How to Search
Imagine you’re looking at a signature where the handwriting is not perfectly clear.
This is the case for almost every signature for at least one field, like their name, address, or city.
Notice how many fields are partially or fully illegible. The first name is legible ("Derek"), but:
The last name is messy; you can only confidently see that it starts with “Fl”
The street number is also messy; you can confidently see it ends in “77”
The street name is messy too; it clearly starts with “Ma” but the rest is up for debate
The city is messy, but definitively contains an "ra" in the middle of it
Even with these minimal clues, you can still make a powerful search query that will likely return the correct voter, as long as they are in the database and you did not include any incorrect characters in your query.
Here's what your search will look like in this instance:
At first glance, this search may look unusual — but this is how you will be searching from now on. The logic behind the apostrophes will be explained soon.
Remember, you are not trying to type exactly what the signer wrote. Their writing is often too unreliable.
Instead, you are typing only what you see — small, reliable pieces of information, or "clues," that Certifi can match to a voter.
Even though this query looks short and incomplete, it is more effective than typing everything out.
This seemingly vague search only yields one result, which is the correct voter.
This example showcases how powerful this search method can be.
Search Order
Certifi reads your search left to right in this exact order:
First Name
Last Name
Street Number
Street Name
City
Each space separates one field.
Always use this order. Do not deviate from it.
Here's Derek's information:
Notice how the search from above was in this order:
Minimum Characters Per Field
When you enter a value for a field, you must type at least two characters for Certifi to search it.
One character is not enough, except for the street number.
Rule of thumb: If you only know one character, skip the field.
Skipping a Field
If you want to skip a field entirely, type a single period:
This tells Certifi: “Ignore this field and move to the next one.”
Example
First name is skipped
Last name starts with "fl"
Street number ends with "77"
Street name starts with "ma"
City name contains "ra"
Using Apostrophes (')
')Apostrophes are your new best friends. You will be using the single apostrophes, not the double apostrophes. You don't need to hold shift to select one. They tell Certifi how strict the match should be.
You can search loosely or very precisely, depending on what you can read.
Apostrophe Rules
word
Appears anywhere in the field
'word
Field starts with
''word
Field ends with
'word'
Exact match only
.
Skip a field
When searching in Certifi, less is almost always better.
If even one character is wrong, it can completely prevent the correct voter from appearing. The more characters you type, the more likely you are to misinterpret one and prevent the correct match from appearing at all. This is especially important with street numbers, where a single incorrect digit will eliminate the match entirely.
For this reason, you should always start with the loosest search possible, using only the characters you are most confident about. Even if the search feels vague, it is often more effective than attempting to be precise. If you try to add extra letters or numbers and get no results, remove them and search looser again.
Once results appear, then tighten the search gradually to narrow them down — never the other way around.
Rule to remember: A loose search that returns results is always better than a precise search that returns nothing.
This mindset is critical. Many missed matches happen not because the voter isn’t in the database, but because too much information was typed too early.
Example Search
What This Means
First Name
'derek'
Exactly DEREK
Last Name
'fl
Starts with FL
Street Number
''77
Ends with 77
Street Name
'ma
Starts with MA
City
ra
Contains RA
Example Result
All that was needed to find Derek was the above query, which you can see by the bolded characters below:
Common Search Mistakes (and How to Avoid Them)
These mistakes slow you down and hide good matches. Read this once — it will save you time every shift.
❌ Using Apostrophes When You Don’t Need Them
Mistake: Starting with very strict searches like exact matches.
Fix: Start loose, then tighten your search to narrow down results only if needed.
If too many results appear, then tighten:
Loose first. Tighten later.
❌ Forgetting Apostrophes Mean Different Things
Mistake: Assuming any apostrophe does the same thing.
Remember:
'word= starts with''word= ends with'word'= exactword= contains
One character changes the entire search.
❌ Trying to Type the Full Name or Address
Mistake: Typing everything exactly as written.
Fix: Type only what you can clearly read.
You are typing clues, not full information.
❌ Guessing Letters in a Field
Mistake: Guessing a street number or name instead of skipping it. Typing the wrong character will not yield the correct voter.
Fix: If you are unsure, skip it.
Guessing what someone has written reduces accuracy and creates bad matches.
Effective Search Examples
Expanding the voter will show you the zip code.
Always ignore a street name's directional prefix in your query ("east" or "e," "south" or "s," etc.).
To make an exact query for a street name or city that is comprised of two or more words, use single quotes around the words. Ex: Redondo Beach is searched as 'redondo beach', although searching just redondo works too.
Again, ignore the directional of a street name. The signer wrote "West 83rd". Don't be fooled and search west in the street name field — it will yield no results.
The above query yields no results.
Be careful not to interpret a signer's middle name as their last name. This will cause you to miss the correct match. Nichols is barely visible in their printed name.
Be cautious when a signer blends two fields too close together. They seemingly wrote "155213th" for their address. Notice my search parameters for the street number and street name — they're hyper specific.
The signer either misspelled their first name, or it's incorrectly filed in the database. Searching for `trid yields no results, even though that's what is written. Regardless, always edit your queries to try again after no results appear for a signer.
If a city is abbreviated or initialized and you don't know its full name so you can query it, you can confidently skip it with a "." as long as there are enough other details in your query. If not, look up the zip code to find out the city, then type it in.
If the city is illegible alongside too many other fields (which prevents you from confidently skipping the city field), look up the the zip code to find out.
For even mildly messy handwriting, it's better to just skip those fields, like was done with the names above. The risk of typing a wrong character and tanking your accuracy is high when the handwriting is even moderately messy.
Another example of less is better.
Soft Search
The "strict search" is the normal search you've learned about this whole time
The "soft search" is meant to be more forgiving of cases where you're just a little bit off
It allows you to find a higher rate of valid signatures that you couldn't find with the strict search.
Use the soft search every time you can't find a voter, and vice versa with the strict search.
I recommend starting with the strict search, then using the soft search if you can't find the voter.
Final Reminder
Start searching loosely. Type less. Add only what you’re certain about.
One wrong character can hide the correct voter.
If no results appear, remove characters from your query or edit the characters, then search again until you're confident that the voter doesn't exist.
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