Understand your ballot
before you vote.
Enter your address. We’ll work out exactly which races you vote on — all the way down to the offices nobody explains — and tell you what each one actually does.
No account required. We use your address once to determine your districts and never store it. How we handle addresses
- 435
- U.S. House seats on the 2026 ballot
- 33
- Regularly scheduled U.S. Senate seats
- 36
- Governorships being decided
- 500k+
- Elected offices across the United States
How it works
Three steps, about sixty seconds.
You shouldn't need to understand election administration in order to understand your ballot. That's our job, not yours.
Enter your address
Your districts are decided by your street address, not your city or ZIP. We resolve them against official Census boundary files — the same geography your election authority uses.
See your actual ballot
Federal, state, county, municipal, judicial, and special district contests, grouped the way they appear on a real ballot, with a plain statement of how confident we are in each.
Understand every choice
For each office: what it controls, what it can't do, why the race matters, and what to look for in a candidate. No scores, no rankings, no endorsements.
The races nobody explains
You've heard of the Senate race. What about the other eleven?
Most voter guides stop after the top of the ticket. The offices below the fold — the ones that set your property tax rate, run the jail, and decide what's taught in your schools — are where a single vote counts most.
County Commissioner
A member of the board that sets your county's budget and property tax rate.
What it controlsSheriff
The elected chief law-enforcement officer of the county, and in most places the operator of the county jail.
What it controlsSchool Board Member
A member of the board that governs your local public school district.
What it controlsAppellate Judge or Justice
A judge who reviews decisions from lower courts and sets binding precedent for your state.
What it controlsDistrict Attorney
The elected prosecutor who decides which criminal charges are filed in your area.
What it controlsSoil and Water Conservation District Supervisor
A supervisor of the local district that helps landowners manage erosion, water quality, and farmland conservation.
What it controlsWhere we stand
You decide. We explain.
A voter guide that quietly nudges you is worse than no voter guide at all. These commitments are built into how the product works, not just into a policy page.
What Ballot Explained does
- Show every contest on your ballot, including the ones at the bottom
- Explain what each office actually has the power to do
- List candidates in ballot order, always
- Tell you when our confidence is low
- Link to your official election authority on every page
- Separate facts, candidate claims, and interpretation
What it will never do
- Tell you who to vote for
- Score, rank, or grade candidates
- Use party affiliation as a shortcut for research
- Hide unfavorable information about anyone
- Let a sponsor influence our research
- Present a guess as a fact
Read the full methodology — how we source claims, how we score confidence, how we handle uncertainty, and what happens when we get something wrong.
Voting guides
The questions people actually ask before an election.
How do I find out what's on my ballot?
Your ballot is set by your street address, not your city or ZIP code. Here's how ballots are actually assembled and how to see yours.
What is a sample ballot, and how do I get mine?
A sample ballot is an exact preview of the ballot you'll receive. Here's what it shows, where to get it, and how to use it in the voting booth.
How do I find my congressional district?
Your congressional district comes from your street address and can change between elections. Here's how to check yours and what redistricting means for it.
How do I check if I'm registered to vote?
Registration can lapse without warning. Here's how to verify your status, what commonly cancels a registration, and how to fix a problem before Election Day.
What do I need to bring to vote?
ID requirements differ sharply by state. Here's how to find out what yours requires and what else is worth bringing.
How do I research candidates I've never heard of?
A practical method for evaluating local candidates when there's little coverage — what sources to trust, in what order, and what to ignore.
For newsrooms and civic organizations
Run your own voter guide, without building one.
Local newsrooms, libraries, universities, and civic groups can deploy Ballot Explained under their own brand and domain — with their editorial introduction, their logo, and full ballot lookup for their entire audience.
See how partnerships work