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Life as a Ballotpedian
Ballotpedia staff are highly talented, creative problem solvers who foster a culture of collaboration, innovation, and mutual respect. We believe that a creative and respectful culture, embraced by everyone in the workplace, promotes effective problem-solving and continuous improvement.
We work together every day to solve the political information problem and deliver factual information on elections at every level of government in the United States. Ballotpedia envisions an America where everyone has equal access to accurate information about politics, elections, and policy.
But we aren’t your typical nonprofit organization, and here’s why.
Why we love working at Ballotpedia
We asked our staff, “Why do you love working at Ballotpedia?” Here’s what they had to say:
Life at Ballotpedia in practice
How our culture shows up day to day—flexibility, tools, learning, community, celebration.
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Flexible Working Environment
Our flexible working environment, BP Flex, allows Ballotpedians to set flexible schedules and have substantial autonomy over their time as long as they meet the responsibilities and expectations of their roles and their teams' shared goals. Since Ballotpedia does not have a physical workplace, all team members work comfortably from home (many alongside their families and pets) across the country and numerous time zones. Most teams have the chance to meet in person about once per year. Some roles may require more frequent travel.
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Effective Technology
While physically separated, we lean into technology to communicate and collaborate regularly. To support our remote work, Ballotpedia staff collaborate on several technology and communication platforms, such as Google Suite (for email, document creation/sharing, and meeting scheduling/participation), Asana (for project management and task sharing), and Slack (for collaborative messaging and team communication), just to name a few.
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Learning & Professional Development
At Ballotpedia, we are hungry to learn about new things, whether a new political topic, policy area, or professional skill, to help us better our daily work and achieve our important mission. Ballotpedia offers its staff numerous opportunities to learn from one another, including but not limited to:
- Management training sessions to learn about improving our people and project management abilities
- Innovation Hours where staff showcase how their new ideas improved our workflows or products
- Master Classes for our content teams to receive real-time, in-depth feedback on their writing and more!
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Community
As a fully remote company, we work hard to maintain a culture of involvement. We have a number of Slack channels dedicated to fostering community and connection in which staff share stories and photos of their children, pets, hobbies, and other interests. These channels are a great way for us to build relationships with our colleagues beyond our shared work in a fully remote environment. On our various communication platforms (especially Slack), staff enjoy sharing recipes, movies, television, book recommendations, and even building collaborative playlists for Election Week or our best hits for the Summer.
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Celebratory Culture
At Ballotpedia, we celebrate one another, our accomplishments, and our milestones. Staff receive special shout-outs in our all-staff weekly update email for birthdays, work anniversaries, and other important events, amongst other forms of recognition!
Our Story
From a handful of volunteers researching local ballot measures to an 80+ person nationwide organization, Ballotpedia has become a beacon of trust for millions of voters.
Our journey, which began in Madison, Wisconsin, more than 15 years ago, has been marked by significant milestones.
Since 2007, we’ve authored over half a million articles, garnered over one billion lifetime pageviews, and assembled a team of passionate and driven individuals who live and work across the country.
Neutral. Unbiased. Non-partisan. Trusted.
At Ballotpedia, we are committed to meeting our readers where they are. We strive to provide them with relevant, reliable, and accessible curated content on all aspects of U.S. politics, maintaining our steadfast commitment to neutrality and non-partisanship.
We envision an America where every person, regardless of their location, has equal access to accurate information about politics, elections, and policy. We are working tirelessly to make this vision a reality so that one day, you can visit Ballotpedia.org and find comprehensive and robust information about everything and everyone on your ballot, from the White House to your local government.
Learn more about Ballotpedia and our mission here.
Join us on our careers page to contribute to our vital mission and make a difference in supporting American democracy.
Growth milestones
A quick timeline of major moments in Ballotpedia’s growth. View full infographic.
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2007
Ballotpedia launches with a focus on local ballot measures—volunteer-powered beginnings.
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2010
Coverage expands to include state-level elections and key judicial content.
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2016
Major traffic milestone reached as national election interest surges; infrastructure scales.
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2020
Remote-first operations fully embraced; editorial and data teams broaden nationwide.
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2023
Surpasses one billion lifetime pageviews—continuing to build trusted voter information.
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Today
80+ team members working to cover every election in America—mission accelerating.
2007
Ballotpedia launches with a focus on local ballot measures—volunteer-powered beginnings.
2010
Coverage expands to include state-level elections and key judicial content.
2016
Major traffic milestone reached as national election interest surges; infrastructure scales.
2020
Remote-first operations fully embraced; editorial and data teams broaden nationwide.
2023
Surpasses one billion lifetime pageviews—continuing to build trusted voter information.
Today
80+ team members working to cover every election in America—mission accelerating.
Our Values
Our work makes a meaningful difference in the lives of people around the country.
