Pocket voter guide template
A template for creating a simple, informative pocket guide for voters
Even in the digital age, paper voter guides are an effective tool for informing the public.
Using this template and some commonly available software programs, you can create a concise, portable document that lays out the most important information needed to vote in your community.
What you'll need
- Computer with internet access
- Microsoft PowerPoint (or Google Slides)
- Adobe Acrobat Reader
- Printer and paper to print the guides
Table of contents
Downloading the template
The first step to create your pocket voter guide is to download the template.
The template is a Microsoft PowerPoint file, so you’ll need to have PowerPoint installed on your computer to use it. You may be able to edit the template by uploading it to Google Drive and using Google Slides, but PowerPoint is our recommended program, as some features or functionality may be lost by using Google Slides.
Download the Pocket Voter Guide Template (.pptx file, 1.1MB)
After the file is downloaded, locate it and open it.
If the file doesn’t open, you may not have PowerPoint on your computer. For next steps, refer to your office IT manager or visit the Microsoft Office website to purchase the program.
If the file opens, you’re ready to edit the template.
Editing the template
The voter guide template comes with placeholder information about voting. To customize it, you’ll need information about voting in your area, including deadlines, phone numbers and web addresses, and other details.
Election procedures and requirements vary greatly from state to state. This means that, depending on your location, some pages will require small edits, while other pages may require bigger changes.
For instance, if you’re making a voter guide in North Dakota, where there’s no voter registration, you’ll want to delete references to registration. If you’re an election official in Oregon, a vote-at-home state, you’ll want to change references to in-person voting. If you’re making a voter guide in Minneapolis, which has ranked-choice voting in some contests, you may consider adding a section in your guide to explain how ranked-choice voting works.
Just take your time. We’re going to go page by page.
If it’s helpful to see a finished example, you can check out this Pocket Guide created by the Virginia Department of Elections for the May 2018 election.
Customizing the pages
Page 1: cover page
The pocket guide’s cover page should make it clear who is issuing the voter guide, explain which election or which year the guide covers, and provide contact information.
The cover page includes important basic information
To edit text, just click the text area, delete the placeholder text, and type your information. You can move text blocks as needed, but avoid shrinking the font size. Keep your text easily readable.
To edit the image, first select the placeholder image and delete it. Then, insert your new image by dragging and dropping it or by going to the Home menu, selecting Picture, then Picture from file, and then locating your image. You’ll likely need to resize your image. To do so, right-click it, select Size and Position, and specify the size you want. You’ll follow this same process when editing the civic icons included in the guide.
When you’re happy with the cover page, save your work and move on to page 2.
Page 2: Voter Rights
To edit the Voter Rights page, refer to existing “voter rights” documents issued by your state or election office.
Read the bulleted list of rights and consider if they apply in your area, paying special attention to details, like the numbers underlined in the example below.
Editing the Voter Rights page
If some of the rights don’t apply, delete them. If some of the rights need to be edited for accuracy, edit them. If you wish to list rights not included in the template, add them.
Since this page is oriented upside down in PowerPoint, edits can be a little awkward. Consider printing the page, if you haven’t already, or do your best for now and make a plan to proofread once your editing is done.
When you’re happy with the Voter Rights page, save your work and move on to page 3.
Page 3: Ways to Vote
Page 3 covers voting options: voting at the polls on election day, voting early in person, and voting absentee.
If these options apply in your area, just edit details like dates, times, and contact information, as underlined in the example below. Note that the word “State” is used as a placeholder for your state name.
Editing the Ways to Vote page
If the voting options in the template don’t apply in your area, or if you want to add options, you’ll need to make bigger changes.
For example, if your area doesn’t provide early voting, you can click the heading, icon, and text for early voting and delete them one by one. In the example below, we deleted the early voting option and moved the in-person and absentee voting sections to make use of the new space.
Example: Ways to Vote page with early voting option removed
Similarly, if your community has ballot drop boxes, you may want to add a section like the one below.
Example: a section explaining voting with drop boxes
When you’re happy with the Ways to Vote page, save your work and move on to page 4.
Page 4: Deadlines
To edit the Deadlines page, you’ll need deadline dates and times for voter registration, requesting an absentee ballot, voting an absentee ballot in person, and you’ll need the date and voting hours for Election Day.
If any of the placeholders don’t apply, edit them.
Finally, be sure to edit the contact information at the bottom.
Editing the Deadlines page
When you’re happy with the Deadlines page, save your work and move on to page 5.
Page 5: Voter ID Guidelines
Because your edits to the Voter ID Guidelines page will depend on ID policies in your area, this page will require more changes than most. In the template, this page states that photo ID is required to vote, lists accepted forms of ID, and notes that free IDs are available to people who need one.
Even if ID isn’t required in your area, you may want to keep this page. Just edit the text to explain how voter identification works in your area.
If your area requires different forms of ID, edit the bulleted list. Again, the word “State” is used as a placeholder for your state name.
If you have a program for providing IDs, edit the statement at the bottom for accuracy. If not, delete it.
In the example below, we edited the Photo ID page to reflect ID policies in the state of Pennsylvania.
Example: Voter ID guidelines customized for Pennsylvania
When you’re happy with the Voter ID page, save your work and move on to page 6.
Page 6: What to Expect at the Polls
For the What to Expect at the Polls page, you’ll need to compare the steps described in the template to voting procedures in your area.
If your area holds in-person voting at polling places, you may need to only make small edits. You’ll notice this page includes two references to voter ID laws, as underlined below. Edit these as needed
Editing the What to Expect page
If your area conducts elections only by mail or uses vote centers instead of traditional polling places, you’ll likely want to rework this page to clarify those processes.
