Organization and History
Vote-USA.org was developed, maintained and is the sole endeavor of Vote USA Inc.
Vote USA Inc., established in 2004, is a Washington DC corporation with a 501(c)(3) IRS
non-profit, non-partisan, tax deductible classification.
Vote-USA.org began because in 2003, the founder of this project,
Ron Kahlow,
went to the polls to vote for the Virginia State Senate and State House offices. He found
that he didn’t have the slightest idea who any of the candidates were, or anything about
their positions and views, or any knowledge about the ballot measures. Some candidate
names, found on the clutter of street and lawn posters, seemed familiar. He questioned
the value of voting if voters knew nothing about who or what they were voting for.
This seemed like a major flaw in our representative democracy. To address the problem,
he launched Vote-USA.org. 2004 was the first year Vote-USA.org provided election coverage
on its website.
Since that time, Vote-USA.org has researched over 20,000 candidates and over 500 issues.
We have covered all general elections in all states and most off-year, special and primary
elections since 2004. We have provided voters with over 20 million candidate comparison pages.
In the elections of 2016 and 2018 we provided nearly 3 million voters with over
9 million pages of information.
Philosophy and Mission
We believe that American government should be “of the people, by the people, and for
the people” and that an informed electorate is essential for a thriving democracy.
We therefore seek to inform and educate voters by producing and posting comprehensive
non-partisan voter information covering national and state elections and some local
elections. Our funding limited the depth of candidate information which we have been
able to provide and the number of local elections which we have been able to cover.
Our Products
1. Information to Help You Vote More Informed:
After you enter your postal address, your specific office contests, candidates and
ballot measures are presented. Candidate comparisons make it easy
to compare choices. These candidate comparisons include pictures, bios, websites,
social media links, objectives, and positions on many issues. Our goal is to make the
delivery of our information effective and your learning experience satisfying.
All election contests and ballot measures on this site are obtained from various state and
local election authorities.
We invite every candidate to upload information to
promote his or her candidacy. For candidates who provide no information, we use volunteers
and interns to compile information from their websites, their social media, and other sources.
2. Your Current Elected Officials:
You can see your currently elected officials via a button on our home page, once your
postal address has been entered.
3. Historical Information and Reports:
By clicking the Historical Voter Information link, you can obtain
access to all our data from 2004 to the present.
We also offer special reports, such as all the contests in a particular state election
or all the Governor, US Senate or House contests in an election.
Staffing
We operate with a small number of full-time and part-time staff, volunteers and interns.
Funding
We are funded primarily through contributions from private citizens, typically
100% tax-deductible.