and routes the right translation to each recipient based on the voter's language on file.

This is the fastest way to reach a multilingual voter group without splitting them into separate sends.

How It Works

From the Voter Groups → SMS → Send New Message screen for any group:

1. Write your message in English as you normally would.

2. Scroll to the Auto-translate for language panel and check the box. The panel notes: "Voters with a non-English language will get the message in their language. Translations cost an extra 1¢ per recipient."

3. Vottiv scans your target group and shows the non-English languages it found under Detected in this group, with a voter count next to each one.

4. Click any language chip to toggle it on, or use Select all to pick every detected language.

5. Click Generate translations. Vottiv writes a translation for each language you picked.

6. Review each translation in the language tabs that appear at the top of the message composer, edit if needed, and prepare your send. Vottiv automatically delivers the correct language to each voter.

Supported Languages

Vottiv currently supports auto-translation into:

• Spanish, Chinese (Mandarin & Cantonese), Vietnamese, Korean, Tagalog, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Russian, Arabic, Japanese, Hindi, Punjabi, Somali, Amharic, Farsi, Thai, Haitian Creole, Polish, and Romanian.

English is always the source language — you write your message in English, and every translation is generated from it. Languages written right-to-left (Arabic and Farsi) display in the correct direction when you're editing them.

Reviewing and Editing Translations

Once you generate translations, a row of language tabs appears at the top of the message composer. English (source) is always first, and each translation gets its own tab. If you have more than four languages, the tabs collapse into a dropdown.

Click any tab to see that translation. Each one shows:

• The translated message body, fully editable

• Character count, segment count, and encoding (GSM-7 or Unicode)

• An optional image upload for that language

• Recipient count and per-recipient cost for that language

Edits save automatically. A small edited label appears on the tab so you can tell which translations you've touched.

Personalization tags are preserved. Dynamic fields like VOTER_FIRST_NAME stay intact across every translation, so each recipient still gets a personalized greeting in their own language.

Per-Language Images (MMS)

Each translation tab has its own Image (optional) picker. Click Select a design or upload a file to reuse an image from your library or upload a new one for that language — useful when your graphic has English text on it and you want a translated version per language. The English source image stays attached to the original message; per-language images apply only to recipients in that language.

Editing the Source Message After Translating

If you change your English message after generating translations, the affected tabs show a small red dot and a warning at the bottom of the message: "Source message changed since this translation was generated." Vottiv will block the send until you re-translate the stale languages, so no one receives an outdated version.

To clear a stale translation, generate translations again. Manual edits will be replaced when you regenerate — so finalize your English message before doing heavy editing on the translations.

Cost

Translated messages cost an extra 1¢ per recipient on top of the normal SMS rate. The surcharge applies only to recipients who actually receive a translated body — English-speaking recipients in your group are billed at the standard rate.

The Cost preview panel breaks this down line by line:

• Base SMS — total recipients × per-segment SMS rate

• Translation fee — 1¢ × translated recipients

• Managed service fee, if applicable

• Skipped (unselected language) — recipients who won't be messaged because you didn't generate a translation for their language

• Estimated total

Why does segment count vary by language? Languages with non-Latin characters (like Chinese, Korean, Arabic, Thai, Hindi, etc.) use Unicode encoding, which fits 70 characters per segment instead of 160. Vottiv calculates this automatically for each translation and shows the exact cost before you send.

How Recipients Are Routed

At send time, Vottiv looks at each voter's data to pick the right message:

1. If the voter has a ballot language on file (the language their official ballot is issued in), that's used.

2. If not, Vottiv falls back to the voter's general language field.

3. If the language is English — or the voter has no language data at all — they receive the original English message.

4. If the voter speaks a language you didn't generate a translation for, they are skipped — no message is sent, and you're not charged for them. The Cost preview shows how many recipients will be skipped before you send.

Sending a Test Message

After translations are generated, the Send a test first section on the Ready to send card includes a Preview language dropdown. Pick the language you want to preview (only non-stale translations are listed), enter your phone number, and click Send test.

Best Practices

• ✅ Finalize your English message first. Major edits after translating force re-generation and overwrite manual edits.

• ✅ Have a native speaker review when possible — auto-translations are strong, but reviewers catch tone and cultural nuance.

• ✅ Keep the source short. Translated messages can be longer than the English original (especially Spanish and German), which affects segment count and cost.

• ✅ Include opt-out language ("Reply STOP to opt out") in your English source. Vottiv will translate it along with everything else.

FAQs

What if a voter's language isn't on my list?
They're skipped — no message goes out, no charge. The Cost preview shows the skipped count before you send. To reach them, generate again and add their language to your selection.

What happens to voters with no language data?
They receive the original English message at the standard rate.

Can I add a language not in the supported list?
Not yet. The supported list covers the most common voter languages in U.S. campaigns. If you need a language we don't support, contact support.

Does auto-translate work for scheduled managed sends?
Yes — translations are generated, reviewed, and locked in before the send is prepared, then routed to the right recipient at delivery time.

What happens if I uncheck Auto-translate after generating?
Every recipient gets the original English message at the standard rate. Your existing translations are kept and unused until you re-enable.

Need Help?

If translations look off, the language list seems incomplete, or you hit an error generating, contact Vottiv support and we'll take a look.