Ballotpedia

Ballotpedia's stated goal is "to inform people about politics by providing accurate and objective information about politics at all levels of government."{{cite news|title=Ballotpedia:About|url=https://ballotpedia.org/Ballotpedia:About|access-date=22 September 2021|archive-date=November 7, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181107064314/https://ballotpedia.org/Ballotpedia:About|url-status=live}} The website "provides information on initiative supporters and opponents, financial reports, litigation news, status updates, poll numbers, and more."{{Cite news|last=Davis|first=Gene|title=Denver's got issues: Ballot issues & you can learn more at Ballotpedia.com|newspaper=Denver Daily News|location=Denver|date=August 6, 2008|url=http://www.thedenverdailynews.com/article.php?aID=1442|access-date=April 27, 2011}} It originally was a "community-contributed web site, modeled after Wikipedia" which is now edited by paid staff. It "contains volumes of information about initiatives, referenda, and recalls."{{Cite book|last=Lawrence|first=David G.|title=California: The Politics of Diversity|publisher=Cengage Learning|year=2009|location=Stamford, Connecticut|pages=83|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=d0uJECy-_owC&pg=PA83|isbn=978-0-495-57097-4}}

Ballotpedia is sponsored by the Lucy Burns Institute (LBI), a nonprofit, nonpartisan{{cite news |last=Scott |first=Dylan |date=2012-09-14 |title=States Have Room for Improvement in Voter Guides |newspaper=Governing Magazine |url=http://www.governing.com/blogs/politics/gov-states-have-room-for-improvement-in-voter-guides.html |accessdate=23 October 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131029192832/http://www.governing.com/blogs/politics/gov-states-have-room-for-improvement-in-voter-guides.html |archive-date=29 October 2013}}{{cite news|last1=Mahtesian|first1=Charles|title=The best races you've never heard of|url=http://www.politico.com/blogs/charlie-mahtesian/2012/10/the-best-races-youve-never-heard-of-138646.html|accessdate=11 August 2014|publisher=Politico|date=2012-10-16|archive-date=April 1, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130401135420/http://www.politico.com//blogs/charlie-mahtesian/2012/10/the-best-races-youve-never-heard-of-138646.html|url-status=live}} educational organization.{{cite news|last1=Povich|first1=Elaine|title=Lawmakers Defer to Voters on Tax, Budget Issues|url=http://www.pewtrusts.org/en/research-and-analysis/blogs/stateline/2014/06/10/lawmakers-defer-to-voters-on-tax-and-budget-issues|accessdate=10 August 2014|work=Stateline|publisher=The Pew Charitable Trusts|date=2014-06-10|archive-date=May 20, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220520164914/https://www.pewtrusts.org/en/research-and-analysis/blogs/stateline/2014/06/10/lawmakers-defer-to-voters-on-tax-and-budget-issues|url-status=live}}{{cite news|title=Illinois elections officials need to side with voters |url=http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/editorials/ct-remap-referendum-edit-0530-20140530,0,893150.story |accessdate=10 August 2014 |publisher=Chicago Tribune |date=2014-05-30 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20140530213629/http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/editorials/ct-remap-referendum-edit-0530-20140530%2C0%2C893150.story |archivedate=30 May 2014 }}{{cite news|last1=Christensen|first1=Lance|title=Lucy Burns Institute Launches Policypedia|url=http://reason.org/blog/show/lucy-burns-institute-launches-polic|accessdate=11 August 2014|publisher=Reason Foundation|date=2014-07-22}} The organization reported revenue of $5.37 million in 2019.{{cite web|title=Return of Organization Exempt From Income Tax|url=https://www.guidestar.org/profile/20-8036372|publisher=GuideStar|accessdate=22 September 2021|archive-date=December 1, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211201104152/https://www.guidestar.org/profile/20-8036372|url-status=live}} Tim Dunn is a member of the LBI board.{{cite news |last1=Gold |first1=Russell |title=The Billionaire Bully Who Wants to Turn Texas Into a Christian Theocracy |url=https://www.texasmonthly.com/news-politics/billionaire-tim-dunn-runs-texas/ |issue=March 2024 |publisher=Texas Monthly |ref=tm |archive-date=February 12, 2024 |access-date=February 18, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240212132532/https://www.texasmonthly.com/news-politics/billionaire-tim-dunn-runs-texas/ |url-status=live }}

