30-583: Ballotpedia is a nonprofit and nonpartisan online political encyclopedia that covers federal, state, and local politics, elections, and public policy in the United States. The website was founded in 2007. Ballotpedia is sponsored by the Lucy Burns Institute, a nonprofit organization based in Middleton, Wisconsin . Originally a collaboratively edited wiki , Ballotpedia is now written and edited entirely by
60-404: 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. Some ballot language confuses potential voters with the use of double negatives. Several states require plain-language explanations of ballot wording. In 2015, Harvard University visiting scholar Carl Klarner conducted
90-480: A closer general election in California's 21st Congressional District for David Valadao who was beaten by Democrat T.J. Cox . During the 2022 United States elections , Decision Desk HQ provided election data to Nexstar Media Group owned media outlet NewsNation , ultimately calling control of Congress on November 15, 2022, 6:13 pm EST, a day before other media outlets. In November 2023 Decision Desk HQ announced
120-460: A paid professional staff. As of 2014, Ballotpedia employed 34 writers and researchers; it reported an editorial staff of over 50 in 2021. Ballotpedia's stated goal is "to inform people about politics by providing accurate and objective information about politics at all levels of government." The website "provides information on initiative supporters and opponents, financial reports, litigation news, status updates, poll numbers, and more." It originally
150-505: A partnership with Decision Desk HQ to provide real-time election results coverage for local elections in the United States. 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
180-404: A partnership with Nexstar Media Group owned The Hill for 2024 United States elections coverage. Decision Desk HQ reprised providing election data to NewsNation, and was the first to call the 2024 United States presidential election for Donald Trump. In May 2024 Decision Desk HQ announced a partnership with Ballotpedia to provide real-time election results coverage for local elections in
210-687: 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. 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. 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. In 2023,
240-637: A weekly publication titled Federal Courts, Empty Benches which tracked the vacancy rate for Article III federal judicial posts. The Orange County Register noted Judgepedia's coverage of Courts of Appeal and the Supreme Court. 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. In May 2018, in response to scrutiny over
270-533: Is a good example of a nonpartisan organization. The New York Times has at times listed the organization as being liberal , liberal-centrist, centrist , and conservative . In 2008, The New York Times published an article where it referred to the "conservative Brookings Institution". In the Progressive Era , the Nonpartisan League was an influential socialist political movement, especially in
300-532: Is an American website that focuses on reporting election results in the United States . The company's president is Drew McCoy. Decision Desk HQ uses an application programming interface (API) to get election results at the same time as they are published on websites provided by election officials. Decision Desk HQ , originally named Ace of Spades Decision Desk, was founded in 2012 by Brandon Finnigan as an alternative to what he deemed "slow" election calls by
330-470: The 72nd Primetime Emmy Awards in 2020, during her acceptance speech she encouraged people to use Ballotpedia to prepare for the upcoming election. Judgepedia was an online wiki -style encyclopedia covering the American legal system. In 2015, all content from Judgepedia was merged into Ballotpedia. It included a database of information on state and federal courts and judges. According to its original website,
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#1732858748923360-574: The Associated Press . It has called major races since the 2012 United States elections , and it first became known for calling the upset defeat of House Majority Leader Eric Cantor during his reelection bid to Virginia's 7th congressional district in 2014 . In 2020, Decision Desk HQ was considered one of nine "official sources" for election results by Twitter and provided election results to The Economist , Reuters , BuzzFeed , Vox , and Business Insider . Decision Desk HQ
390-525: The New York Times used Ballotpedia as a source for its presidential campaign graph analysis. Nonpartisanism Nonpartisanship , also known as nonpartisanism , is a lack of affiliation with, and a lack of bias towards, a political party . While an Oxford English Dictionary definition of partisan includes adherents of a party, cause, person, etc., in most cases, nonpartisan refers specifically to political party connections rather than being
420-838: The Upper Midwest , particularly during the 1910s and 1920s. It also contributed much to the ideology of the former Progressive Party of Canada . It went into decline and merged with the Democratic Party of North Dakota to form the North Dakota Democratic–;NPL Party in 1956. In the history of Milwaukee , the "Nonpartisans" were an unofficial but widely recognized coalition of Republicans and Democrats who cooperated in an effort to keep Milwaukee's Sewer Socialists out of as many offices as possible, including in elections which were officially non-partisan, but in which Socialists and "Nonpartisans" were clearly identified in
450-481: The ability for donors to take a tax deduction, they are required to remain nonpartisan. This has caused some to question the ability of organizations that have the appearance of partisanship. The Brookings Institution is a Washington, D.C. think tank and 501(c)(3) non-profit, nonpartisan organization. Since its founding in 1916, it has had both identifiable Republicans and Democrats among its leadership. Owing to leadership changes such as this, some argue that it
