Ballotpedia is the online encyclopedia of American politics and elections. Our goal is to preserve and expand knowledge about politics by providing exceptionally high-quality, accurate, and objective information about local, state, and federal politics and policies. Our content includes neutral, accurate, and verifiable information on government officials and the offices they hold, political issues and public policy, elections, candidates, and the influencers of politics. Headquartered in Middleton, Wisconsin, Ballotpedia was founded in 2006. It has grown to include over 400,000 professionally authored encyclopedic articles that have garnered more than 1 billion page views.

Website

http://www.ballotpedia.org

External link for Ballotpedia

Industry

Non-profit Organizations

Company size

51-200 employees

Headquarters

Middleton, Wisconsin

Type

Nonprofit

Founded

2007

Specialties

political information, political education, voter education, and news

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  Midterm elections are right around the corner, and we need your help to increase reliable, nonpartisan information for voters nationwide!This year, we are expanding local election coverage to 31 states, with five additional states now offering information on every local race. To ensure we have enough volunteer researchers to support this growth, the application deadline for the Spring 2026 Fellows Program has been extended through Feb. 15.As a Fellow, you will research assigned candidates and add key attributes such as contact information, endorsements, and campaign themes to Ballotpedia’s database. Your work will populate candidate profiles referenced by millions of voters nationwide, helping communities make more informed decisions. Reliable information on local elections is often difficult to find, and you can play a direct role in expanding access this spring.The Spring 2026 Fellows Program runs from Feb. 23 through April 24, 2026. Fellows volunteer 5 to 10 hours per week on a flexible schedule, and all work is fully remote. Applications close in five days! Share this opportunity with a friend, and let us know if you have any questions!

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  On Tuesday, the Kansas House Committee on Elections held a hearing on House Bill 2452. This bill, if approved, would change the timing of city, school, community college, and certain other municipality elections to fall in even-numbered years, or on-cycle years, as we refer to them. Ballotpedia staff writerSpencer Richardson was invited to testify, via Zoom, before the Kansas House Committee on Election to provide additional information on this bill. Spencer shared our research on voter turnout in Kansas, examining the differences between on-cycle and off-cycle elections using data from 2010 through November 2025.Readers, journalists, and legislators rely on Ballotpedia for nonpartisan and timely facts, and it was an absolute honor to be asked to present our data. If you have specific questions about election, timing, and turnout, please do not hesitate to reach out. We remain committed to producing reliable, nonpartisan election data and analysis that support informed discussion and decision‑making.

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  As we begin a new year and prepare for the 2026 midterms, we need your help to expand local election coverage for millions of voters. We invite you to apply to join the Spring 2026 Ballotpedia Fellows Program and take part in this important work! Applications are now open.Reliable, nonpartisan information about local candidates is often difficult to find. In 2026, Ballotpedia is expanding the scope of data we collect on local candidates and elections, and Fellows play a direct role in making that work possible.As a Ballotpedia Fellow, you will research assigned local candidates and add key information, such as contact information, endorsements, and campaign themes, to our database. After completing self-led training, you will contribute directly to a trusted resource used by millions of voters, journalists, and researchers.In 2025, Fellows helped add more than 70,000 data attributes to local candidate profiles. With a major midterm election year ahead, there is no better time to get involved.The Spring 2026 Fellows Program runs from Feb. 23 through April 24, 2026. Fellows volunteer 5 to 10 hours per week on a flexible schedule, and all work is fully remote. All you need is a computer with a reliable internet connection. Ballotpedia can provide documentation of volunteer hours for school, work, or course credit when applicable. Letters of recommendation or professional references may also be available based on individual participation.Applications will be accepted on a rolling, first-come basis. Don’t miss your chance to contribute to reliable local election coverage this spring! If you know someone who might be interested, please share this opportunity with them.

