SMS Registration and Campaign Verify

Political organizations must complete SMS registration before sending campaign text messages through Vottiv. The process confirms your committee information with Campaign Verify, then registers your campaign with mobile carriers.

The dashboard reminder

Carrier approval takes days, and sometimes weeks. Many campaigns find this out too late. So if your account has not registered yet, Vottiv asks about it on your dashboard. Only account admins see the reminder.

You have three choices:

• Start my texting registration opens the registration form.
• Remind me later hides the reminder for 10 days.
• I'm not planning to text this year hides it for good.

Closing the reminder does the same as Remind me later.

Your answer applies to you alone. Another admin on the same account still sees the reminder until they answer it. Once anybody submits the registration, the reminder stops for everyone.

You never need the reminder to register. Open SMS at any time and start.

Before you begin

Have the following information ready:

• Your committee's legal name and EIN
• Your public filing record or FEC committee page
• The committee email shown on the filing record
• A contact first name, last name, and phone number for your committee
• Access to the email address, phone number, or postal address you select for Campaign Verify
• Three examples of messages your campaign plans to send

The contact information you use for verification must match the public filing record.

Give the contact phone number even if you choose email or postal verification. Carriers require a reachable contact on the registration itself, so the form asks for one whatever method sends your PIN.

Complete SMS registration

1. Open SMS in Vottiv and start the registration form.
2. Enter your committee, filing, contact, and messaging information.
3. Choose how Campaign Verify should send the verification PIN: email, phone call, text message, or postal mail.
4. Submit the registration and complete the registration fee step if your account requires it.
5. Vottiv reviews the registration before sending it to Campaign Verify.

If anything required is missing, Vottiv names the exact fields when you submit. Fill them in and submit again.

Postal verification normally adds 5-10 business days. Email, call, and text delivery are typically faster, but timing is controlled by Campaign Verify.

Enter your Campaign Verify PIN

Campaign Verify sends the six-digit PIN through the verification method you selected. After Campaign Verify reports that the PIN was sent, Vottiv emails the committee email on the SMS registration. Other organization users do not receive that instruction email.

1. Find the six-digit PIN sent by Campaign Verify.
2. Open the Vottiv email with the subject Your Campaign Verify PIN is ready to enter.
3. Select Enter PIN in Vottiv.
4. Enter the six-digit Campaign Verify PIN and select Verify PIN.

The secure Vottiv link expires after 30 days and stops accepting submissions after the PIN is verified. It can only be used for this committee's PIN; it does not sign anyone in or provide access to the organization.

You can also sign in to Vottiv and enter the PIN from the SMS Registration Status page.

Use the code sent by Campaign Verify. A Vottiv sign-in code will not work on this page.

What happens next

After the PIN is verified, Vottiv begins carrier registration. The SMS Registration Status page shows your progress. Before you can send campaign texts, your registration must be approved and your account must have a number set up for texting.

Your ready-to-text email

For local-number registrations, Vottiv sends one email to the committee email on the SMS registration after approval and at least two hours after a local texting number has been assigned. Approval alone does not trigger an email.

The subject is Your Vottiv account is ready to text. The email lists your assigned local texting number or numbers and includes a Start texting button. Sign in and open the campaign named in the email.

If multiple local numbers are assigned, they appear together in one email. Adding more numbers does not restart the wait or send another ready email. Vottiv checks for readiness about every five minutes, so delivery can occur shortly after the two-hour wait. Normal texting credits and sending hours still apply.

If you cannot find the email, check the committee email inbox and spam folder. You can reply to the Vottiv email for help.

If you need help

If Campaign Verify sent the PIN but you cannot find the Vottiv instruction email, check the inbox and spam folder for the committee email listed on your registration. You can still sign in and enter the PIN from the SMS Registration Status page.

If the secure link has expired, the PIN is not accepted, or you no longer have access to the committee email, contact [email protected].