Getting Started with the CLI

This article will walk you through the steps of installing the Provoters CLI and basic usage for building voter files.

Prerequisites

• Node.js
• Terminal/Command Prompt

Installation

You can install the CLI in your terminal by entering:

npm

$ npm install -g protovoters

pnpm

$ pnpm install -g protovoters

yarn classic

$ yarn global add protovoters

Then you can test the installation by running the following and observing its output:

$ protovoters --help

Build a voter file

Selecting a region

In order to build a voter file, you need to select a either a bounding box, GeoJSON Polygon, or a specified political division by OCD Division ID.

Visit the Coverage Map to see which political divisions are currently supported. You can also filter the list of divisions with the protovoters list commmand.

For this example, we will be building a file for Travis County, TX
(ocd-division/country:us/state:tx/county:travis).

Build

To build the voter file, simply enter the following in your terminal:

OCD division

$ protovoters build ocd-division/country:us/state:tx/county:travis

bbox

$ protovoters build --bbox "-98.172985,30.024504,-97.369547,30.628254"

GeoJSON

$ protovoters build --polygon '{"type":"Feature","properties":{},"geometry":{"type":"Polygon","coordinates":[[[-98.1729847366099,30.356317218498877],[-97.98902368545356,30.22679719836633],[-97.97875868204291,30.217646197485426],[-97.71022260615509,30.02450416893179],[-97.65526459593339,30.072912180916088],[-97.64945659320374,30.06787117947976],[-97.49248956072897,30.21001621366379],[-97.36954654163,30.419568258590626],[-97.37345354064989,30.416958258660866],[-97.37738354186071,30.417444258402686],[-97.37952054166777,30.42428825958214],[-97.38377454445673,30.42321726061587],[-97.38395354444792,30.42660626009818],[-97.38738354541107,30.429455259937463],[-97.38780954492543,30.43285526110759],[-97.39240854742003,30.433753258343476],[-97.39164854660189,30.435754261461224],[-97.39328654854943,30.437750261797916],[-97.39694254740866,30.437566262545015],[-97.40528855051748,30.441724260943246],[-97.40831555069657,30.437283261767107],[-97.41596055384213,30.437431260638654],[-97.42551955532026,30.445915262089436],[-97.42728255600747,30.451333262705884],[-97.43333755815654,30.45207826302599],[-97.43502055808024,30.459244264221546],[-97.43867655948323,30.45959626401955],[-97.44150356048878,30.45427326320704],[-97.44540456054537,30.45583126350251],[-97.44563556156821,30.461409265464116],[-97.45321256300102,30.460771263912466],[-97.46138456615768,30.457583263257398],[-97.4684925680569,30.46497326400214],[-97.47609457022038,30.467232264611333],[-97.4767205703718,30.469434265316377],[-97.48223257148547,30.469506264297898],[-97.48903757173564,30.47407226576745],[-97.50135557564414,30.47729726594763],[-97.50316757606564,30.479959265881856],[-97.51225457948854,30.485215266459253],[-97.52326258106993,30.476943264349842],[-97.52497458322588,30.472959265837144],[-97.52815858375344,30.475439264087985],[-97.54412758607549,30.47961526438889],[-97.54770758762241,30.475280264670488],[-97.55096858783557,30.47680326319649],[-97.55059058883997,30.48126226544394],[-97.55387158968006,30.490446267603055],[-97.56441659256262,30.49198226605966],[-97.56528059204217,30.495870263199222],[-97.5688923586902,30.49618211446043],[-97.56888235661037,30.499047011924112],[-97.57672897779449,30.501160224651702],[-97.59081997309052,30.497132988925756],[-97.59129659882153,30.500960263828745],[-97.5962069407197,30.50147201382522],[-97.60609829736309,30.49514344877745],[-97.60683370381047,30.490319932187703],[-97.61878414415989,30.49038100956074],[-97.62755146650751,30.485504242629275],[-97.6412917350108,30.482112343306596],[-97.643429548598,30.478206951653014],[-97.65149814340917,30.474929990225032],[-97.66418928743285,30.48184733499557],[-97.67016261699284,30.479197255356116],[-97.6831066212833,30.479619256163218],[-97.68826320714376,30.46318133020837],[-97.69074148865184,30.461477502484456],[-97.69579162238615,30.461606256681396],[-97.7039916246367,30.458506254387338],[-97.7149926287766,30.458106254229005],[-97.73369263270399,30.449706251649058],[-97.74669363536991,30.44940925075381],[-97.75029363797631,30.447306250118316],[-97.75599263628072,30.43960624909722],[-97.75369563648542,30.43340124771099],[-97.76848464039399,30.4325432467277],[-97.7757926410798,30.42980624389123],[-97.77939464197837,30.43840624861033],[-97.78379564456988,30.439907247687863],[-97.78878464565764,30.444195247428965],[-97.79979464902804,30.447305247848604],[-97.81329465202417,30.447405248267835],[-97.82631865677267,30.455055249137615],[-97.82696215468523,30.457544214913288],[-97.84655637223072,30.47339353798522],[-97.84597232520257,30.47569470969377],[-97.86212724431552,30.49731286170267],[-97.85653173597048,30.502673316226804],[-97.8557726658641,30.507406257731528],[-97.87142367055506,30.522719260378103],[-97.86787367026164,30.546504266102044],[-97.88229667417069,30.553810265671597],[-97.88337667556661,30.552963266485886],[-97.88770267623477,30.556617266539874],[-97.8887546772407,30.565156266986868],[-97.89146267713025,30.566523268142603],[-97.89596367879112,30.564597268716952],[-97.90246368037779,30.57133326922344],[-97.92183268475695,30.56423626662472],[-97.92699268642787,30.56765926860796],[-97.91513068427625,30.580572271113205],[-97.92039068548327,30.586779272210595],[-97.92190268625605,30.590963272504293],[-97.91707068541977,30.604876275042173],[-97.93481669013393,30.610291275780117],[-97.95674169714201,30.62825427926169],[-97.96631869917007,30.623681276769272],[-97.97787470161133,30.62211927533721],[-97.99240770466923,30.609499273275436],[-97.99799670510998,30.613029273974178],[-98.00628370867511,30.627521275786243],[-98.01274870965045,30.616772273754933],[-98.02970771429416,30.614728272725845],[-98.03650271563288,30.611731271562682],[-98.03959971752501,30.61855827198072],[-98.04989371969889,30.62416027409794],[-98.12342773052556,30.486487243383678],[-98.12311873056025,30.484728243764387],[-98.11373072839882,30.48558124467573],[-98.10747572734758,30.494273245758787],[-98.09778572468137,30.498063248794367],[-98.09771672333208,30.467631241462932],[-98.1729847366099,30.356317218498877]]]}}'

This will then begin the process of fetching the data from the local government and outputting a Protovoters Specification compliant voter file.