To edit this heading, you need to edit in the master slide. Go up to click the View menu and then select Slide Master. There, you can click the text and edit it. When you’re done, go up to the menu and click Close Master. Your new heading should appear on the page.
When you’re happy with the What to Expect page, save your work and move on to page 7.
Page 7: How to Mark a Ballot
The template’s ballot marking page includes instructions for fill-in-the-oval paper ballots and touchscreen direct-recording electronic (DRE) voting equipment. If that’s what you have, you can keep things as they are.
If not, edit the ballot marking descriptions and icons. You can download a new ballot marking icon from the Civic Icons and Images collection.
If you have only paper ballots or only electronic voting equipment, remove the references to the system you don’t have.
In the example below, we edited the page to show connect-the-arrow paper ballots as the only voting option.
Example: the How to Mark a Ballot page customized for connect-the-arrow paper ballots
When you’re happy with the What to Expect page, save your work and move on to page 7.
Page 8: Accessible Voting
The Accessible Voting page provides information on voting for people with disabilities.
The template includes information for voting by mail, in person before Election Day, and in person on Election Day. If you have more or fewer accessible voting options, edit this content.
Also, be sure to edit the contact information, as underlined below.
Editing the Accessible Voting page
When you’re happy with the Accessible Voting page, save your work. This is the last page, so consider if you need to make any additional changes before your voter guide is ready.
Swapping pages around
Would you like to change the page order? Did you make a mistake that’s hard to fix? Do you want to replace a page that’s not relevant in your area? The template offers a lot of flexibility.
Changing page order
To change page order, go to PowerPoint’s slide pane at the left and select the page you’d like to move. With the slide still selected, drag it up or down to the position where you want it. If you make a mistake, just undo and try again. Repeat as needed.
Changing page order by dragging and dropping slides
Restoring a page from the template
If you made a mistake and would like to restore an original page without losing your work on other pages, you can download an individual page from the template and insert it back into your voter guide so you can try again.
Download the page you need from the list below. To add it to your guide, go to PowerPoint’s Insert menu, then select New Slide, and then Reuse Slides. Locate your file and click OK. Now, you just need to drag and drop the page into the position you want.
Replacing an irrelevant page with more relevant one
If you’d like to replace one of the template’s original pages with a new page that’s more relevant for your community, you have two options. You can delete all of the original page content, edit the heading in the master, and build a new page from scratch. Or, you can download one of the page templates that we’ve created for you and insert it into your voter guide.
There are many ideas for new pages, but the three templates below provide a few good options. There’s also a blank page template that you may find helpful.
Once you’re happy with all of your customizations to the template, make sure to save your file one last time. You’re now ready to print and distribute your voter guide.
Having problems with the template? Feel free to reach out to us at [email protected]. We’ll do our best to help you get your voter guide in shape!
Table of contents
Once you’ve edited and customized the template, you’re ready to distribute your voter guide to the community. In this section, we’ll cover how to print and fold your voter guide for distribution.
Printing your voter guide
To print your guide, you’ll need to have Adobe Acrobat Reader installed on your computer. Other PDF readers, such as Apple’s Preview program, will not work for this job because they lack important printing functions. If you don’t have Adobe installed, you can download the reader for free at the Adobe website.
Exporting your guide as a PDF
The first step to print your guide is to export it as a PDF.
Open your guide in PowerPoint. Then, go to the File menu and select Export. You can specify the location where you want your file to be saved, give your new file a new name if you like, and then go to the File Format dropdown and select PDF. Then, click Save.
Exporting your voter guide to a PDF
PowerPoint will export your slides as a PDF and place the file in the location you specified.
Printing your guide
With your voter guide as a PDF, you’re ready to print.
Open the PDF with Adobe Reader. If Adobe isn’t your default program for opening PDFs, you may need to right click (or Control + click, or two-finger click) the file, select Open with, and then select Adobe Acrobat Reader.
With your PDF open in Adobe, you’re ready to print. Go to the File menu and select Print.
You need to establish print settings so that your guide will print correctly for folding. Depending on your computer and your version of Adobe Reader, your print menu may look slightly different, but the settings should be the same as the example below.
Under Page Sizing & Handling, select Multiple, and then set the Pages per sheet to 4. Page order should be set to Horizontal.
Make sure that you are printing on both sides of the paper, select Flip on short edge, and set your Orientation to Portrait.
Establishing print settings in Adobe Reader
Once your settings are established, click Print.
Your printed guide should match the layout below. It may differ if you swapped pages around, but the orientation of the pages should be the same.
The correct voter guide print layout
If your guide looks right, you’re ready to fold. If you had trouble printing, go back to the instructions above and double check your print settings.
Folding your voter guide
Folding the guide is easy, but you need to do it right so that the page orientation works.
Start by folding the page longways, with the cover page facing down on your table and the four interior pages facing you. If you’re using the template’s default page layout, the Voter ID Guidelines page will be at the top right. Now, fold over from the right to the left.
First, fold longways from right to left
Now, reorient your guide with the cover page again facing the table and two informational pages facing you. If you’re using the template’s default page layout, the two pages facing you will be Ways to Vote and Deadlines. This time, fold from left to right.
Then, fold over from left to right
If you’ve folded your guide correctly, your cover page should be facing you. When you open up the booklet, the two inside pages should be right-side up. If you open up again to the full sheet, those four pages should also be right-side up.
The folded voter guide
If you made a mistake, look back at the folding instructions and double-check your print settings.
At this point you should have an edited, printed, and folded copy of your pocket voter guide. Congratulations! If you have questions about the process or ran into problems, you can always get in touch with us at [email protected].