Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

We face several challenges in our ability to provide comprehensive voter guides.  Some of those challenges include:

• The timeline between candidate filing deadlines and our publishing dates is too short to allow for thorough evaluation.
• Limited staff bandwidth. At the municipal level, we lack both a standardized process and trained panelists to manage evaluations.
• Difficulty locating candidate information and contact details further restricts our ability to evaluate.
• The information we need from candidates is not available soon enough in the process. 

Yes!  Each iVoterGuide webpage has a Spanish-English toggle in the upper left corner.  Just select “Spanish” to view the site in Spanish.

We are sorry you are experiencing this issue. Please verify your correct districts on your voter registration card with your county election office.

To see which races iVoterGuide covers for your area, enter your full address (street, city, state, zip code) on the iVoterGuide homepage and click the "View My Voter Guide" button.

Our coverage of down-ballot races varies each election cycle.

As God provides the resources, our vision is to go all the way down the ballot in every state.  To support this effort, click here.  For help in conducting your own research, please read our article, "Tips for Researching Candidates."

We go directly to the source for material.

We provide candidate evaluations based on comprehensive research and assessment of the following four areas:

·       Campaign finance data
·       Endorsements
·       Legislative scorecards
·       Candidate questionnaires

iVoterGuide not only follows the money and the votes; we look at past and current supporters as well as what the candidates say about themselves. For detailed information on our research and candidate profiles, please see our article, “Understanding Candidate Profiles.”

A scorecard is a rating or grade assigned to an elected official by conservative and liberal organizations based on the elected official’s votes on legislation. We consider this type of data to be very important when evaluating candidates, because it is evidence of a candidate’s commitment to their values and to their campaign promises. We take data directly from over 708 national and statewide organizations—to give you a comprehensive look at each candidate. The scores are shown as percentages on liberal and conservative spectrums. Thus, a candidate who scores high with conservative organizations will most often have a low percentage with liberal organizations and vice versa.

For detailed information on our research and candidate profiles, please see our article, “Understanding Candidate Profiles.”

iVoterGuide looks at much more information than the questionnaire alone. We research contributions to and from candidates, endorsements, voting and judicial records (where applicable), and thoroughly investigate candidates’ websites and social media accounts. If we are still not able to find enough information to evaluate a candidate with confidence, they receive an “Insufficient Information” evaluation.

Our candidate evaluation process is multi-layered. First, we gather data, including contributions to and from candidates, endorsements, voting records, judicial rulings (where applicable), and a thorough investigation of candidates’ websites and social media accounts. 

This candidate data is then reviewed by staff or panels of trained volunteers with the aim of placing the candidate on a gauge from "verified liberal" to "verified conservative."  In order to evaluate the candidates, we look at what they’ve done, not just what they’ve said—we think that’s so important.

For detailed information regarding our panelists, you can read our article, "The Importance of Panelists."

To be considered for a place as a panelist, submit your application here.

“Conservative Conditional” and “Liberal Conditional” are evaluations no longer used by iVoterGuide. However, you may see them referenced in previous guides.  The evaluation was used when there was not enough evidence to give us confidence that the candidate would vote conservatively or liberally if elected.