We want you to do your best to be an informed voter and to share your research with your circle of friends, families and colleagues.
Find out who is running for office in your state
For federal information:
https://www.fec.gov/data/browse-data/?tab=candidates
For state/local information:
https://www.usa.gov/state-election-office
Candidate Research
Your goal is to ascertain if a candidate aligns with your values and goals. A given (D) (=democrat), (R) (=republican), or (I) (=independent), next to a candidate’s name can be misleading. Questions such as: Who is this person? Where do they stand on issues? What are their priorities, policy agreements? Are they trustworthy? What do they believe? What are their current and past statements, What have they done? What has been their voting record, legislation, and accomplishments? ARE IMPORTANT!
Guidance to help you answer such questions can be found by referring to our list of resources from our PART 1 video: Trust and Verify
Use a trusted online source; and don’t rely on AI driven search engines.
Fact checking, Bias Checking and AI detector Tools
Be alert to disinformation, misinformation, propaganda and AI generated content such as deepfakes. And be aware of writer bias. Trust and Verity.
All Side Bias Checker - “estimates the bias of any news article on demand”
https://www.allsides.com/bias-checker
UC Berkeley’s list of resources:
Real News/Fake News: Fact Checkers
https://guides.lib.berkeley.edu/c.php?g=620677&p=4333407For our PART 2 “FOLLOW THE MONEY” these resources will point you to where you can find donor information, endorsements and campaign finance information for federal candidates; we can agree is an important aspect of vetting a candidate. Look at the ratio of small-dollar individual donors to large corporate political action committees (PACs) or Super PACs. Financial info helps one see aligned interest groups, industries, or individuals a candidate may be indebted to once elected.
Examine campaign finance information for federal candidates:
Federal Election Commission: which maintains public records of donations, political action committee (PAC) contributions, and overall campaign expenditures for federal candidates. (State ethics commissions track similar data for local races.) Go here:
https://www.fec.gov/data/browse-data/?tab=candidates
Open Secrets: Has summaries of both federal and state-level campaign finance data, “The premier non-partisan database tracking the money behind American politics. It provides free, comprehensive profiles showing who funds individual political campaigns, political action committees (PACs), and lobbying activities.” https://www.opensecrets.org/
Here for those who want a deep dive is the entry point for OpenSecrets' vast archive of money-in-politics data, downloadable for educational use. Map it, mash it up and otherwise make use of this unparalleled online resource. (Just please credit OpenSecrets for the data.) https://www.opensecrets.org/open-data
TransparencyUSA: View their video: HOW TO: Compare the Money in Any State Election “An intro to our “Candidate Races” feature, which makes following the money in any state-level election cycle even easier.”
https://www.transparencyusa.org/videosOf special interest to many:
The Health Insurance Political Campaign Tracker “("the Tracker") is a project of the Center for Health and Democracy Education Fund, a nonpartisan, nonprofit.”
https://healthinsurancetracker.com/
The Barbara & Morris Pearl 527 Interactive Database
“Tracking under-the-radar corporate donors: 527 organizations are political nonprofits that raise and spend unlimited amounts of money to support parties and candidates for election. The six organizations included in this database are among the largest 527 groups. Unlike many other large 527s these groups collect a plurality of their funds from public companies. These funds are spent to ultimately benefit candidates running for election to state offices around the country.” Their Center for Political Accountability: https://www.politicalaccountability.net/527-database-spending/”
GoodsUniteUs: Answers one important question: “What are the politics of your favorite brands and companies? “We are a dedicated group of data analysts, researchers, and democracy advocates, bringing transparency, accuracy, and accountability to corporate political influence to give power back to everyday people.” https://www.goodsuniteus.com/
Quiverquant: Has a ‘Corporate Election Contributions Dashboard’. “Track campaign contributions made by publicly traded companies. This data includes contributions by company employees and political action committees (PACs) associated with companies.” https://www.quiverquant.com/election-contributions/
POGO: “The Project On Government Oversight (POGO) is a nonpartisan, independent watchdog that investigates, exposes, and champions reforms on systemic corruption, abuse of power, and waste.” https://www.pogo.org/Evaluate Endorsements Critically: Serves to understand a candidate’s underlying ideological leans and with whom the candidate is politically aligned with. Check which labor unions, business associations, advocacy groups, and local news editorial boards endorse the candidate and their backing organizations. Ask, do the groups align with your personal values?
VoteHub: tracks “...2026 endorsements nationwide, showing which candidates are gaining support from the most prominent political figures. See where influence is lining up across their map.” https://votehub.com/2026-endorsementsIn our PART 3 video, “Character Matters” we provide a listing of reminders to consider when choosing a candidate, focused on their behavior and communication. This current Administration teaches us lessons to remember.
Once you have voted; we thank you and congratulations!
However, VETTING CONTINUES! In what way?
Indivisible SF: One way is to join Indivisible SF. We work hard in holding our local, state and federal legislators accountable through various peaceful ways. Join us! We have work to do and could use your help! https://indivisiblesf.org/