Free/open software to run your election campaign

Richard sez,

Power to the people is a popular theme in elections, but how do you get it there when the election process and rules can be complicated and difficult.

David Lynn's answer was to create and freely distribute the Pennsylvania Political Campaign Management Database to make it easier for people to run for office in Pennsylvania. He hopes his completely free software (he doesn't even ask for your name) will encourage younger people to enter the political process as candidates.

Software and the willing efforts of programmers like David Lynn can be a way to hack the political system and make it easier for regular people to negotiate the often labyrinthine election statutes and get elected. More power to him.

Pennsylvania Political Campaign Management Database (Thanks, Richard!)

• [Owen LLR]

  Also worth checking…..

  CiviCRM is a free, libre and open source software constituent relationship management solution. CiviCRM is web-based, internationalized, and designed specifically to meet the needs of advocacy, non-profit and non-governmental groups. Integration with both Drupal and Joomla! content management systems gives you the tools to connect, communicate and activate your supporters and constituents.
  http://civicrm.org/

  • [Jon]

    Without disagreeing with Owen – CiviCRM doesn’t currently have integration with voter databases.  This appears to (for Pennsylvania).

    OTOH, CiviCRM is going to have integration with at least one major voter database (probably VAN) in the next few months, and CiviCampaign’s ability to generate phone banking, walklists, etc. probably makes it a better choice if you’re not running, like, RIGHT NOW.

• [Organize 2.0]

  Open source folks are cooking up some good things. But… there’s a lot of confusion mixed in. Campaign software must include things like email blasting that requires white listing, donation processing that requires gateways, as well as customer support. Using open source campaign software can be like those fabled shortcuts that end up taking far longer….

  If you want to run for office and want to avoid the big fees, consider NationBuilder.com, dlcc web and Salsa. They are not open source, but they are integrated and offer many of the services candidates will need.

  Finally, some advice: the skillset for running for office are often quite distinct from those required to manage a campaign. Don’t be confused.

  • [Michael Roberts]

    I don’t want to be That Guy, but …. this reads like spam to me.  Well-targeted spam, mind you, but it still sounds kinda slimy.

    I don’t think anybody disputes that a well-funded campaign needs a consultant and experts. Open source software, however, lowers that bar, ensuring that even poorly-funded campaigns have the information they need to get started. Warning them in these terms that open source is dangerous – well, I find that loathsome. Extracting money from the political process is dangerous, too. Don’t get too cocky.

    • [Organize 2.0]

      Heh. It might be spam if I was a vendor or campaign consultant! I’m giving a response based on seeing folks try to master open source tools and essentially fail after spending lots of time. Open source tools are the right fit for a particular sliver of the market; unfortunately, the hype sometimes leads down some sad rabbit holes. If you have zero expertise running campaign software + voter file database, then I’d be plenty worried about sending you to something partial, new, and lacking customer support. Then again, the civicrm integration with VAN does sound interesting; will be good to see efforts like that mature.

• [JoshP]

  ++, i’m having one of those crap day.. i mean, well lifetimes, and i can barely crawl to the kitchen to heat up noodles.  but hear hear for coders open sourcing into the political melee.

• [peregrinus]

  any chance this can help me become sheriff of Fullerton PD?