Florida Division of Elections scanners

These Ruby scripts scrape the Florida Division of Elections database for info on political committees, campaign donations and campaign expenses.

Getting Started

Install Dependencies

gem install bundler
bundle install

Set up your database

This project uses MySQL. If you don't have MySQL, download it here https://dev.mysql.com/downloads/mysql/

Once you have your MySQL up and running, create the following databases:

• fl_cmte_list for the committees
• fl_cmpgn_contrib for the campaign contributors
• fl_cmpgn_exp2 for expenditures

Take note of your MYSQL_USERNAME, MYSQL_PASSWORD, and your MYSQL_HOST. If you're running this project locally, your MYSQL_HOST will probably be localhost.

Scraping the Data

Run the following commands to scrape the Florida Division of Elections site and collect the data, filling in your information as needed.

ruby fl_div_elex_cmte_list_scanner.rb MYSQL_USERNAME MYSQL_PASSWORD MYSQL_HOST fl_cmte_list
ruby fl_div_elex_contrib_scanner.rb MYSQL_USERNAME MYSQL_PASSWORD MYSQL_HOST fl_cmpgn_contrib
ruby fl_div_elex_exp_scanner.rb MYSQL_USERNAME MYSQL_PASSWORD MYSQL_HOST fl_cmpgn_exp2