Wiki source for ManagementofQualityControl
=====Management of the Elections Monitoring Unit=====
The key to successful management of the Elections Monitoring Unit is being very organized and prepared. At all times you should aim to be ahead of schedule. Realistically, being ahead is dependent on the amount of people in the department at a given time. Otherwise, during crunchtime (starting about June or so up until December of a major election year), you will be overwhelmed, behind schedule, and working overtime.
As it gets closer to a major election year, states will begin to post their election calendars and other dates/deadlines. In general, these will be posted at the end of the previous, after any off year elections that may be happening, or at the beginning of the election year itself.
Collecting and organizing this information is the first and most important step in preparing for any regular and special elections. This is how you will build your calendar, prioritize work, and keep all of Vote Smart’s data as up to date as possible.
A good way to keep track of all of this information are the 50 States Report and the Status of the States, both of which can be found in the Elections Monitoring Unit folder in the Research drive. Status of the States documents are used to track regular elections that are happening that year. 50 States Report is used to track special elections and any appointments that are made in the executive, legislative, and judicial branches in all 50 states. You may change the exact formatting of the document to fit your needs, but all of that information should be included.
All of these dates should also be transferred to the Election Monitoring Unit Calendar, so that all members of the Elections Department is able to easily see the dates, and make any changes that may be necessary.
These calendars are your road map for an entire election cycle, so be sure to take your time with setting this up, and make it 100% accurate. It should be noted that this is only for regular elections, any special elections that need to be covered have their own tracking.
After a General Election, start preparing for the following year's elections:
Knowing these dates will help you plan out your schedule of candidate entering, candidate list updates, and results entering, as well as give you a sense of staffing/intern needs for each period.
You will want to notify the PCT Director of any changes in elections that we cover the PCT for.
[[CalendarsandTracking Setting up Calendars and Tracking Mechanisms]]
[[CollectingElectionDates Collecting Election Dates]]
[[AddingElections Adding Elections]]
Backup coverage for the Candidate Line
----
===Pre-Primary:===
[[Dailies Dailies]] (including tracking major changes in candidate lists and election laws)
[[QCWeeklyReports Fridays- Weekly Reports]]
[[AddingCandidatestoElections Adding Candidates to Elections]]: Entering Candidate Lists Manually or Importing Candidate Lists, Updating Candidate Lists
[[BioGuide Updating Bios]]
PCT Mailings, PCT Reminders, PCT Press Release
Entering and checking PCTs
Backup coverage for the Candidate Line
----
===Post-Primary/Pre-General Election:===
1) [[Dailies Dailies]]
1) [[QCWeeklyReports Fridays- Weekly Reports]]
1) [[ElectionResultsManagement Managing]] and [[ProcessingElectionResults Processing Unofficial Primary Election Results]]
1) [[ElectionResultsManagement Managing]] and [[ProcessingElectionResults Updating Election Results using the Certified Primary Results]]
1) See "Preparing for General Election" Folder on QC Drive
1) Fill in blanks for "QC Info Gathered for Current Election" Document
1) Enter General Election Candidates (including third party and Independent candidates)- see [[AddingCandidatestoElections Adding Candidates to Elections]]
1) Update General Election Candidates- see [[AddingCandidatestoElections Adding Candidates to Elections]]
[[BioGuide Updating Bios]]
[[OfficialsMonitoringTracking Officials Monitoring/Updating]]
PCT Mailings, PCT Reminders, PCT Press Release
Entering and checking PCTs
Backup coverage for the Candidate Line
----
===Post-General Election:===
[[Dailies Dailies]]
[[QCWeeklyReports Fridays- Weekly Reports]]
[[ElectionResultsManagement Managing]] and [[ProcessingElectionResults Processing Election Results]]
[[BioGuide Updating Bios]]
[[OfficialsMonitoringTracking Officials Monitoring/Updating]]
Backup coverage for the Candidate Line
The key to successful management of the Elections Monitoring Unit is being very organized and prepared. At all times you should aim to be ahead of schedule. Realistically, being ahead is dependent on the amount of people in the department at a given time. Otherwise, during crunchtime (starting about June or so up until December of a major election year), you will be overwhelmed, behind schedule, and working overtime.
As it gets closer to a major election year, states will begin to post their election calendars and other dates/deadlines. In general, these will be posted at the end of the previous, after any off year elections that may be happening, or at the beginning of the election year itself.
Collecting and organizing this information is the first and most important step in preparing for any regular and special elections. This is how you will build your calendar, prioritize work, and keep all of Vote Smart’s data as up to date as possible.
A good way to keep track of all of this information are the 50 States Report and the Status of the States, both of which can be found in the Elections Monitoring Unit folder in the Research drive. Status of the States documents are used to track regular elections that are happening that year. 50 States Report is used to track special elections and any appointments that are made in the executive, legislative, and judicial branches in all 50 states. You may change the exact formatting of the document to fit your needs, but all of that information should be included.
All of these dates should also be transferred to the Election Monitoring Unit Calendar, so that all members of the Elections Department is able to easily see the dates, and make any changes that may be necessary.
These calendars are your road map for an entire election cycle, so be sure to take your time with setting this up, and make it 100% accurate. It should be noted that this is only for regular elections, any special elections that need to be covered have their own tracking.
After a General Election, start preparing for the following year's elections:
Knowing these dates will help you plan out your schedule of candidate entering, candidate list updates, and results entering, as well as give you a sense of staffing/intern needs for each period.
You will want to notify the PCT Director of any changes in elections that we cover the PCT for.
[[CalendarsandTracking Setting up Calendars and Tracking Mechanisms]]
[[CollectingElectionDates Collecting Election Dates]]
[[AddingElections Adding Elections]]
Backup coverage for the Candidate Line
----
===Pre-Primary:===
[[Dailies Dailies]] (including tracking major changes in candidate lists and election laws)
[[QCWeeklyReports Fridays- Weekly Reports]]
[[AddingCandidatestoElections Adding Candidates to Elections]]: Entering Candidate Lists Manually or Importing Candidate Lists, Updating Candidate Lists
[[BioGuide Updating Bios]]
PCT Mailings, PCT Reminders, PCT Press Release
Entering and checking PCTs
Backup coverage for the Candidate Line
----
===Post-Primary/Pre-General Election:===
1) [[Dailies Dailies]]
1) [[QCWeeklyReports Fridays- Weekly Reports]]
1) [[ElectionResultsManagement Managing]] and [[ProcessingElectionResults Processing Unofficial Primary Election Results]]
1) [[ElectionResultsManagement Managing]] and [[ProcessingElectionResults Updating Election Results using the Certified Primary Results]]
1) See "Preparing for General Election" Folder on QC Drive
1) Fill in blanks for "QC Info Gathered for Current Election" Document
1) Enter General Election Candidates (including third party and Independent candidates)- see [[AddingCandidatestoElections Adding Candidates to Elections]]
1) Update General Election Candidates- see [[AddingCandidatestoElections Adding Candidates to Elections]]
[[BioGuide Updating Bios]]
[[OfficialsMonitoringTracking Officials Monitoring/Updating]]
PCT Mailings, PCT Reminders, PCT Press Release
Entering and checking PCTs
Backup coverage for the Candidate Line
----
===Post-General Election:===
[[Dailies Dailies]]
[[QCWeeklyReports Fridays- Weekly Reports]]
[[ElectionResultsManagement Managing]] and [[ProcessingElectionResults Processing Election Results]]
[[BioGuide Updating Bios]]
[[OfficialsMonitoringTracking Officials Monitoring/Updating]]
Backup coverage for the Candidate Line
