- Register for an API key: http://votesmart.org/share/api/register
- Add your key to the votesmart config file.
- load the library: $this->load->library('votesmart');
You can use any of the API calls referenced here - http://api.votesmart.org/docs/index.html by using the generic 'query' method. Where the first value is the method to call, and the second is an array of parameters.
$this->votesmart->query('CandidateBio.getBio',array('candidateId' => 9026));
There are a few methods that you can call directly from library, to make things a bit easier:
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Candidate by zip code: $this->votesmart->get_candidates_by_zip($zip)
-
Currently elected officials by zip: $this->votesmart->get_officials_by_zip($zip)
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Get a single candidate/official by id (with option extended info): $this->votesmart->get_candidate_by_id($candidate_id,$extended)
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Get a candidate/official photo: $this->votesmart->get_candidate_photo($candidate_id)
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Get a list of states and their ids: $this->votesmart->get_states()
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Get just the Presidential Candidates (only those listed as 'Running' and 2012 election as default): $this->votesmart->get_presidential_candidates($running=true,$election_id='2323')