Raymond Finch

Does anybody have access to some of this stuff?
We are fighting with one arm tied behind our backs if the enemy has access to these databases and we do not.

Independent UKIP

What Electoral Software are you referring to? If it exists I doubt we have it.

prober

There are 4 obvious types of electoral software, mostly basic excel

Electoral rolls in electronic form at election time , and marked register and postal vote list - some councils wont/cant normally release this but can be pressured to do so

Software to enable address label printing and individually named leaflets from the above.

Efficient Member/ex/enquirer/supporter name/contact list in electronic form by electoral ward local authority and constituency with system for recording and updating using willingness to help etc .

Individual Voter stance recording software with field sheet issue as used with impressive effect by Tory party who over a few years build up a database of every voter by perceived party and more important whether they are hard or potential swings and focus their doorstep effort accordingly.

UKIP has no plan for any branch election capability raising and hence gives branches no briefings/guidance on any of this in accordance with the old UKIP tradition of amateurship & branches struggling to reinvent the wheel.

Raymond Finch

Got the first 3. Need the fourth.

Westcountryman

I use this:

UK-Elect Results

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mrabody

Such software is available but it can be pretty expensive. However the more modern versions are incredibly useful. The ones I have experience with tend to be web based and accessible from central party and local branches (obviously local branches can only access the database that relates to their own branch).

The beauty of these databases is that they can incorporate all types of information. So if you are out canvassing and you ask a voter what they are most angry about, and they say, Gordon Brown's abolition of the 10p rate, you can enter into the database the fact that they are concerned about taxes. Someone who says Iraq could be entered under that category. You can make multiple entries for each person in the database so as to build up a very complete picture of some voters. At election time, the database can be mined for issue-based fundraising purposes, to identify supporters and on election day itself, to remind likely supporters to go out and vote.

The problem with these databases is that they require constant updating, as people move etc. In Canada, the party I used to belong to would purchase data from telephone companies, and many other sources to input into the system, so that they could keep track of members, and likely voters or supporters even if they moved from one constituency to another. This can get very expensive very quickly.

Whilst I would like to see UKIP acquire one of these electoral software systems, they are expensive, and they do require professional training to make the most of them. Given how tech adverse the party leadership and indeed many activists in our branches are, it would be difficult to implement and use effectively. Also we don't have the manpower to make the most effective use of the information in the database. For example to run a proper Get Out the Vote effort on election day you need, scrutineers at every polling station marking off who has voted and phoning or running it into local headquarters, people on the phones phoning up people who haven't yet voted, and people who can bring voters to the polls if they require assistance etc. This is completely outside the capability of most branches at this time.
Lastly there is the issue of trustworthyness. The people who have access to the database must be trusted to only use it for the benefit of the party. Imagine the havoc a BNP infiltrator of a local branch could cause if he or she got access to the database. Data could be stolen, or corrupted so as to make it useless. We would also need local discipline in collecting information about potential supporters (or indeed supporters of other parties - knowing who is a lib dem voter can be useful, either by allowing us to craft a message to try and woo them, or by ignoring them completely and saving our precious time for more productive activities).

I think another problem is that data protection laws are more strict here than in North America so such software might be of more limited utility, and users could also more easily fall afoul of the law.

So as much I think this software would be a wonderful tool, I'm not sure we are in a position to use it yet, in which case it would be a waste of time and money.

prober

But if UKIP ever got round to get regional organisers to choose the most winnable ward with annual elections in each region and organise cross branch help for it a year ahead this could be the tool to enable UKIP to win it.

TheWhiteSeal

On the subject of printing address labels I would have to admit that I never really had much luck with my label printer. I spent all my time messing around with the printer and it still never printed any decent looking labels. In the end I decided to give up on the whole DIY approach and I found a british labels company to print my address labels, they saved me so much hassle.