Ballot Brief
A nonpartisan, plain-English voter guide focused on the races national outlets skip: state auditor, attorney general, school board, your state House. Real candidate records, top donors, voting history, and on-record positions in under 200 words each.
voters in state and local elections who feel underserved by national coverage
- Plain-English candidate profiles under 200 words each, sourced and dated
- Side-by-side positions table on issues weighted by your zip code's actual hot topics
- Donor and lobbying totals with the original filings linked
- 'What changed since last cycle' tracker for incumbents (votes broken, new donors, position shifts)
Victor Marx just won the GOP nod in Colorado and the average voter has to choose based on yard signs; national fact-check and media coverage of state races is dramatically thinner than federal coverage.
Ballotpedia demonstrates real demand for granular state/local race info (heavy organic search share ~58-65%), but 500 Google searches for 'victor marx' is modest and most voters still rely on yard signs/endorsements.15 Best Nonpartisan Voter Information Tools (2026) - haznos.org ↗ballotpedia.org Traffic Analytics, Ranking & Audience [December 2025] ↗
Market is already crowded: Ballotpedia, ISideWith, GovTrack, On the Issues, Guide My Vote, and Decode The Vote all serve nonpartisan state/local voter info; Ballotpedia is an 800-lb gorilla covering all races.Ballotpedia Alternatives - Explore Similar Apps & Services ↗Decode The Vote — Non-partisan US Election Tracker & Voter Guide ↗
Voter information is overwhelmingly free/nonprofit (Ballotpedia, Decode The Vote 'No ads. No agenda. No paywall.'); no evidence of successful paid subscription voter-guide apps at consumer scale, suggesting weak willingness-to-pay.Decode The Vote — Non-partisan US Election Tracker & Voter Guide ↗Guide My Vote - Compare Candidates & Make Informed Voting Decisions ↗
Biennial election cycles provide recurring demand, but civic info has historically been advertiser- or donor-funded; framing as nonpartisan creates durability across political swings but funding model is fragile.Ballotpedia's Election Analysis Hub, 2024 ↗
Data sources (FEC, OpenStates, state campaign finance portals) are public and the Ballotpedia model proves the stack is buildable; curation at <200 words per race is labor-intensive but AI-assisted.Decode The Vote — Non-partisan US Election Tracker & Voter Guide ↗