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  We launched our Fellows Program in 2020 to provide students interested in politics with a service opportunity that helps develop subject matter expertise in political research. What started as a new initiative has become a source of tremendous joy, and we have been honored to grow and learn alongside our dedicated volunteers.Since its launch, the program has expanded from just 16 participants to roughly 265 Fellows in Fall 2025, allowing us to research more candidates and deliver deeper, more comprehensive coverage of elections across the country.This year, we provided voters with coverage of every election up and down the ballot in 26 states. Ballotpedia Fellows and volunteers researched roughly 75,000 candidates, including more than 36,000 who ran in contested races. In total, volunteers collected 69,000 emails, websites, and social media pages.We are deeply grateful to every volunteer for their commitment, care, and hard work in helping to ensure that every voter has access to nonpartisan information. We encourage you to take a look at the ways we've grown since 2020. Applications for our Spring 2026 Fellows cohort are now open. We invite you to apply and take part in this important work. The Spring 2026 Fellows Program runs from Feb. 23 through April 24, 2026. Fellows volunteer 5 to 10 hours per week on a flexible schedule, and all work is fully remote. All you need is a computer with a reliable internet connection. Ballotpedia can provide documentation of volunteer hours for school, work, or course credit when applicable. Letters of recommendation or professional references may also be available based on individual participation.Applications will be accepted on a rolling basis through Feb. 4, 2026. Don’t miss your chance to contribute to reliable local election coverage this spring! And please, ask questions! We LOVE to talk about our beloved volunteers.

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  Election Day 2025 is here! If you haven't voted yet, check out our resources on everything to do with today's election, including when and where to vote, and what's on your ballot. If you don't have any races where you live, explore what we’re covering for the next election:🗳️Sample ballot: Our Sample Ballot Lookup tool helps you learn about the candidates and issues on your ballot.https://bit.ly/3WGpUvw🗳️Poll opening and closing times: A state-by-state look at poll opening and closing times for today's elections.https://bit.ly/4ogsBQy🗳️Where to vote: Links about where to find polling locations in your state.https://bit.ly/3LmCIVx🗳️Identification: Information on voter ID requirements in your state, so you know what to expect when you get to the polls.https://bit.ly/3JuQGUK🗳️Voting policies in the United States: Voting policies are enacted and enforced primarily at the state level. This article provides a list of links to our content about voting procedures and election administration in each state.https://bit.ly/4qIHY62

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  Happy Halloween! In honor of all things spooky scary, we asked BP employees what scares them most. Here's a little look at what we got. 👻🦇🕸️

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  We're looking for educators! We want to work with you to bring civic engagement into your classroom this fall!With elections approaching across the nation, your students can help voters make more informed decisions on local candidates while contributing directly to Ballotpedia’s nonpartisan and trusted political database.Through Ballotpedia’s Student Researcher Program, educators can easily integrate real-world political data collection and candidate research into their curriculum. We will handle the training, onboarding, and reporting, and you can decide how it fits best into your class. Please share this opportunity with an educator in your life.

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  Voting isn’t just about politics. It’s about your community and your future. Because voting is so important, Ballotpedia is excited to join more than 600 national partners in celebrating National Voter Education Week (NVEW). Launched in 2020, NVEW unites nonprofits, civic groups, businesses, and media organizations in a shared goal: ensuring every eligible American is fully prepared to vote.Whether it’s decisions about affordability, education, or local services, your vote matters. With new laws and evolving processes, it’s crucial to get reliable, nonpartisan information to make confident choices. Join us during National Voter Education Week from Oct. 6-10, 2025, to help bridge the gap between registration and voting. This week is dedicated to giving you the knowledge and tools you need to fully participate in our democracy. Here are some actions you can take each day:Day 1 – Register to VoteSign up to make your voice count in elections.Day 2 – Get to Know Your BallotLearn about the candidates and issues you’ll vote on.Day 3 – Make a Plan to VoteDecide when and how you’ll cast your ballot.Day 4 – Understand the ProcessKnow what to expect when you vote and how votes are counted.Day 5 – Share with Friends & FamilyHelp the people you care about get ready to vote too.