While politics and campaigns have become increasingly unpleasant, if not downright mean, at Ballotpedia, we’re drawn to what’s good, important, and even inspiring in politics. We help people from all walks of life maintain their hope that they can make our country and the world a better place through their engagement in the electoral process. We owe it to them to be at the top of our game and to produce the best work possible.
At Ballotpedia, we lean into that challenge.
We work together best and succeed for our readers by exemplifying the values described below.
We foster collaboration, innovation, and mutual respect
A creative and respectful culture, embraced by everyone in the workplace, promotes effective problem-solving and continuous improvement.
Striving to “make it better,” we champion innovation and invention. We show appreciation to the people we collaborate with (coworkers, managers, donors, readers, clients, and customers alike) and take pleasure in supporting and recognizing each other’s growth and achievements.
Our individual actions have the power to motivate and galvanize each other and the entire organization. And that puts the wind beneath our wings as we achieve the vexing but exhilarating mission of making it easier for people to understand and meaningfully engage in politics at all levels.
At Ballotpedia, we value:
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Being mission driven
We are laser-focused on our role in closing the ballot information gap and providing Americans with accessible, accurate, relevant, and reliable information about politics, elections, and public policy.
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Hungry, humble, and smart interactions
We collaborate with respect and kindness to achieve our shared goals.
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An innovative mentality
We push boundaries, overcome challenges, and achieve success by implementing breakthrough ideas. We are creative problem solvers.
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Structure-first approaches
We work through challenges and identify opportunities by focusing on the underlying systems and structures that support them.
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Putting ourselves in others’ shoes
We put ourselves in the shoes of others, including our readers, donors, customers, and colleagues.
Recognizing our core values in action
Each Ballotpedian works hard to exemplify these values in their daily work and interactions with not just one another but also our readers, audiences, donors, partners, and customers.
We regularly celebrate teammates’ successes and acknowledge when someone has gone above and beyond to help another team member or customer. To do this, we distribute various staff-nominated awards throughout the year to exemplary team members who embody our values in their everyday actions, including but not limited to:
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Our “Employee of the Week” recognition for someone who goes above and beyond to fulfill the mission or help teammates in a time of need.
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Rewards a structure-first approach: improving processes, documenting workflows, or creating invaluable tracking systems.
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Recognizes a reader- and customer-centric approach that anticipates, meets, and exceeds the needs of our audiences.
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Honors exceptional commitment and impact advancing our goal of trustworthy, accessible, unbiased political information.
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Celebrates those who foster collaboration, respect, and kindness—showcasing humility and thoughtfulness that strengthen Ballotpedia.
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Recognizes individuals who push boundaries, embrace new ideas, and continuously seek to improve and “make it better.”
Our Teams
Ballotpedia has five core departments that work collaboratively to achieve Ballotpedia’s mission. Click through to read more about your team of choice and why our staff love working at Ballotpedia.
Communications
Our Communications team is organized around key channels and Ballotpedia's growth pillars, focusing on paid, earned, shared, and owned (PESO) media. Each team member specializes in one of these channels, becoming an expert in determining the best ways to deliver our content and products to our external readers and customers. By leveraging their expertise, our team ensures effective communication that aligns with and propels our mission and growth strategies.
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Abigail Campbell
I love the mixture of individual work and collaboration. I have a supportive team lead and wonderful co-workers.
Content
Our Content department is Ballotpedia’s largest department, comprised primarily of Staff Writers and Researchers, led by Managing Editors and Team Leads, who focus on researching, developing, writing, and publishing important content about U.S. elections and politics on Ballotpedia.org. The Editorial Content department also curates the content for our many subscriber newsletters, contributes to Ballotpedia’s legislation tracker products, manages our volunteer and fellowship programs, and produces our podcast, On the Ballot. There are seven core teams within the department:
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Ballot Measures Team
Ballot Measures team Staff Writers research, analyze, and write about current statewide ballot measures, certain local ballot measures, historical ballot measures, and the laws governing ballot measures, Ballotpedia’s first content area. -
Elections Team
The Elections Team researches, curates, and presents the basic facts and data about tens of thousands of races and candidates in every two-year election cycle, with primaries and local elections happening somewhere every month of every year. This includes conducting extensive research, direct outreach to external sources, data entry, data analysis, writing, and content creation. -
Events Team
The Events Team researches and provides information on elections and the candidates running in them, which helps readers understand individual political stakes and their place in a broader national context. This coverage extends into policy areas, including redistricting, the federal government, and key votes in Congress. This team is also responsible for producing the Brew, Ballotpedia's daily newsletter. -
Law Team
The Law Team is responsible for becoming experts in the policies, stories, and conflicts that matter most to voters, constituents, and the public at large, including election administration. We are responsible for neutrally presenting the most important facts and news updates about these stories. We focus on the stories that matter most to the administration of elections in the U.S., and therefore may have a great effect on the balance of power and political outcomes in the country. We cover stories and policies at all levels of government, from federal to local. -
Local Expansion Team
Comprised of Election Data Researchers, the Local Expansion team focuses on expanding our coverage of local elections in pursuit of Ballotpedia’s mission to cover every contested election in America. -
News Team
Our News Team Researchers research, monitor, and process relevant political and election news events, making real-time updates to our database and articles across Ballotpedia.org to ensure our content remains up-to-date, accurate, and timely for our readers and core audiences. -
Policy Team
Ballotpedia’s Policy Team researches, curates, and neutrally presents the basic facts, key terms, and core arguments surrounding many important public policy debates in America. This team helps Ballotpedia focus on becoming a complete Encyclopedia of American Politics. As we seek to expand our coverage of various public policy verticals and close the political information gap, we strive to understand and help our readers understand the true nature of complex policy debates.
