About and methods

Every fact comes from an official source or a group's own published guide, and was checked by automated review, not by a person. For your official ballot, use the LA County sample ballot lookup.

Who runs BallotInBrief

BallotInBrief is an independent, free guide built by Harrison Phelps. It is not affiliated with any government agency, party, campaign, or group. It never tells anyone how to vote.

Where the facts come from

We keep a dated text copy of every source we use. Contests are listed in the usual California ballot order. Your printed ballot may group them a little differently.

How we find your ballot

We send the address you type to the US Census Bureau's free address service, which returns your congressional and state legislative districts. We match the location to official LA County maps for your City Council, Supervisorial, Board of Equalization, and school districts. We do not store your address, write it to any log, or put it in a web address. Only district numbers appear in the address bar.

As you type, we suggest addresses from LA County's official address list for the City of Los Angeles. To do that, your browser only asks our site for streets that start with the letters you typed. Your house number stays on your device. If you pick a suggestion, we send the Census Bureau only that address's map point, not the address.

Some addresses, like college campuses or new buildings, are not in the Census Bureau's list. If yours isn't found, use the LA County sample ballot lookup.

Your choices

The "My choice" column lets you note how you plan to vote and print your list. Your choices are saved only in this browser on this device. We never see them, and they are never sent anywhere. BallotInBrief never suggests a choice.

Who we include

We include a group if it meets three tests. It fits one of six categories: political parties, news outlets, labor organizations, business organizations, civic and good-government groups, and issue and advocacy groups. It works in California or the Los Angeles area. And it has published positions for the Nov 3, 2026 election on its own website or in its own publication. We use the same tests for every group and log each addition with the date and the source.

Two kinds of groups are listed even if they have not published positions. First, all six parties on the California ballot, plus the LA County branches of parties that published their own guide. Second, a few local groups voters often ask about: a local party club, a police union, and a countywide business group. For these, we say we found no published guide, and we check again every day.

When we checked, these news outlets had published endorsements for the Nov 3, 2026 election: Knock LA, La Opinión, Los Angeles Daily News, Los Angeles Sentinel, Los Angeles Times. The Los Angeles Times had published one, on Prop 40. Know of another? Suggest a group.

We show who signed the official arguments for and against each measure, from the official voter guides. We don't include individual elected officials, candidates, campaign committees, or organizations whose only published positions are paid advertisements.

Label definitions

Yes / No
The group's published guide says to vote Yes or No on the measure.
Neutral
The group's guide lists the measure but says it takes no side.
Endorses
The group endorses this candidate.
Recommends
The group says it recommends this candidate without a formal endorsement.
No endorsement
The group's guide lists the contest but does not endorse anyone in it.
No position
We read the group's published guide (or, if it published none, its site) and found no position of theirs on this contest.
Not checked yet
Shown only for measures you add from other ballots. We only check groups' positions on City of Los Angeles ballots for now.
Colors
Colors only help you scan. They show a group's position, not whether it is good or bad. Every color always comes with its word.

How positions are recorded

We record what the organization published, in its own words, with a link and the date we checked. "No position" means we read their published guide (or, if they published none, their site) and found no position of theirs on the contest. We have checked every group on every contest on your ballot. For candidate races we show the name a group endorsed, or "Recommends" when the group says it recommends a candidate without a formal endorsement. "Neutral" means the group's guide lists the measure but says it takes no side.

Quotes are each group's own words, copied exactly. Some groups explain their reasons in strong terms. We do not shorten or soften them, and we apply the same rule to every group. When a guide shows its position only as a graphic, we quote its written explanation instead.

For state propositions, we show the official arguments for and against, and the replies to each, word for word from the state voter guide. County and City arguments are only published as PDFs, so we list who signed them and link to the PDF.

How we check the data

Every quote, signer, ballot label, and candidate name is checked by a computer against our saved copy of the source, word for word. Every position is then checked by three separate AI reviewers, and any disagreement goes to a fourth, stronger reviewer. Every group's guide is downloaded again to catch changes. Every summary is checked sentence by sentence against the official analysis, and read once from each side to catch slanted wording. Items that pass every check are approved for display. A person has not yet reviewed each item. The full record of every check is kept with the data.

Neutrality rules

How we use AI

AI helps draft the plain-English summaries from the official analysis, collect group positions, and check our work. Official facts (ballot text, candidates, dates) come from the official records, never from AI. AI-drafted summaries are labeled on each measure page.

Your privacy

Your street address is never stored, logged, or put in a web address. The groups you pick are saved only on your own device. If you send a suggestion, we keep what you write, and your email only if you give it, so we can review the suggestion and reply.

Corrections and suggestions

See something wrong or missing? Submit a suggestion. We review every one and list changes on the Corrections page.

Credits

Official sources from the California Secretary of State, the LA County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk, LA County Counsel, and the Los Angeles City Clerk. Address lookup by the US Census Bureau Geocoder. District maps from LA County GIS and the Statewide Database.

Submit a suggestion

Suggest a group to add, a measure we are missing, or a correction. We read every one.

What are you suggesting?