Open by design.
VoteMate is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit. We believe voters deserve to know exactly how this tool works, who built it, and how it's funded. Here's everything.
Responsible AI.
At VoteMate, responsible AI isn't a checkbox — it's how we build. As a 501(c)(3) civic technology nonprofit, we hold ourselves to a higher standard: one that puts voter trust, democratic integrity, and transparency at the center of every design decision. Our approach is formalized through a Responsible AI Impact Assessment, developed in partnership with Microsoft and reviewed by our Chief Responsible AI Officer.
Our Principles
Every AI system we build is governed by six core pillars drawn from the Responsible AI Standard:
Accountability
VoteMate's AI is built with clear ownership. Our engineering, data, and leadership teams each have defined roles for monitoring, correcting, and improving the system — and those responsibilities are documented, not assumed.
Reliability & Safety
Our AI is designed to fail gracefully. We prioritize accuracy in ballot and election information above all else, build in redundant data verification, and continuously monitor model behavior. We'd rather tell you we don't know than tell you something wrong.
Fairness
Every candidate, party, and issue is treated with the same format, depth, and tone. Our editorial standards apply equally across the political spectrum — and we test for that consistently.
Inclusiveness
VoteMate is designed to work for everyone. Our visualizations are built for screen readers. We're actively expanding language support beyond English. We take seriously the access gap that can exist when civic information is hard to reach.
Transparency
When AI-sourced information appears in your experience, it's labeled. When news sources are referenced, they're visually distinguished from our core civic data. You always know where information is coming from.
Privacy & Security
Your values are yours. We store only what's necessary, protect it with enterprise-grade encryption, and never build a data profile of your political beliefs.
Where the data comes from
VoteMate's AI is grounded exclusively in nonpartisan, verified civic data — sourced through Democracy Works and Ballotpedia, as well as official government records, verified campaign platforms, and first-party nonprofit research. We do not use social media, partisan news outlets, or user-generated content as inputs. When real-time sources are referenced to reflect updates like a candidate dropping out, they are visually marked and distinguished from our core data — so you always know the difference.
Your ballot experience is personalized by the address you provide — nothing more. We don't track browsing behavior, build advertising profiles, or infer your political preferences.
How the AI processes it
Our AI summarizes and structures official source material to make complex ballot information readable. It does not generate opinions, make endorsements, or infer candidate positions beyond what has been publicly stated. All outputs are grounded in cited source documents, and candidate stances include direct links so you can verify the original source yourself.
When you explore alignment between your values and candidates on your ballot, the system counts the topics you've discussed and matches them against documented candidate positions. The result is your personalized sample ballot — a reflection of your conversation, not a prescription from us. This is not a vote. It's a tool to help you decide.
How we prevent bias
Every AI response is subject to our nonpartisan editorial policy. We apply equal treatment across all candidates and parties — same format, same depth, same tone. No candidate receives preferential sourcing or summarization.
Alex Saxerud, our co-founder and Chief Responsible AI Officer, continuously assesses our responsible AI practices to ensure we're aligned with the latest standards and best practices — and is personally accountable for ensuring the system holds to these standards.
We actively red team the system — stress-testing it against prompt injection, adversarial inputs, and scenarios designed to elicit biased or misleading outputs. We use Azure AI Foundry's built-in content safety tools and enforce strict guardrails to keep VoteMate focused on its purpose: helping voters, not influencing them.
Built on certified infrastructure
VoteMate runs on Microsoft Azure, which has received ISO/IEC 42001:2023 certification — the internationally recognized Artificial Intelligence Management System (AIMS) standard for developing, deploying, and using AI responsibly. It's the only certifiable and auditable standard that allows organizations to demonstrate their ability to effectively manage risks across the AI lifecycle.
Building on this infrastructure means VoteMate inherits a foundation that has been independently verified against the highest available standard for responsible AI. As ISO 42001 adoption grows — now required by 28% of organizations from their suppliers, up from under 1% in 2024 — we're proud to build on infrastructure that meets that bar.
Data privacy practices.
We don't sell your data
Full stop. VoteMate is a nonprofit. We have no advertising business model and no incentive to monetize your personal information.
Anonymous by default
You can use VoteMate without creating an account. When you do, no personally identifiable information is collected or stored.
Minimal data collection
When you create an account, we collect only what's necessary — your email and zip code — to personalize your ballot. We don't track browsing behavior or build profiles.
Full privacy policy
Our complete privacy policy is publicly available and written in plain English — not legalese. We update it whenever our practices change and notify users proactively.
How we're funded.
VoteMate is funded entirely through charitable contributions. We are a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit — donations are tax-deductible and our financials are publicly filed.
Small-dollar contributions from voters across the country
Nonpartisan civic tech and democracy-focused foundations
Mission-aligned companies with no editorial influence
Our funding principles
No political party, PAC, or candidate has ever contributed to VoteMate.
No donor receives editorial influence over our content or AI outputs.
Donors above $5,000 are disclosed in our annual 990 filing.
We do not accept funding from foreign governments or entities.
Who's behind VoteMate.
Real people with real names and real accountability. No anonymous operators, no hidden backers.
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