Who runs The Ballot Brief.
The Ballot Brief is an independent, nonpartisan 2026 voting resource covering federal, statewide and tracked local elections across all 50 states. It does not endorse candidates.
The site was founded by Ben Torres Ezrick, a former Google and Zoom executive based in Miami Beach, Florida.
The Ballot Brief exists so that voters can go into the booth knowing more than the top of the ballot. For the races it covers, from a state legislative seat to a nonpartisan Soil and Water Conservation District board, it shows the candidates, what they say they stand for, and links to go further. It gathers what it can find on each candidate from their own published material, and when it finds nothing, it says so.
How candidate information is compiled.
The names come from government sources. Candidate lists start from the lists that state and county election offices publish, which decide who is actually on a ballot, and after a primary we narrow them from official results. Where an election office had not posted a usable list, we used local press reports as a stopgap, and we flag those records for re-verification when an official list becomes available.
To provide the most reliable information on each candidate's priorities and background, we source it directly from them: the candidate's own campaign website, or the candidate's own words in an official voter pamphlet or a published candidate questionnaire. AI tools summarize it for ease of use, and the profile links to the direct source. In races where little is published, we may use a local news report and cite it.
For members of Congress on the ballot we also show selected votes in office. These are not summaries: each one is a recorded roll-call vote from the official House and Senate records, with the bill named. Campaign finance figures, where shown, are generally drawn from official disclosures.
Automated checks run before each update, but no one reads every profile before it goes live, so errors can get through. There is also human review for a subset of content. When readers or campaigns point out an error, we fix it. We encourage voters to cross-check what they find here against government and other sources.
Ballot measures
For each statewide measure we give a plain-language summary and what a yes or no vote means, with a link to the official text. Read the official ballot language before you vote.
Finding your ballot
A full street address lets us identify the districts for your location using U.S. Census Bureau address and district data. A ZIP code search is less precise and may leave out state legislative and local races. Where we have a county's district maps, we use them to narrow the races shown. Where we do not, you may need to pick your district using your official sample ballot or voter registration card, and the page asks you to. If we cannot place your street, the page says so. The Ballot Brief is an informational guide, not an official sample ballot.
When nothing verifiable exists
When our search does not find a campaign website for a candidate, the profile says so and gives the date of the search. That is a statement about our search, not proof that no site exists.
County and race pages link to the official election office for their state.
Corrections and contact.
Candidates, campaigns and readers who spot an error can write in through the contact page. Corrections are made to the live page. Ballot status facts, such as a withdrawal or a suspended campaign, follow the relevant election office's list.
The Ballot Brief also offers a free, embeddable ballot lookup widget for newsrooms, libraries and civic organizations. Details are on the widget page.
Where we're based.
The Ballot Brief is based in Miami Beach, Florida.