Learn how to bring external data into Vottiv using CSV imports, create tags, update voter records, opt voters out of a campaign, and use imported data for outreach.

Overview

Vottiv gives you three ways to bring outside data into your account: you can add brand-new people who aren't in your voter file, update the records of people who are already there, or opt existing voters out of your campaign in bulk. The first two paths revolve around tags — they connect your imported data to the rest of the platform so you can use it for outreach. The third path is a targeted action: it applies a campaign-level opt-out to each matched voter and does nothing else.

The Three Import Modes

Navigate to Your Account > Import Data and click "Import Data." You'll see three options:

Add Voter Data
Use this when the people in your CSV don't already exist in your Vottiv account — donors, volunteers, community members, or contacts from another platform.
Update Voter Data
Use this when the people in your CSV already exist in your account and you want to add phone numbers, email addresses, or tags to their records. Vottiv matches each row to an existing voter using identifying fields you choose.
Opt Out Voters
Use this when you have a list of voters who should be excluded from campaign outreach. Vottiv matches each row to an existing voter and applies a campaign-level opt-out. No fields are added or updated — the only action is the opt-out.

You can also import directly into a specific tag from the Tags page.

Preparing Your CSV File

CSV (Comma Separated Values) is a standard format you can export from Excel, Google Sheets, or any spreadsheet app.

Requirements

First row must contain column headers
You can name headers anything — you'll map them to Vottiv fields during import
File must be .csv format, 100 MB max

Example

first_name,last_name,phone,email,support_level
John,Smith,555-123-4567,john@email.com,Strong Support
Jane,Doe,555-987-6543,jane@email.com,Lean Support

Tips

Clean your data before uploading — remove blank rows, fix typos
For addresses, use separate columns for street, city, state, zip
Phone numbers can be any common format — Vottiv normalizes them automatically

Adding New Voter Data

Navigate to Your Account > Import Data, click "Import Data," then "Add Voter Data."
Upload your CSV by drag-and-drop or browsing.
Enter a Voter Group Name. This is important — Vottiv creates both a tag and a voter group with this name. For example, "Spring Gala Donors" creates a tag and a group that includes everyone with that tag.
Map your columns. Vottiv shows each CSV column and lets you assign it to a field:
- State Voter ID / Jurisdiction Voter ID
- First Name, Middle Name, Last Name, Name Suffix
- Street Address, Unit, City, State, Zip
- Mailing Address (address, unit, city, state)
- Latitude, Longitude
- Cell Phone, Landline, Email
- Gender, Age, Party
- Tag (dynamic — creates a tag per unique value)
- Skip (ignore the column)
Confirm and import. Processing happens in the background — you can leave the page.

What Happens Behind the Scenes

A new voter record is created for each valid row
Addresses are geocoded to get map coordinates
Every voter is automatically tagged with your Voter Group Name
A voter group is automatically created with that tag as its filter

Updating Existing Voter Data

This is a two-step process: tell Vottiv how to find each voter (matching), then what data to add.

Upload your CSV.
Select match fields — which fields Vottiv uses to find each voter. Options include:
Identifiers (exact match): Vottiv ID, Vottiv Address ID, State Voter ID, Jurisdiction Voter ID, RNC Reg ID (RNC accounts only), L2 Voter ID (L2 accounts only)
Contact (exact match, normalized): Email (case-insensitive), Cell Phone, Landline
Name (fuzzy match): First Name, Middle Name, Last Name, Full Name (parses into parts; can't combine with individual name fields)
Address (exact match, normalized): Address (USPS abbreviations applied), Address Unit, City, State, Zip
Important: Multiple match fields use AND logic — a voter must match ALL selected fields. For example, "First Name + Last Name + Zip" requires all three to match.
Map each match field to a CSV column.
Map remaining columns to update fields:
- Cell Phone, Landline, Email — adds/updates contact info
- Tag (dynamic) — creates tags from unique values in the column
- Skip — ignore the column
Start the import. Processing happens in batches of 1,000 records.

Tips for Choosing Match Fields

Unique IDs (State Voter ID, RNC Reg ID) give the most reliable results
Name-only matching can produce false positives — add zip or phone
Email and phone work well as identifiers if your data is clean

Opting Out Voters

Use this flow when you have a list of people who should be excluded from your campaign's outreach — for example, voters who have asked to be removed, a suppression list from another platform, or contacts you don't want your team to call, text, or visit.

Navigate to Your Account > Import Data, click "Import Data," then "Opt Out Voters."
Upload your CSV.
Select one or more match fields to identify each voter. You can match on Vottiv ID, State Voter ID, Jurisdiction Voter ID, RNC Reg ID, L2 Voter ID, email, cell phone, landline, name fields, or address fields. As with the Update flow, multiple match fields use AND logic — all selected fields must match the same voter.
Map each match field to a CSV column.
Start the import. Unlike the other modes, you do not map any update fields — the only action this flow takes is applying the opt-out.

What Happens to Matched Voters

Each matched voter is opted out of campaign outreach for the current campaign.
The opt-out is applied as a locked campaign-level opt-out, which means it can only be reversed by an admin and won't be undone by normal contact preference changes.
Duplicate rows in the same file, and voters who are already opted out, are handled safely. No duplicate opt-out records are created, and an existing opt-out's original metadata (such as when and why it was first applied) is preserved.

What Happens to Rows That Can't Be Applied Confidently

If a row cannot be applied with confidence, it is skipped — no opt-out is created. A row is skipped when it:

Is missing required match data for the fields you selected
Matches no voters in your campaign
Matches more than one voter (ambiguous match)

Every skipped row appears in the unmatched rows CSV with a clear reason so you can review, fix, and re-import. You can download that file from import history.

