Frequently Asked Questions

BallotWatch is a nonpartisan election platform that puts every race on every ballot — from president to school board — in one place and makes it actionable. We cover all 50 states plus DC with candidates, races, key dates, voter registration guides, and election rules.

No. BallotWatch is strictly nonpartisan. We provide the same information for every candidate regardless of party. Our goal is to help every voter make informed decisions, not to influence those decisions.

Most election sites cover only federal races or only a single state. BallotWatch covers every race from U.S. Senate to school board, across all 51 jurisdictions, with candidate profiles, position matching, news, endorsements, and a personalized ballot builder — all in one place. We also track special elections as they happen, often within hours.

BallotWatch is free for all voters. Candidates can access their profile for free as well. Enhanced features for campaigns and endorsing organizations are available through affordable paid tiers designed to be accessible to down-ballot and grassroots campaigns.

We aggregate data from official state election authorities, the Federal Election Commission, public voting records, candidate websites, and verified news sources. Candidate news articles are sourced from Google News and updated automatically twice daily. We currently track 3,800+ candidates across 7,200+ races.

We cover the 2026 midterm elections including U.S. Senate, U.S. House, Governor, statewide offices (Attorney General, Secretary of State, Comptroller, etc.), state legislature, county races, judicial races, and special elections. We plan to expand to 2028 presidential cycle coverage.

Enter your home address and we show you every race on your personal ballot based on your voting districts. You can research each candidate, mark your picks with a green checkmark, and then print your marked ballot or carry it on your phone to the polls. No more guessing in the voting booth.

Yes. You can print your marked ballot as a one-page cheat sheet or pull it up on your phone. If your state doesn't allow phones at the polls, the printed version works perfectly. It consolidates your choices down to just who you picked — no more scrolling through long sample ballots.

Take a short interview about your views on key issues — education, healthcare, immigration, the environment, and more. We compare your answers against each candidate's known positions and show you a compatibility percentage. It's like matchmaking for your ballot.

No account is required to browse candidates, races, or use My Ballot. Creating a free account lets you save your favorites, track specific races, keep your ballot picks synced across devices, and take the position matching interview.

Click the star icon next to any candidate or race to add it to your Favorites. You can follow races from any state, not just your own. Your Favorites page gives you quick access to everyone you're keeping an eye on.

Yes. You can thumbs-up or thumbs-down any candidate, even ones not on your ballot. This helps us gauge public sentiment and provides anonymized insights into how voters feel about candidates across the country.

Visit your candidate's page and click "Claim this Campaign" at the bottom. You'll create an account, fill out verification information, and our team will review and approve your claim. Once approved, you can manage the candidate's profile, add links, upload a bio video, and update campaign information.

Claimed campaigns can add or update: campaign website and social media links, donation link, a YouTube or Vimeo video embed, candidate positions on issues, biography, and campaign contact information. You cannot edit another candidate's page.

Basic profile management is free for every candidate. We believe this is especially important for down-ballot races with limited budgets. Enhanced features like analytics, voter engagement data, and direct mailer ordering are available through affordable paid tiers.

Yes. The system is designed so that a single campaign manager can claim and manage multiple candidate profiles from one dashboard.

Premium campaign tiers will include anonymized, aggregated insights about what issues voters in their district care about most, based on position matching interviews and engagement data. No individual voter data is ever shared.

Your organization creates a profile on BallotWatch and invites your endorsement panel members. Panel members can review candidates and mark their endorsement picks online — just like building a ballot. The results consolidate automatically so your leadership can see the panel's recommendations at a glance.

Only if the candidate accepts the endorsement. When your organization endorses a candidate, they receive a notification. If they approve, your organization appears on their candidate page. This prevents unwanted endorsements from appearing and gives candidates control over their profile.

Yes. Once your endorsements are finalized, your organization's voter guide is automatically generated and shareable. Your members and followers can view your endorsed candidates, and click through to learn more about each one. It's a living voter guide that stays current as races evolve.

There's a free tier for smaller grassroots organizations with basic endorsement features. Paid tiers add panel management tools, analytics, and enhanced branding options. We're offering early access at no cost to organizations we partner with during the 2026 launch.

Yes. BallotWatch is nonpartisan infrastructure. Any legitimate endorsing organization — regardless of political perspective — can create a profile and use the endorsement tools. The platform serves democracy, not any particular party or ideology.

Political parties can manage a portfolio of races with cross-candidate analytics. See where voters are engaged, where they're undecided, and where to focus resources. Track endorsement momentum and voter sentiment across your candidates.

Parties can access anonymized, aggregated analytics — such as which issues are trending in specific districts and overall engagement levels. We never share individual voter data, personal information, or how specific voters marked their ballots.

We encourage parties to have their candidates claim their profiles on BallotWatch. When candidates promote their BallotWatch profile, they're also promoting the platform to voters — which benefits every candidate on the ballot. It's a rising-tide strategy.

Yes. Your ballot picks are stored only on your device and in your account if you're signed in. We never share who you've marked on your ballot with candidates, campaigns, organizations, or anyone else. Your picks are yours alone.

If you create an account, we store your name, email, and optionally your address (for My Ballot) and party affiliation (for position matching). Thumbs-up/down votes and position matching results are stored anonymously for aggregate analytics. We never sell personal data.

Starting in 2028, we plan to offer anonymized, aggregated election data to researchers and academic institutions. This will include engagement trends and sentiment data, never individual voter information. Our goal is to advance civic research while protecting privacy.

Candidate news articles are automatically sourced from Google News twice daily. We link to the original source — we don't host or modify news content. Articles are categorized by type (Campaign, Policy, Endorsement, Fundraising, etc.) and displayed on each candidate's profile page.