FAQs#
API Usage#
Are there any limitations when using the API?#
We ask that you limit API calls to 200 per minute. For more information about user obligations and rights, please see our Terms of Use.
What resources will I need to integrate the API?#
You will need a software developer, or someone who has experience working with a REST API. To see our documentation on how to implement please visit our documentation.
How do I get support for the Cicero API?#
You can contact us at 800-MELISSA ext. 4 (800-635-4772 ext. 4), or email us Tech@Melissa.com.
API Concepts#
What is a Credit?#
Credits are the currency of the Cicero API. Credits are purchased in incremental buckets, and then deducted as applicable API ‘calls’ are made.
What does the term ‘API Call’ refer to?#
A call is a line of communication used to ask an API to return a specific result. In the case of Cicero, you might make a call to the legislative_district resource, which will return a response of legislative districts to the location you specified.
Will I be charged a credit for every API call I make?#
We do not charge you for authentication calls or to retrieve election event data. For a full list of API resources and their cost, please visit our documentation.
Account Management#
Where can I access information about my Cicero account?#
After you’ve signed up for an account, you can visit Client Login. For the user login and password use the email and password you used when you signed up for your account.
What are my UserID and password?#
Your user ID and password are the email address and password you provided during the Cicero API account signup process. The same user ID and password are used as authentication for accessing the Cicero API.
What is the API Free Trial?#
We offer a Free Trial so users can experiment with integration prior to committing to a paid account. New users are automatically given a free trial when signing up for the API. The free trial provides 1000 credits and expires after 90 days. If, at the end of your 90-day trial period, you would like to continue using the Cicero API, you can simply purchase credits by visiting the Purchase page in your user account dashboard. We kindly ask that you only sign up for one free trial per organization.
Pricing#
How can I find out about customized pricing for high volume usage of over 1 million API calls per year?#
You can contact Melissa sales department at 800-MELISSA ext. 3 (800-635-4772 ext. 3) or email us at Sales@Melissa.com.
Redistricting#
What is regular redistricting and when does it happen?#
Regular redistricting in the U.S. is the process of creating new Congressional and/or state legislative district boundaries following the decennial Census to account for population changes. It happens every 10 years (2020, 2030, 2040 and so on).
What is off-cycle/ad hoc redistricting and when does it happen?#
Districts in the U.S. are changing more frequently due to the politicization of redistricting. Litigation can lead to court-ordered changes to Congressional and/or state legislative maps at any time. In addition, in 2025 several states took the unprecedented step of redrawing their Congressional districts mid-decade. As implied by “off-cycle” and “ad hoc”, this type of redistricting does not follow a predictable timeline.
A state just passed new district maps - when will they be in Cicero?#
Cicero will always have new maps before the first general election that uses them - and often will have them before the first primary election that uses them. The timeline varies based on factors described below. See here to learn if Cicero has new district maps for a particular state.
The Cicero team tracks redistricting for all of the legislative chambers in its database – whether regular or off-cycle/ad hoc – and promptly acquires new district maps once they become publicly available. Our GIS team cleans them to a high resolution to ensure the most accurate matching possible and then adds them to our database. The timeline for this varies based on when the state makes them available as geospatial files, how much cleaning they need, and other factors.
Do new district maps take effect immediately? What does Cicero mean by “current” versus “future” districts?#
Most of the time when a state passes new maps into law, they do not take effect immediately for the purposes of representation; instead, they are intended for use in a future election. The “old” districts are still current and in effect until the future election occurs and the officials who win are sworn into office. Thus there will be a period of time in which the API will have two sets of districts for the same legislative chamber – a “future” set and a “current” set.
“Future” and “current” sets of districts can be distinguished by their differing ‘valid_from’ and ‘valid_to’ dates. Cicero defines the ‘valid_from’ date as the earliest possible date that an elected official can be sworn into office to represent a district. A district is considered “future” until its ‘valid_from’ date is on or after today’s date. See here to learn what “future” districts are in Cicero and when they will become “current.”
Should I access “current” or “future” districts in the API?#
Using one or the other set of districts depends on your use case. For example, if your objective is to power an advocacy effort that prompts constituents to reach out to their “current” districts and representatives, you will want to perform location queries on current districts (which is the default) using the ‘official’ resource in the API. However, if your objective is to do outreach related to the election that will use the new districts, then you will want to perform location queries on “future” districts using the ‘legislative_district’ resource. Learn more below.
How do I access “future” districts in the API?#
To access “future” districts with the Cicero API, use the ‘legislative_district’ resource, not the “official” resource. The “official” resource will not yield results because officials have not yet been elected and sworn in to represent the new districts. In your call to the ‘legislative_district’ resource, use the ‘valid-on-or-after’ parameter. Enter a date that falls on or after the term start date (‘valid_from’ date) for the new districts. For example, the term start date for new Congressional districts in the November 2026 elections will be January 3, 2027. Use 2027-01-03 in the ‘valid_on_or_after’ parameter to match a location to its new Congressional district.
What new districts are still “future” in Cicero right now?#
States with recently enacted new districts that are still “future”
State |
Map Type |
Date of first general election using new maps |
‘Valid_from’ date of new maps (earliest possible swear-in) |
Are the new maps in Cicero? |
|---|---|---|---|---|
California |
Congressional |
2026-11-03 |
2027-01-03 |
|
Ohio |
Congressional |
2026-11-03 |
2027-01-03 |
|
North Carolina |
Congressional |
2026-11-03 |
2027-01-03 |
|
Missouri |
Congressional |
2026-11-03 |
2027-01-03 |
|
Texas |
Congressional |
2026-11-03 |
2027-01-03 |
Yes |
Utah |
Congressional |
2026-11-03 |
2027-01-03 |
|
Michigan |
State (upper) |
2026-11-03 |
2027-01-01 |
Yes |
States with recently enacted new districts that are now “current”
State |
Map Type |
Date of first general election using new maps |
‘Valid_from’ date of new maps (earliest possible swear-in) |
Are the new maps in Cicero? |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Mississippi |
State (upper) |
2025-11-04 |
2025-11-21 |
Yes |
Notes
New districts could include all - or only some - districts in a given map type