Snapchat and BallotReady partner to recruit the next generation of civic leaders
UPDATE: On Sept 8th, 2022 in partnership with BallotReady, Snap launched its newly designed Register to Vote Mini in addition to its entire suite of civic tools for the 2022 Midterm Election cycle. See more in their latest release.
UPDATE: On April 28th, 2022 Snapchat announced that over 4 million people have used the Run for Office mini tool, and over 25,000 users signed up to take steps towards launching a campaign. They shared this short film to mark the accomplishment.
Introduction
Early in 2021, Team Snapchat came across a research article posted by the BallotReady team outlining how in 2020 nearly 70% of races went uncontested. The rates of uncontested races (positions with no other choices on the ballot) were especially pronounced at the local level, including school board positions, city council, and judgeships.
Uncontested races can be detrimental to a healthy democracy, particularly at the local level, and often lead to decreased engagement and accountability.
Snapchat realized they were in a unique position to remove barriers to running for office for their wide scope of users while simultaneously helping to address a fundamental electoral problem - not enough competitive races, especially downballot.
So Snapchat began investigating this opportunity and renewed its partnership with CivicEngine by BallotReady among others to help. Months later, Snapchat’s brand new Run for Office Mini is ready to launch on its app, with the potential to help millions of Snapchatters decide to run for office.
We recently had the opportunity to sit down with the Snapchat team as well as some of our in-house BallotReady experts to dive deeper into this ambitious electoral endeavor.
Background
Snapchat’s commitment to providing civic resources and opportunities to its users isn’t new. In 2020, Snapchat introduced two in-app Minis that helped their users get registered, research their ballot, and make a unique voting plan based on available options.
The results speak for themselves - in 2020, 1.2 million Snapchatters registered to vote through a Register to Vote Mini, and another 16.1 million users engaged with the Before You Vote Mini, powered by CivicEngine by BallotReady. Leveraging BallotReady’s robust candidate and database as well as election expertise, Snapchat helped millions identify their polling options and create sample ballots, all through a native-to-mobile experience.
Snapchat proved it could have a unique and profound impact particularly among young voters during a busy election cycle - but what about in 2021?
For the Snapchat team, providing their users an every year, all year civic engagement resource was essential. And after so much success with registering, informing, and turning out young voters on mobile, the next step was evident: helping people run for office.
Snapchat has almost unlimited scope - according to their team, Snapchat reaches 90% of 13-24 year-olds in the United States. Combine that with a lack of young elected officials (according to research, in 2018 despite making up 34% of the electorate, only 6% of state legislators were 35 or younger) and the inspiration for Snapchat’s latest Mini is clear.
“We wanted every single Snapchatter, no matter who they are or where they come from or what their political beliefs might be, to recognize that there is an organization out there that will support them in taking this next leap and not only support them, but give them the tools and the resources and really the community that they need to go out there and do this thing.”
— Sofia Gross, Head of Policy Partnerships + Social Impact
The Run For Office Mini
Snapchat’s tool helps users through the process of running for office in many ways. The key step is providing the logistics needed to get started.
First, the app prompts users to select issues that matter most to them and see eligible positions most associated with the selected topics. This is a design grounded in user experience - according to Snap’s research, the Snapchat generation is issue-driven, with three-quarters expressing that taking part in a cause is important to them.
Then, after choosing their key issues, Snapchatters can explore, filter, and favorite positions they are interested in. Users can explore they need to know to run, including filing deadlines, positions requirements, and details on the incumbent (all of which is provided through the CivicEngine API).
Logistics and lack of access to information aren’t the only barriers Snapchat is trying to help overcome with this new mini - building a culture around running for office is critical too.
Studies show that close friends, family, and community members are critical validators as people decide whether to run for office, especially for down ballot positions. In a report from the Pipeline Initiative, over half of candidates didn’t think about running until they were recruited or encouraged by a trusted peer. That’s why Snapchat also included a “nominate a friend” feature in their mini.
Finally, the app connects users with a variety of partner organizations across the political spectrum that help train future candidates. All of these steps conclude with a checklist and resources for taking next steps.
This Run For Office tool is one of a kind providing over 75,000 eligible positions for the 2022 cycle to an audience of millions. After registering, informing, and assisting voters, Snapchat is now taking its users the last mile by recruiting them to run for office for positions that match with their passions, many that would have otherwise have gone uncontested.
“BallotReady is proud to partner with Snapchat as they continue to pioneer innovative, meaningful, and mobile-native civic engagement for the next generation. ”
— Aviva Rosman, COO & Co-Founder at BallotReady
Powering the app
So what did it take from CivicEngine by BallotReady to make this project possible? It starts with having robust, accurate and up-to-date position data to provide users with the personalized information they need to start the process.
As part of this partnership, BallotReady reviewed tens of thousands of positions to ensure that our database was prepared to serve Snapchat’s entire community of users across the country. Then, with positions as a building block, BallotReady collected officeholder data all the way down to the school board level (so as to display incumbents), and key filing data (including filing office, email, and phone number). All of these datasets remove barriers that otherwise exist to running for office.
Secondly, Snapchat had to access and maneuver the data in a way that best fit with their product vision. With a number of edge cases, different categories of and gaps in data to work around, it was imperative that CivicEngine’s API could manage such a project.
That’s why CivicEngine by BallotReady upgraded its API to GraphQL presenting a number of advantages including:
Ease of use, featuring only one route of entry and navigation
Improved customization of data
Looking ahead
This Run For Office Mini is just Snapchat’s latest civic rollout. Team Snapchat believes that civics is a every day, every year engagement - and with its incredible reach, Snapchat is in a unique position to promote engagement down the local level.
That’s why Snapchat’s key project going forward is conducting more research. With partners like BallotReady and CIRCLE, Snapchat is focused on identifying areas in the electoral process where engagement, particularly among young people, is lacking and where Snapchat can make a difference. Initial research inspired this Run For Office project, which for Snapchat and its partners has been years in the making.
And now it’s live! Check your Snap - it’s time to make running for office go viral.
Interested in learning more about how you can leverage CivicEngine by BallotReady’ s data for your organization? Let us know!