Update sheets.py

sheets.py

@@ -157,9 +157,18 @@ def get_candidate_by_slack_id(slack_user_id: str) -> Optional[dict]:
     return None
 
 
+def get_candidate_by_id(candidate_id: str) -> Optional[dict]:
+    """Return candidate dict by candidate_id or None if not found."""
+    records = _get_records(SHEET_CANDIDATES, CANDIDATES_HEADERS)
+    for row in records:
+        if str(row.get("candidate_id", "")).strip() == candidate_id.strip():
+            return row
+    return None
+
+
 def get_active_candidates() -> list[dict]:
     records = _get_records(SHEET_CANDIDATES, CANDIDATES_HEADERS)
-    return [r for r in records if r["status"] not in ("eliminated", "cleared")]
+    return [r for r in records if str(r.get("status", "")) not in ("eliminated", "cleared")]
 
 
 def create_candidate(