Product launch: The answers are out there
At ActiVote, we’ve always believed that voting should be easier. Not easier because someone tells you who to vote for. Easier because you can quickly understand the candidates on your ballot, see where they stand on the issues that matter to you, and make your own decision.
That’s why we built the ActiVote Political Matrix.
To place a candidate on the Matrix, we need to know where they stand. And there is more than one good way to find that out.
Three ways to know where a candidate stands
Their record in office. For legislators, there’s an especially rich source of information: their actual records in office. Votes, bill sponsorships and other legislative actions are public, allowing ActiVote to use those data points to determine how legislators fit into the Matrix — often hundreds of recorded positions per legislator. Today, 10,000+ legislators have been plotted based on their voting records. You can read more about how that works in Elected Officials Join ActiVote’s Matrix! Even better, you can explore your state legislature using our state by state tool.
Their answers to our survey. Another 10,000+ candidates have taken the time to do our survey and to interact with voters. They are doing the work of reaching into the communities and we are appreciative. Their own answers give voters a direct source for understanding their positions.
Their campaign website. And as of today, there is a third. When a candidate has laid out their policy positions on their own campaign website, ActiVote uses those positions to place them on the Political Matrix.
Why a campaign website is such a good source
A campaign website is where a campaign puts the positions it has worked hardest on. Those pages are written carefully, weighed word by word, and published because the candidate wants voters to read exactly that. It is the platform they are running on and the thing they will be held to.
So when a candidate has published their positions, all we have to do is match it with our policy survey to determine what their answers to our questions are. And that is exactly what we have built in the past few months.
For every candidate who has a website, we find their policy section, map their positions on our survey questions and fill in the survey for them, so that even if the candidates are busy door-knocking, doing town halls, participate in candidate forums and have found no time to fill in our survey personally, we still can place them on the Political Matrix.
Of course, we will still send our survey directly to candidates. It remains the most direct way for a candidate to speak to ActiVote voters and we would love to see more candidates use it.
What this means for your ballot
There are thousands of elections happening across the country. The point is what happens when those candidates appear on your ballot.
Instead of opening a ballot and seeing a list of names you may or may not recognize, you can start to see the bigger picture. You can explore the candidates. You can see their positions in the Matrix. You can compare them with your own. And you can dig deeper into the information behind the placement.
Because democracy works better when people have information.
With this newest release, we’re taking another step towards making sure every voter has the information they need to vote with confidence in every election.
See where you stand — and explore who’s on your ballot
ActiVote is built around a simple idea: you should be able to vote your values without becoming a political expert.
Take a look at where you fit on the Political Matrix. Then explore the candidates on your ballot. See where they stand. See how their positions compare with yours. And when you’re ready, make your own decision.
No endless searching. Just better information for your vote.
Get ActiVote and see who’s on your ballot.