Wiki source for PartyChangesRedistricting
===**Party Switches**===
Whenever a legislator switches their party affiliation, a new office MUST be added to the official. This is to ensure any past data affiliated with the candidate displays their correct party affiliation at that time(If legislator X switches from Democrat to Republican, all his past votes he made as a member of the Democratic Party will now show up as votes made as a member of the Republican Party if a new office is not added to the official) This ensures the accuracy and quality of our data, and avoids any incorrect representation of past data.
Here are the steps:
1) Create a new office in the Office tab in Admin.
1) Select new party affiliation in the Party Section.
1) Keep the First Elected/Appointed Date as the same as the previous office entry.
1) List First Took Office as the date the legislator has officially left their previously held party. If that date is unavailable, use a date that closely approximates the day they may have left the party. (If you are sure about the month, but not the date, use Month/year. If you are unsure about the month as well, use Year).
1) Select party affiliation, and state, district number for the legislator.
1) Fill in the Web Import ID if the legislator is a Member of Congress, and then hit save.
1) For the previous office information, fill in the date the legislator has left the party in the Left Office section (this date should be the same date as the ‘First took Office’ date).
1) Make sure to mark the previous office as “Inactive”.
1) Notify all relevant departments and Directors about the change as soon as possible.
Here is an example of an official that has changed party affiliation while in office: https://admin.votesmart.org/candidateOffice.do?candidateId=105566.
===**Redistricting**===
Admin will automatically create a new office for any legislators who won an election in the new district, as long as we had the candidate/legislator running in an election in our database. When doing swear-ins for legislators, the staff members should leave the old office experience after deactivating the office. Doing so ensures that we have accurate historical data about which districts the legislator previously represented. Be sure to also add a political experience for the previous seat the official held prior to the redistricting.
Whenever a legislator switches their party affiliation, a new office MUST be added to the official. This is to ensure any past data affiliated with the candidate displays their correct party affiliation at that time(If legislator X switches from Democrat to Republican, all his past votes he made as a member of the Democratic Party will now show up as votes made as a member of the Republican Party if a new office is not added to the official) This ensures the accuracy and quality of our data, and avoids any incorrect representation of past data.
Here are the steps:
1) Create a new office in the Office tab in Admin.
1) Select new party affiliation in the Party Section.
1) Keep the First Elected/Appointed Date as the same as the previous office entry.
1) List First Took Office as the date the legislator has officially left their previously held party. If that date is unavailable, use a date that closely approximates the day they may have left the party. (If you are sure about the month, but not the date, use Month/year. If you are unsure about the month as well, use Year).
1) Select party affiliation, and state, district number for the legislator.
1) Fill in the Web Import ID if the legislator is a Member of Congress, and then hit save.
1) For the previous office information, fill in the date the legislator has left the party in the Left Office section (this date should be the same date as the ‘First took Office’ date).
1) Make sure to mark the previous office as “Inactive”.
1) Notify all relevant departments and Directors about the change as soon as possible.
Here is an example of an official that has changed party affiliation while in office: https://admin.votesmart.org/candidateOffice.do?candidateId=105566.
===**Redistricting**===
Admin will automatically create a new office for any legislators who won an election in the new district, as long as we had the candidate/legislator running in an election in our database. When doing swear-ins for legislators, the staff members should leave the old office experience after deactivating the office. Doing so ensures that we have accurate historical data about which districts the legislator previously represented. Be sure to also add a political experience for the previous seat the official held prior to the redistricting.