480-633: The election for Biden shortly after. Statistician Nate Silver praised Decision Desk HQ ' s call and hoped other sources would follow suit. In November 2021 Decision Desk HQ acquired election news site Elections-Daily.com. It also partnered with Europe Elects during the German and French elections of 2021 and 2022. It did call the Missouri Congressional District 1 Democratic primary wrong, when Cori Bush beat incumbent Lacy Clay by almost three points. Two years earlier, it miscalled
510-471: The election of judges. The unicameral Legislature of Nebraska is the only state legislature that is entirely officially nonpartisan; additionally, the bicameral Fono of American Samoa is the only territorial legislature that is officially nonpartisan. Although elections may be officially nonpartisan, in some elections (usually involving larger cities or counties, as well as the Nebraska unicameral)
540-513: The goal of Judgepedia was "to help readers discover and learn useful information about the court systems and judiciary in the United States." Judgepedia was sponsored by the Sam Adams Alliance in 2007, along with Ballotpedia and Sunshine Review . In 2009, sponsorship of Judgepedia was transferred to the Lucy Burns Institute, which merged Judgepedia into Ballotpedia in March 2015. Judgepedia had
570-490: The great majority of mail-in ballots from Pennsylvania were from heavily Democratic areas around Philadelphia and Pittsburgh . According to McCoy, Biden was winning the mail-in vote in those areas by a margin large enough to make his lead in the state insurmountable. By Decision Desk HQ ' s accounting, adding Pennsylvania to Biden's total gave Biden 273 electoral votes, three over the threshold to make him president-elect. Vox, who partnered with Decision Desk HQ, called
600-421: The immigration policy stances of Republican members of the U.S. House of Representatives. 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
630-658: 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. During the 2018 United States elections , Ballotpedia supplied Amazon Alexa with information on polling place locations and political candidates. 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. In May 2024 Ballotpedia announced
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#1732858748923660-589: The party affiliations of candidates are generally known, most commonly by the groups endorsing a particular candidate (e.g., a candidate endorsed by a labor union would be generally affiliated with the Democratic Party, while a candidate endorsed by a business coalition would be generally affiliated with the Republican Party). Churches and charities in the United States are mainly formed under US Internal Revenue Service tax code 501(c)(3) non-profit organization regulations. To maintain that tax-exempt status, and
690-517: The post-partisan style, and argues that "the antiparty current is by definition antidemocratic, as political parties have been the only reliable electoral vehicles for advancing the ideas and interests of ordinary voters". However, nonpartisan elections are quite common at the local level, primarily in an effort to keep national issues from being mixed up with local issues. Today, nonpartisan elections are generally held for municipal and county offices, especially school board , and are also common in
720-475: The press. (Such candidates were sometimes called "fusion" candidates. ) This lasted from the 1910s well into the 1940s. (The similar effort in 1888 to prevent Herman Kroeger 's election as a Union Labor candidate had been conducted under the banner of a temporary "Citizen's Party" label. ) During the period of Socialist- Progressive cooperation (1935–1941), the two sides were called "Progressives" and "Nonpartisans". Decision Desk HQ Decision Desk HQ
750-607: The strict antonym of "partisan". In Canada, the Legislative Assembly of the Northwest Territories and the Legislative Assembly of Nunavut are the only bodies at the provincial/territorial level that are currently nonpartisan; they operate on a consensus government system. The autonomous Nunatsiavut Assembly operates similarly on a sub-provincial level. In India , the Jaago Re! One Billion Votes campaign
780-446: Was a "community-contributed web site, modeled after Misplaced Pages " which is now edited by paid staff. It "contains volumes of information about initiatives, referenda, and recalls." Ballotpedia is sponsored by the Lucy Burns Institute (LBI), a nonprofit, nonpartisan educational organization. The organization reported revenue of $ 5.37 million in 2019. Tim Dunn is a member of the LBI board. LBI
810-515: Was a non-partisan campaign initiated by Tata Tea , and Janaagraha to encourage citizens to vote in the 2009 Indian general election . The campaign was a non-partisan campaign initiated by Anal Saha . Historian Sean Wilentz argues that from the days of George Washington's farewell address, to Senator Barack Obama's speech at the Democratic national convention in 2004, politicians have called upon Americans to move beyond parties. Wilentz calls this
840-692: Was founded in December 2006 by the group's current president, Leslie Graves . 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
870-473: Was the first major election reporting organization to call the 2020 United States presidential election for Joe Biden . The call was made shortly before 9 a.m. ET on Friday, November 6. It made this call after projecting that Biden's lead in outstanding mail-in ballots from Pennsylvania left incumbent Donald Trump with no realistic path to win Pennsylvania and its 20 electoral votes. McCoy told Vox that
900-420: Was transferred to the nonprofit Lucy Burns Institute, based in Middleton, Wisconsin . On July 9, 2013, Sunshine Review was acquired by the Lucy Burns Institute and merged into Ballotpedia. 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
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