Local government editorial approach
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| Ballotpedia's editorial approach documents |
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| Federal government |
| State government |
| Local government |
| Public Policy |
| Influencers |
| Fact check |
| Elections |
| Editorial independence |
Ballotpedia's local government coverage aims to cover local politics throughout the United States.
Local government and elections often receive only the most threadbare and perfunctory media coverage, despite the decisions of local officials often having the most significant day-to-day impact on citizens of any level of government.
In addition to curating the limited amount of existing information about local government, we aspire to do the following:
- Conduct direct surveys of local candidates and public officials
- Research city councils and school boards to find out their governing majorities
- Determine what would be the impact of different electoral outcomes in each community
- Produce unique and unprecedented statistical analysis at the local level
Our editorial approach is to identify and fill gaps in existing coverage of local politics across the United States, to the extent that our resources allow. This requires prioritization of larger municipalities and hot-button political topics. Over time, we intend to expand the breadth and depth of our coverage scope.
Our mission is to equalize and elevate coverage of local politics, ensuring readers have access to neutral and comprehensive information about the elected officials closest to home.
Coverage areas
- Municipal Government
- Comprehensive ballot coverage for municipal elections in the top 100 U.S. cities by population, including races for the large counties that overlap them
- School Boards and School Board Elections
- Top 200 largest U.S. school districts by enrollment and all school districts overlapping the top 100 cities by population
- Local Courts
- Local trial courts with jurisdictions overlapping the top 100 cities by population
- Local Ballot Measures
- All local ballot measures in California, as well as a selection of notable measures from other states and ballot measures within the top 100 cities by population and state capitals
- Ballot Measure Law
- Recalls
Expanded local coverage
Ballotpedia is currently expanding its local election coverage on a state-by-state basis to provide information on the more than 500,000 local elected offices nationwide. This expansion included 18,974 elections in 2022, 12,624 in 2023 and 37,036 in 2024 with a goal of 30,000 in 2025.
This expanded coverage of local elections beyond the scope described above includes:
- Election dates
- Office names
- Lists of candidates
- Additional information as available
This expanded coverage does not include election results unless otherwise specified. Additionally, this expanded coverage does not follow candidates after the election as officeholders and instead focuses on providing information to voters about the candidates on their ballots.
You can use Ballotpedia's sample ballot tool to see what local elections we are covering in your area.
Contact information
For questions about our editorial approach or coverage areas, please contact editor@ballotpedia.org.
See also
- Ballotpedia:Index of Contents
- Local Politics
- Federal government editorial approach
- State government editorial approach
- Public Policy editorial approach
- Influencers editorial approach
- Fact check editorial approach
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