About Us

Description

BallotWise is a website and civic engagement tool designed to empower undecided voters by helping users create a personalized voting guide, based on the voting records of the candidates on their ballots.

Mission

BallotWise is dedicated to transforming democracy by unveiling the voting records of candidates on pivotal legislation across all levels of government. Our mission is to enhance transparency, foster accountability, and ignite civic discourse. By empowering citizens with comprehensive legislative insights, we contribute to a more informed electorate, ensuring that elected officials genuinely represent the needs and values of their constituents. Civic engagement is crucial for a vibrant democracy, driving social change, and holding leaders accountable. BallotWise equips users with the tools to harness their knowledge, develop a concrete voting plan, and turn their informed choices into impactful action at the polls.

Features

Curated Voting Records: Based on their geographic location, users can view their sample ballot. For races from President to State Legislature, the website provides the candidates’ voting record on the 10 political issues that the New York Times/Siena Poll reports are front and center this election cycle.

Personalized Voting Guides: Users can mark specific votes as important, select preferred candidates, and compile a personalized voting guide.

Shareable Content: Users can share their voting guides, selected candidates, and key votes with anyone, increasing civic discourse, as well as website traffic. 

Voting Plan Creation: Utilizing the Google Civic API, our platform helps users create a personalized voting plan, including polling locations and times.

Team

The BallotWise team consists of current students and recent graduates from Harvard, MIT, Carnegie Mellon, NYU, Vanderbilt, University of Maryland, University of North Florida, University of Michigan, and Georgetown.

Lauren Perl, Co-Executive Director

Logan Delavan-Hoover, Co-Executive Director