How we score
Every candidate page has a plan check. These are the exact rules behind it. Every candidate in a race gets the same rules, read the same way. If you think we applied one unevenly, tell us the page and the line.
What we read
- Their own campaign website. We score the issues the candidate lists there, in their own words.
- One issue = one heading. Each issue the site lists counts as one. If an issue page breaks into its own separate headings, each of those counts as one.
- Linked plan documents count. If their site links to a plan, a PDF or a pledge, we read it and credit it to the issue it covers. A line can count toward more than one issue only if it plainly fits each one.
- What we don't score (yet): ads, speeches, debates, interviews and news coverage. Those can say different things on different days. The website is the version the candidate stands behind.
The six checks
For each issue, we ask six yes-or-no questions, in order. Each one asks for a little more than the last. An issue earns a check only if the words are on the page.
1Names a policy
A concrete policy, bill, program or vote, not just a goal. "Lower costs" is where you want to end up. A policy is what you'd actually push for. This is the first step, and most candidates clear it. The next check is where the real gap shows.
Counts- "Pass a federal voter ID law"
- "Expand Medicaid in South Carolina"
- "Ban stock trading by members of Congress"
Doesn't count- "Secure the border"
- "Make health care affordable"
- "Fix our roads"
2Says how they'd do it
Naming a policy isn't a plan. "Pass voter ID" or "expand Medicaid" passes check 1. It tells you what they want, not how they'd get it done. This check needs their own words to spell out how it would work: what the law or program would actually do, who it covers, or the specific steps to make it happen. A one-line policy name doesn't count, even one that sounds specific, like "ban stock trading by members of Congress." The details behind it have to be on the page.
Counts- "Require a photo ID to vote, with free state IDs at any DMV office"
- "Expand Medicaid to adults earning up to 138% of the poverty line, using the federal match the state turns down today"
- "Require every employer to check new hires through E-Verify"
Doesn't count- "Pass a federal voter ID law"
- "Expand Medicaid in South Carolina"
- "Secure the border"
- "Make health care affordable"
3Includes a number or target
A figure about the future that you could measure later: a dollar amount, a percentage, a count. A number about the past, like their own record or a statistic about the problem, doesn't count here.
Counts- "Cap the rate at 35%"
- "Hire 500 more officers"
Doesn't count- "Thousands of families are struggling"
- "I cut the budget by $2 million" (that's a record, check 6)
4Says how it's paid for
What it costs, or where the money comes from: a specific amount, a named funding source or a named cut that covers it.
Counts- "Paid for with existing federal funds under [named program]"
- "Costs $40 million a year, covered by ending [named program]"
Doesn't count- "Root out waste and fraud" with no amount
- "Make it affordable"
5Gives a timeline
A date, a deadline or a length of time tied to the action.
Counts- "In my first 100 days"
- "A two-year pause"
- "By 2030"
Doesn't count- "Right away"
- "As soon as possible"
6Points to a record
Something the candidate already did on that same issue: a vote they cast, a law they passed, a program they ran or a policy they set. Their job title or life story alone doesn't count, and neither does pointing to laws other people passed.
Counts- "I voted for the 2024 road funding bill"
- "As county council chair, I set up the drainage fund"
Doesn't count- "As a doctor, I know health care"
- "I served 30 years in the military" on an issue they didn't act on
The examples above are made up to show the rule. They aren't quotes from any candidate.
Tie-breakers
- When in doubt, no. If it takes a generous reading to give the check, we don't give it. Same for everyone.
- If we can't read it, it doesn't count. A plan posted only as an image, a broken link or a file with no readable text gets no credit. We say so on the candidate's page so you can check it yourself.
- Same check, same day. Every candidate in a race is read on the same date. The date is on the page. Sites change, so we re-check when they do.
- We keep the evidence. Every check we give is tied to the exact words on the candidate's site.
What the score isn't
- It's not a grade. We don't score whether an idea is good, popular or likely to pass.
- Watch the drop-off. Compare check 1 to check 2. The gap between naming a policy and saying how you'd do it is the point of this page, for every candidate in every party.
- It's not a ranking. More checks means a more detailed website. It doesn't mean a better candidate.
- It's not the whole picture. A candidate can have a plan they talk about in person and never post. We only count what's written down where anyone can read it.
Other words on our pages
- Ballot wording
- The question exactly as printed on the ballot, quoted word for word with a link to the official source.
- In plain English
- Our rewrite of the ballot question so a regular person can follow it. It never replaces the real wording, which always sits right next to it.
- Supporters / opponents (or the left / the right)
- The strongest arguments from each side, quoted from its own people. We keep both sides close to the same length and show the word count.
- The middle
- Three lists built from sources: where the sides agree, what's actually being decided and what each side leaves out. It's not our opinion of who's right.
- Unofficial / certified
- Election night counts are unofficial. Results become final when the election board certifies them, usually within days. We update the page when that happens.
- Precincts counted
- How many voting locations have reported out of the total. Until they're all in, a close result can still change.
- Footnote numbers
- Each small number points to a source at the bottom of the page. If a claim has no source, it doesn't go on the page.
- Corrections
- When we get something wrong, we fix it and log the date, the page and what changed on How we work.
Think we scored it wrong?
Email [email protected] with the page, the candidate and the check. If we missed something on their site, we add it and log the fix.