Vote Smart

Vote Smart: Free, Nonpartisan Candidate Information

Vote Smart provides factual, unbiased information on candidates and elected officials, including voting records, issue positions, campaign finances, public statements, biographies, and more to help voters make informed decisions.

What is Vote Smart?

Vote Smart is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization that aims to provide factual, unbiased information on political candidates and elected officials in the United States. It was founded in 1992 by Richard Kimball and operates a free website vote-smart.org along with a toll-free hotline.

The Vote Smart website contains in-depth information on tens of thousands of national, state, and local candidates and officials across the U.S. For each person profiled, Vote Smart provides their voting records, issue positions, campaign finances, public statements, biographical information, and more. Much of this information comes directly from the candidates themselves via the Vote Smart Political Courage Test.

In addition to candidate information, the Vote Smart website has features like a Voter's Self-Defense System to guide voters through making decisions and evaluating political claims. There is also coverage of key votes in Congress and state legislatures along with research on political issues in the news.

The goal of Vote Smart is to provide the detailed, factual information voters need to choose politicians who represent their interests and hold them accountable. With its nonpartisan approach focused strictly on the facts, Vote Smart aims to counter misleading attack ads and enable citizens to be informed participants in democracy.

Vote Smart Features

Official Links