LBI was founded in December 2006 by the group's current president, Leslie Graves.{{cite news|last1=Mildenberg|first1=David|title=El Paso Mayor Fighting Ouster on Gay Rights Vote Counts Rising Legal Bill|url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-02-09/el-paso-mayor-fighting-ouster-on-gay-rights-vote-counts-rising-legal-bill.html|accessdate=11 August 2014|publisher=Bloomberg|date=February 8, 2012|archive-date=August 12, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140812211647/http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-02-09/el-paso-mayor-fighting-ouster-on-gay-rights-vote-counts-rising-legal-bill.html|url-status=live}}{{cite news|last1=Murphy|first1=Bruce|title=The mystery of Eric O'Keefe|url=http://www.isthmus.com/isthmus/article.php?article=42951|accessdate=11 August 2014|publisher=Isthmus|date=June 12, 2014|archive-date=August 12, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140812210840/http://www.isthmus.com/isthmus/article.php?article=42951|url-status=live}} The group is named after Lucy Burns, co-founder of the National Woman's Party. The group is headquartered in Middleton, Wisconsin.

Ballotpedia was founded by the Citizens in Charge Foundation in 2007. Ballotpedia was sponsored by the Sam Adams Alliance in 2008, along with Judgepedia and Sunshine Review. In 2009, their sponsorship was transferred to the nonprofit Lucy Burns Institute, based in Middleton, Wisconsin.{{cite journal|last=Hoover|first=Steven|title=Ballotpedia Internet Review|url=https://crln.acrl.org/index.php/crlnews/article/view/9031/9850|website=Association of College & Research Libraries|date=10 April 2017|publisher=American Library Association|doi=10.5860/crln.74.10.9031|access-date=2020-09-20|doi-access=free|archive-date=June 20, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210620081904/https://crln.acrl.org/index.php/crlnews/article/view/9031/9850|url-status=live}}{{cite news|last=Spillman|first=Benjamin|title=Cost to appeal Las Vegas Planning Commission decision called prohibitive|url=http://www.reviewjournal.com/news/las-vegas/cost-appeal-las-vegas-planning-commission-decision-called-prohibitive|access-date=21 October 2013|newspaper=Las Vegas Review-Journal|date=2013-07-29|archive-date=October 22, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131022025603/http://www.reviewjournal.com/news/las-vegas/cost-appeal-las-vegas-planning-commission-decision-called-prohibitive|url-status=live}}

On July 9, 2013, Sunshine Review was acquired by the Lucy Burns Institute and merged into Ballotpedia.{{cite web|url=http://ballotpedia.org/wiki/index.php/Portal:Sunshine_Review|title=About Sunshine Review on Ballotpedia|date=2013-07-09}} The Lucy Burns Institute is named after suffragist Lucy Burns who along with Alice Paul founded the National Woman's Party. Judgepedia was merged into Ballotpedia in March 2015.

When actress Regina King won an Emmy at the 72nd Primetime Emmy Awards in 2020, during her acceptance speech she encouraged people to use Ballotpedia to prepare for the upcoming election.{{cite news |last1=Salam |first1=Maya |title=This Year's Emmy Winners Want You to Vote |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/09/21/arts/television/emmys-politics-race-voting.html |access-date=30 September 2020 |work=The New York Times |date=21 September 2020 |archive-date=October 3, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201003231226/https://www.nytimes.com/2020/09/21/arts/television/emmys-politics-race-voting.html |url-status=live }}{{cite news |last1=Noveck|first1=Jocelyn |title=The 'Pandemmys' were weird and sometimes wonderful |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/the-pandemmys-were-weird-and-sometimes-wonderful/2020/09/21/def88bb2-fbd9-11ea-b0e4-350e4e60cc91_story.html |access-date=30 September 2020 |newspaper=Washington Post |date=September 21, 2020}}

