Transparency Statement
Candidate pages are editorially curated from publicly available information. They are not campaign pages and are not written, reviewed, or approved by candidates unless we clearly say so.
We include citations so voters can review information directly. Know My Ballot does not endorse candidates.
Campaign information changes. Review linked sources and official pages for updates.
How Profiles Are Built
Information comes from campaign websites, candidate statements, interviews, debates, government documents, public records, voting records, and news reporting.
We prioritize official records and direct candidate materials, then other reporting. If sources conflict, we note the disagreement.
Editorial Principles
Introduce, not persuade. We explain offices and candidate background without telling voters what to think.
Facts before conclusions. We describe experience, actions, positions, and records without endorsement language.
Plain English. We use clear language so all voters can follow.
Consistent standards, flexible structure. We apply the same editorial rules across every page, but not every page will look the same. Some offices are more visible, better documented, or more familiar to voters than others. Some candidates have a deeper public record, while others have less information available. A profile may be shorter or structured differently when reliable information is limited, and high-profile races often receive more rapid updates as new facts become available.
How District Lookup Works
Enter your home address or choose Use my location while at home. Location sharing is optional, and your browser asks for permission when you choose it. Your current location may not match your voting address if you are away from home.
Lookup requests pass through a Netlify function to the U.S. Census geocoder to identify county, congressional, and state legislative district labels. These district labels are saved in your browser and used to narrow the Ballot Overview and Step-by-Step Guide.
Alabama address suggestions appear after you pause typing at least four characters in the street field. Selecting one fills the address fields; check your house number, city, and ZIP before submitting. Suggestions are not district assignments. You can enter an address manually or use your location without selecting a suggestion.
District lookup can return labels across the U.S., but our candidate and race coverage currently focuses on Jefferson County, Alabama. County Commission matching uses a Jefferson County census-tract mapping and is an estimate, not an official precinct assignment.
A district match does not confirm voter registration or guarantee your exact ballot. Municipal, precinct, and school-board boundaries may affect which races apply.
Check your registration and polling place through the Alabama Secretary of State's voter portal. For official Jefferson County sample ballots and county election information, visit Jefferson County Elections.
Privacy & Data
Your ballot selections stay in this browser. No account is required. Your choices, guide progress, and district labels are saved here, not submitted as votes. The lookup feature saves district labels, not your full address or GPS coordinates, in browser storage.
If you use district lookup, your address or location is sent through Netlify to the U.S. Census geocoder to find your districts. Our geocoding function does not log addresses, GPS coordinates, or geocoder response contents; it keeps only status-based diagnostics.
While you type in the address field, address fragments and any entered city or ZIP are sent through Netlify to Geoapify for suggestions. The suggestion function does not log address text, results, or API keys, and responses are marked no-store. Address suggestions are not saved in browser storage. The provider and host may retain technical records under their own policies.
Lookup still requires sending information to these services. Hosting and geocoding providers may retain technical records under their own policies. Removing detailed logging does not erase any earlier hosting logs.
Optional Feedback Surveys
Optional feedback surveys submit your response and technical context, including the page URL, scroll depth, and a randomly generated browser identifier, to Netlify Forms. This is separate from your saved ballot choices.
Clear saved districts removes district filtering while keeping your ballot progress. Start Over on the Ballot Overview clears saved districts, selections, guide progress, and the saved county/category filters in this browser. Restart Guide in the guided flow resets guide progress while keeping saved districts. These controls do not delete hosting logs or previously submitted survey responses.
We are not affiliated with any government agency, campaign, political party, or data broker.
Corrections & Updates
If you spot an error, contact us and we will review and update the page as needed.
Questions, corrections, or feedback: info@knowmyballot.org
Progress is saved automatically in the guided flow.