---
title: How does the voter matching algorithm work?
description: Learn more about how the voter matching algorithm works in ActBlue Field Tools.
---

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# How does the voter matching algorithm work?

### Overview

ActBlue Field Tools automatically matches personal contact data to the National Voter File to help you determine which of your friends might need a reminder to register or vote.

While most platforms match at about a 20% rate, Field Tools generally matches about 30% of contacts. This can be higher or lower for individual volunteers based on how accurate their contact data is. For example, if you tend to write full first and last names in your contact data, it will be much easier for the algorithm to find a match.  
​  
Check out our help center article,[Syncing My Personal Contacts](https://support.impactive.io/en/articles/9243618-syncing-personal-contacts) to learn more about how to match your contacts for the voter file. If you want to learn more about looking someone up manually and filling a report on them visit our article, [The "Add Report" Function in the Impactive Inbox.](https://support.impactive.io/en/articles/9243628-the-add-report-function-in-the-impactive-inbox)

### Common Stuck Points

When we don't find a match, there are generally 2 main reasons:

1\) There are too many people with a similar name to know for sure which to use for a match.

2\) We can't find anyone with that name or something similar.

Luckily for most contacts that aren't matched, you can easily go to the profile page, find the contact you want to match, hit Search, and easily look them up yourself!

Many times, all you have to do is add the state in which they live and that will be enough to find them. It is also possible and helpful to select an age range if you know your contact's age. Sometimes, it will also help to search for the full formal name of your contact to better match to the voter file which uses full formal names in the registry.

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