Judgepedia was an online wiki-style encyclopedia covering the American legal system.{{cite news|title=Nonprofit Group Offers Free Judicial Profiles Online at Judgepedia.com|url=http://www.metnews.com/articles/2009/judg122109.htm|access-date=11 August 2014|publisher=Metropolitan News-Enterprise|date=2009-12-21|archive-date=March 4, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304031217/http://www.metnews.com/articles/2009/judg122109.htm|url-status=live}}{{cite news|last1=Ambrogi|first1=Robert|title=Crowdsourcing the Law: Trends and Other Innovations|url=http://www.osbar.org/publications/bulletin/10oct/legalonline.html|access-date=12 August 2014|work=Oregon State Bar Bulletin|publisher=Oregon State Bar|date=October 2010}} In 2015, all content from Judgepedia was merged into Ballotpedia.{{cite web|last1=Pallay|first1=Geoff|title=Ballotpedia to absorb Judgepedia|url=http://ballotpedia.org/Ballotpedia_to_absorb_Judgepedia|website=Ballotpedia|access-date=8 September 2015|archive-date=March 16, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150316053428/http://ballotpedia.org/Ballotpedia_to_absorb_Judgepedia|url-status=live}} It included a database of information on state and federal courts and judges.{{cite journal|last1=Peoples|first1=Lee|title=The Lawyer's Guide to Using and Citing Wikipedia|journal=Oklahoma Bar Journal|date=2010-11-06|volume=81|page=2438|url=http://jimcalloway.typepad.com/files/lawyers-guide-to-using-and-citing-wikipedia.peoples.oklabarj.pdf|access-date=11 August 2014|archive-date=March 4, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304135927/http://jimcalloway.typepad.com/files/lawyers-guide-to-using-and-citing-wikipedia.peoples.oklabarj.pdf|url-status=live}}{{cite journal|last1=Davey|first1=Chris|last2=Salaz|first2=Karen|title=Survey Looks at New Media and the Court|journal=Journal of the American Judicature Society|date=November–December 2010|volume=94|issue=3}}{{cite book|last1=Meckler|first1=Mark|title=Tea Party Patriots: The Second American Revolution|date=2012|publisher=Macmillan|isbn=978-0805094374|page=[https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780805094374/page/167 167]|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780805094374/page/167}}

According to its original website, the goal of Judgepedia was "to help readers discover and learn useful information about the court systems and judiciary in the United States."{{cite web|title=Judgepedia:About|url=http://judgepedia.org/Judgepedia:About|website=Judgepedia|publisher=Lucy Burns Institute|access-date=11 August 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140625170553/http://judgepedia.org/Judgepedia:About|archive-date=25 June 2014|url-status=dead}}

Judgepedia was sponsored by the Sam Adams Alliance in 2007, along with Ballotpedia and Sunshine Review.{{cite news|last1=Phillips|first1=Kate|title=The Sam Adams Project|url=http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/07/19/the-sam-adams-project/|access-date=11 August 2014|work=The New York Times|date=2008-07-19}} In 2009, sponsorship of Judgepedia was transferred to the Lucy Burns Institute, which merged Judgepedia into Ballotpedia in March 2015.

Judgepedia had a weekly publication titled Federal Courts, Empty Benches which tracked the vacancy rate for Article III federal judicial posts.{{cite news|title=Pennsylvania and Wisconsin Have Federal Courts with Highest Vacancy Rates; across Country, 9.9% of Federal Judicial Posts Are Vacant|url=http://judicialnominations.org/pennsylvania-and-wisconsin-have-federal-courts-with-highest-vacancy-rates-across-country-9-9-of-federal-judicial-posts-are-vacant|access-date=13 August 2014|publisher=Telecommunications Weekly}}