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  In 2024 and 2025, Ballotpedia staff spoke with 100 school board members in 33 states about their motivations for running for elected office and their experiences managing their districts. The initiative aimed to develop a deeper understanding of how school board members across the United States view their roles, responsibilities, and challenges. Our conversations included school board members from small and large districts, and those in rural and urban areas. The resulting report details board member perspectives on conflict resolution, academic oversight, community engagement, and governance effectiveness. We’ve highlighted and summarized a few noteworthy findings and observations below. 🏫 School boards and their conflict styles 🏫 Conflict is inevitable in any governing body, and school boards are no exception. Roughly 62% of board members believe conflict usually leads to productive outcomes.We asked interviewees five questions about conflict on school boards, including: “Do school board coalitions tend to form along predictable lines (e.g. political party, gender, profession)?”This question revealed a near-even split. Forty-one percent said coalitions do tend to form predictably, typically along political lines or shared professional backgrounds. Another 42% emphasizing issue-based alliances or fluid dynamics. The remaining 17% gave nuanced answers: coalitions might form in certain seasons (e.g. during elections or crises) but not persist. 🎒School boards and academic outcomes 🎒 42% of board members see their primary role as staying informed about academic outcomes, while 58% of the board members interviewed for this project did not list this as a primary role. Across all district types, board members consistently described their role in academic outcomes as information seekers, accountability partners, and community liaisons—not instructional experts. 🍎The three flavors of school boards 🍎 School boards across the country can be broadly categorized into three distinct types. Each type reflects differences in governance and board member dynamics and the degree to which boards prioritize academic outcomes and community engagement.1. Collaborative leadership boards function with high trust, shared vision, and well-defined roles, emphasizing strategy over micromanagement. (28%)2. Coalition-driven conflict boards experience division along political or ideological lines. (38%)3. Hands-off oversight boards are deferential toward superintendents, focusing primarily on broad policy decisions. (34%)There’s so much more in the full report, and you can access it at the link below. We would also like to extend a big thank you to the Ballotpedia employees who interviewed school board members. This work would not have been possible without them!

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  ‼️The deadline to apply for our Fall 2025 Fellows cohort closes tomorrow, September 3rd‼️ If you love politics and are passionate about Ballotpedia’s mission to provide American voters with unbiased, factual information, we would LOVE to work with you! This fall, our fellows will be working on projects that will include the following:🔍Local candidate research: Ballotpedia aims to cover every election in the country. As part of our coverage efforts, Fellows will work to build out more complete local candidate profiles on Ballotpedia using the same research standards we use for full-time staff. 🔬Quality assurance: Ballotpedia takes our commitment to quality and accuracy seriously, and Quality Assurance Assistants help us ensure the highest level of research. As a Quality Assurance Assistant, Fellows will ensure that candidate attribute content is accurate and complete. Please reach out if you have any questions about the program. We love talking about our Fellows!Apply here:https://lnkd.in/dhTPUvDS

  Ballotpedia

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  We are excited to announce that applications are now open for our Fall 2025 cohort of the Ballotpedia Fellows Program, and we would love to work with you!As a Ballotpedia Fellow, you’ll work to expand our coverage of American politics, with a special focus on researching local officeholders and candidates for the 2025 elections. In July alone, our Summer cohort of Fellows broke the record for the most candidates researched in a single month, totaling over 17,000!The program runs from Monday, September 22, through Friday, November 21, 2025. Fellows are asked to volunteer 5 to 10 hours per week on their own schedule. All work is remote and can be done from anywhere with a laptop and a reliable internet connection. We’re accepting applications until Wednesday, September 3, so if you’re interested, now’s the time to apply! And please, reach out if you have any questions about the program or the application process.https://lnkd.in/dhTPUvDS

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