Importing Directly into a Tag

If you already have a tag and want to bulk-add voters from a CSV:

Go to the Tags page
Click on the tag
Click "Import"
Upload your CSV, select match fields, and map columns

Every matched voter is automatically added to that tag. This is the simplest way to tag voters in bulk from an external list.

How Tagging Works During Import

Automatic Tagging (new voter imports)

Every imported voter automatically gets a tag with the Voter Group Name you entered. A group is also created that filters for this tag, giving you instant access to all imported voters.

Single Tag Import (tag page)

Every matched voter gets the tag you started from. Simple and direct.

Dynamic Tagging

When mapping columns, you can set any column to "Tag." Suppose your CSV has a "Support Level" column with values "Strong Support," "Lean Support," and "Undecided." Vottiv will:

Find every unique value in the column
Create a tag for each: "Support Level - Strong Support," "Support Level - Lean Support," "Support Level - Undecided"
Assign each voter the tag matching their row's value

Vottiv previews the tags before import so you can verify them. If tags already exist from a prior import, they're reused — no duplicates.

Dynamic tags work in the Add and Update import modes and you can map multiple columns to "Tag" in a single import. Each column creates its own tag set. The Opt Out Voters mode does not use tagging.

Voter Matching in Detail

Normalization

Vottiv normalizes data before matching to improve results:

Phone numbers: any format accepted, converted to standard format
Emails: compared case-insensitively
Addresses: USPS abbreviations applied ("Street" → "St")
Cities: uppercased and trimmed
States: converted to 2-letter codes
Zips: normalized to 5 digits
Names: fuzzy matching handles minor spelling variations

Row Skipping

A row is skipped if required match fields are blank. Exception: blank Address Unit is simply ignored for that row while other fields still apply. In the Opt Out Voters flow, rows that match more than one voter are also skipped to avoid applying an opt-out to the wrong person.

Fast Path

Matching on only RNC Reg ID or L2 Voter ID uses an optimized bulk path — significantly faster for large files.

Import History & Unmatched Records

After import, view your history on the Import Data page showing total rows, rows matched, unmatched, and skipped. Each entry shows the import type — Add Voter Data, Update Voter Data, or Opt Out Voters — so you can quickly tell what each import did.

For unmatched rows, download a CSV with your original data plus:

_row_number: which row in your original file
_match_field: the field(s) used for matching
_match_value: the values from that row
_unmatched_reason: why it didn't match (no match found, ambiguous match, missing match data, etc.)

This helps you fix your data and re-import.

Using Your Imported Data

Voter Groups: New voter imports create a group automatically. For updates with dynamic tags, create groups using those tags as filters.
SMS: Imported phone numbers are available for text campaigns via tagged groups. Voters opted out via the Opt Out Voters import are automatically excluded.
Phone Banking: Same as SMS — imported phone numbers appear in call lists, and opted-out voters are excluded.
Email: Imported email addresses can be used for email campaigns. Opted-out voters are excluded.
Direct Mail: Imported voters with addresses can receive direct mail. Opted-out voters are excluded.
Canvassing: Imported data cannot be used for canvassing. Only the built-in voter data in your account supports door-to-door canvassing.
Filtering: Import tags work like any other tag — combine them with standard filters (age, party, location) for precise targeting. Dynamic tags are especially useful for segmentation (e.g., separate groups for "Strong Support" vs. "Undecided").
Managing Data: View imported voters on Import Data > Imported Voters. You can delete individual voters or bulk-delete all imported data.

Limitations

Imported voters lack standard voter file data (demographics, vote history, modeling scores). Standard filters may not include them unless those fields were in your CSV. Always include import tags in group filters to ensure imported voters appear.
No retroactive matching: if an imported voter later appears in a voter file update, they won't automatically merge.
Fuzzy name matching handles minor variations but isn't perfect — "Jon" and "Jonathan" may not match.
More match fields = more precise but potentially more restrictive matching.
Opt-outs from the Opt Out Voters flow are locked at the campaign level and only reversible by an admin — choose your match fields carefully to avoid opting out the wrong voters.

FAQ

Q: Can I import the same file twice?

A: Yes. Tag assignments skip duplicates. New voter imports use upsert, so re-importing updates existing records. Opt-out imports are idempotent — re-importing the same list will not create duplicate opt-out records or change the original opt-out metadata.

Q: How long does an import take?

A: Depends on file size and match complexity. Provider ID matching is fastest. A 10,000-row file typically completes in a few minutes.

Q: Can I cancel an import?

A: Imports run to completion once started. To undo, delete the imported voters or remove tags afterward. For opt-out imports, contact an admin to reverse the opt-outs.

Q: Can I add tags and contact info in the same import?

A: Yes. Map some columns to contact fields and others to Tag. (This applies to the Add and Update modes — the Opt Out Voters mode does not accept update fields.)

Q: Where do I find my tags after import?

A: On the Tags page. Dynamic tags are grouped under the column name. New voter import tags use the Voter Group Name.

Q: What phone number format is required?

A: Any common format — Vottiv normalizes automatically.

Q: Can I import lat/long coordinates?

A: Yes, in the "Add Voter Data" flow only. Map columns to Latitude and Longitude fields.

Q: What happens if a row in my opt-out file matches more than one voter?

A: The row is skipped and listed in the unmatched rows CSV with an "ambiguous match" reason. Add a more unique match field (such as State Voter ID, RNC Reg ID, email, or phone) and re-import to apply those opt-outs.