The Orange County Register noted Judgepedia's coverage of Courts of Appeal and the Supreme Court.{{cite news|last1=Seiler|first1=John|title=John Seiler: Appellate judges aplenty on ballot|url=http://www.ocregister.com/articles/court-272397-justices-justice.html|access-date=11 August 2014|publisher=Orange County Register|date=2010-10-22|archive-date=September 24, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924085057/http://www.ocregister.com/articles/court-272397-justices-justice.html|url-status=live}}

Judgepedia's profile of Elena Kagan was included in the Harvard Law School Library's guide to Kagan's Supreme Court nomination and the Law Library of Congress's guide to Kagan.{{cite web|title=Guide to the nomination of Elena Kagan to the Supreme Court of the United States|url=http://guides.library.harvard.edu/content.php?pid=113979&sid=986083|website=Harvard Law School Library|publisher=Harvard Law School|access-date=11 August 2014}}{{cite web|title=Elena Kagan|url=https://www.loc.gov/law/find/kagan.php|website=Law Library of Congress|publisher=Library of Congress|access-date=11 August 2014}}

In May 2018, in response to scrutiny over the misuse of Twitter by those seeking to maliciously influence elections, Twitter announced that it would partner with Ballotpedia to add special labels verifying the authenticity of political candidates running for election in the U.S.{{cite news|title=Twitter to add labels to U.S. political candidates|url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/twitter-to-add-labels-to-u-s-political-candidates/|access-date=May 23, 2018|publisher=CBS|date=May 23, 2018|archive-date=January 16, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210116005512/https://www.cbsnews.com/news/twitter-to-add-labels-to-u-s-political-candidates/|url-status=live}}{{cite news|last1=Scola|first1=Nancy|title=Twitter to verify election candidates in the midterms|url=https://www.politico.com/story/2018/05/23/twitter-verify-candidates-midterms-2018-1282802|access-date=May 23, 2018|publisher=Politico|date=May 23, 2018|archive-date=December 3, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201203110339/https://www.politico.com/story/2018/05/23/twitter-verify-candidates-midterms-2018-1282802|url-status=live}}

During the 2018 United States elections, Ballotpedia supplied Amazon Alexa with information on polling place locations and political candidates.{{cite news |last1=Malone Kircher |first1=Madison |title=Hey, Alexa, Who Is Winning the Election in New York? |url=http://nymag.com/intelligencer/2018/11/use-alexa-to-find-polling-place-and-election-data.html |access-date=19 December 2018 |publisher=New York Magazine |date=November 2, 2018 |archive-date=December 20, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181220231031/http://nymag.com/intelligencer/2018/11/use-alexa-to-find-polling-place-and-election-data.html |url-status=live }}

In 2018, Ballotpedia, ABC News, and FiveThirtyEight collected and analyzed data on candidates in Democratic Party primaries in order to determine which types of candidates Democratic primary voters were gravitating towards.{{cite news |last1=Conroy |first1=Meredith |last2=Nguyen |first2=Mai |last3=Rakich |first3=Nathaniel |title=We Researched Hundreds Of Races. Here's Who Democrats Are Nominating. |url=https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/democrats-primaries-candidates-demographics/ |access-date=19 December 2018 |publisher=FiveThirtyEight |date=August 10, 2018}}

In May 2024 Ballotpedia announced a partnership with Decision Desk HQ to provide real-time election results coverage for local elections in the United States.{{Cite web |title=Ballotpedia and Decision Desk HQ Partner To Offer Real-time Local Election Results Coverage {{!}} DDHQ |url=https://decisiondeskhq.com/news/ballotpedia-and-decision-desk-hq-partnership/ |access-date=2024-10-15 |website=decisiondeskhq.com |language=en-us}}

In 2012, Ballotpedia authored a study analyzing the quality of official state voter guides based on six criteria. According to the study, only nine states were rated "excellent" or "very good", while 24 states received a "fair" or "poor" rating.

In May 2014, the Center for American Progress used Ballotpedia data to analyze the immigration policy stances of Republican members of the U.S. House of Representatives.{{cite news|last1=Fernandez|first1=Henry|last2=Wolgin|first2=Philip|title=House Republicans Have Nothing to Fear from Supporting Immigration Reform|url=http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/immigration/news/2014/05/19/89901/house-republicans-have-nothing-to-fear-from-supporting-immigration-reform/|accessdate=10 August 2014|publisher=Center for American Progress|date=2014-05-19}}

Ballotpedia has highlighted the complex language used in various U.S. ballot measures. In 2017, with a sample of 27 issues from nine states, the group determined that, on average, ballot descriptions required a graduate-level education to understand the complex wording of issues, with the average American adult only reading at a 7th to 8th grade reading level. A Georgia State University analysis of 1,200 ballot measures over a decade showed that voters were more likely to skip complex issues altogether.{{Cite web|url=http://www.governing.com/topics/politics/gov-rhode-island-ballot-measures-language.html|title=Unless You Went to Grad School, You Probably Won't Understand What's on Your Ballot|last=Wogan|first=J.B.|date=2017-11-06|website=Governing|language=en|access-date=2018-10-22|archive-date=October 22, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181022073549/http://www.governing.com/topics/politics/gov-rhode-island-ballot-measures-language.html|url-status=live}} Some ballot language confuses potential voters with the use of double negatives. Several states require plain-language explanations of ballot wording.{{Cite news|url=https://www.sunjournal.com/2017/11/16/study-finds-complex-maine-ballot-questions-a-puzzle-even-for-college-graduates/|title=Study: Maine ballot questions too confusing even for college graduates|last=Collins|first=Steve|date=2017-11-16|work=Lewiston Sun Journal|access-date=2018-10-22|language=en-US|archive-date=November 10, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231110205302/https://www.sunjournal.com/2017/11/16/study-finds-complex-maine-ballot-questions-a-puzzle-even-for-college-graduates/|url-status=live}}

In 2015, Harvard University visiting scholar Carl Klarner conducted a study for Ballotpedia which found that state legislative elections have become less competitive over time, with 2014's elections being the least competitive elections in the past 40 years.{{cite news|last1=Wilson|first1=Reid|title=Study: State elections becoming less competitive|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/govbeat/wp/2015/05/07/study-state-elections-becoming-less-competitive/|access-date=14 May 2015|newspaper=Washington Post|date=May 7, 2015}}

Ballotpedia found that in 2020, fewer state legislative incumbents lost general election seats than in any other year in the previous decade, although incumbents were more vulnerable in primary elections in any year since 2012.{{cite news |last1=Epstein |first1=Reid J. |title=2020 was the safest year for state legislative incumbents in a decade, a study finds. |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/23/us/politics/2020-was-the-safest-year-for-state-legislative-incumbents-in-a-decade-a-study-finds.html |access-date=22 September 2021 |work=The New York Times |date=23 February 2021}}

A study by Ballotpedia indicated that 2022 midterm elections for congressional districts were demographically divided by income. Democrats typically won higher income households, while lower income, working class districts favored Republican candidates.{{Cite web |last=Allen |first=Mike |date=April 17, 2023 |title=Record number of Americans say they're politically independent |url=https://www.axios.com/2023/04/17/poll-americans-independent-republican-democrat |access-date=May 4, 2023 |website=Axios}}

In 2023, the New York Times used Ballotpedia as a source for its presidential campaign graph analysis.{{Cite news |last1=Gómez |first1=Martín González |last2=Astor |first2=Maggie |date=2023-02-22 |title=Who's Running for President in 2024? |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2023/us/politics/presidential-candidates-2024.html |access-date=2023-05-22 |issn=0362-4331}}

{{reflist}}

• {{official website|https://ballotpedia.org}}

{{Lucy Burns}}

Category:American online encyclopedias

Category:MediaWiki websites

Category:Wiki communities

Category:Wikis

Category:Non-profit organizations based in Wisconsin

Category:Election and voting-related organizations based in the United States

Category:Internet properties established in 2007

Category:2007 establishments in the United States