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Samantha Post
There are so many things I could list, but overall, I love the people I work with. I am treated with respect, feel trusted by my superiors, and feel supported by everyone. I feel free to speak my mind under any circumstances, and I feel very appreciated for who I am and for the work I do.
External Relations
Ballotpedia’s External Relations team manages and grows the organization’s donor and non-donor revenue, strategic partnerships, and outreach programs. They build relationships with individuals and organizations that can further Ballotpedia’s mission and match donors and other potential partners with the best projects and opportunities to advance our shared goals. Ballotpedia’s External Relations department leads development, data sales, and strategic partner functions on behalf of the organization with individuals and organizations nationwide. They serve as passionate and enthusiastic representatives of Ballotpedia to various audiences.
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Caroline Presnell
I enjoy working at Ballotpedia because I get to be a part of a team that truly values serving others. We aren't solely working to meet our needs and wants (though that is certainly a factor!). We're working because we see the importance of what we provide. We value knowledge and work diligently to provide such to our readers. I also love BP because I have truly felt since joining the team that BP loves me back - that one is harder to explain with words, but I really feel it, and all attempts at explaining that would fall short, so I'll leave it there.
Operations
The Operations Department is a close-knit team of administrative, financial, and people operations professionals who support the needs of Ballotpedia’s staff and ensure they have the resources they need to do their best work to support our mission. The department oversees all aspects of human resources, recruiting, onboarding, benefits administration, training, professional development, meeting planning, executive support, board relations, budget development, and financial operations, and ensuring that Ballotpedia has a deliberate and intentional culture strategy.
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Amanda Herbert
I love BP Flex and the overall BP culture. People are really driven to get the job done and enjoy their work. I wake up every day excited to do my job.
Tech
Ballotpedia’s Tech team supports the rest of the staff in making high-quality political data and unbiased encyclopedic content available to the American public by maintaining and improving many aspects of Ballotpedia’s web presence, and the behind-the-scenes tools used by staff, including our database, mapping tools, data extraction tools, and our Sample Ballot Lookup Tool. The team is comprised of web developers, software engineers, data engineers, and GIS analysts who work together to help the organization gather, analyze, and publish the data that supports its comprehensive elections coverage in new and innovative ways.
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Ryan Burch
Why do I love working at Ballotpedia? Great co-workers, inspiring mission, flexible work, ability to communicate new ideas and be heard, opportunities for career growth, just to name a few.
Our Benefits
After a brief waiting period, Ballotpedia’s full-time staff and their dependents have access to a full benefits package that includes nationwide Health (including an HDHP or PPO medical insurance plan), Dental, Vision, Supplementary (Accident, Critical Illness, and Hospital Indemnity), and Life/AD&D insurance. Once staff become benefits-eligible, they receive an $8,000 benefit stipend, paid in equal increments per paycheck. The stipend helps pay for any benefits the staff member elects. If benefits are not elected, the stipend is taxed as regular income and added to the salary.
Core benefit categories
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Health
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Dental
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Vision
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Life/AD&D
Unlimited vacation, holidays, and paid time off
Ballotpedia offers its team members a unique, flexible working environment, BP Flex, that emphasizes professional autonomy and is built on strong, open, and collaborative communication between employees, their team members, and their supervisors.
Vacation
All full-time employees are eligible for unlimited, paid time off for vacation, which is planned time away from work. Ballotpedia believes everyone should have the opportunity to take sufficient vacation time but recognizes that the definition of sufficient differs for every employee. Vacations are not just rewards or a job perk; they are important for a well-balanced life. We know that when staff members take the vacation time they want, when they want it, our team will be better equipped to work together to achieve our mission.
Learn more about BP Flex.Holidays
Ballotpedia observes the following set of paid holidays for full-time staff:
- Martin Luther King Jr. Day
- Presidents Day
- Memorial Day
- Juneteenth (or Juneteenth Observed)
- Independence Day (or Independence Day Observed)
- Labor Day
- Columbus Day/Indigenous Peoples’ Day
- Veterans Day (or Veterans Day Observed)
- Thanksgiving Day and Black Friday
- Christmas Eve through New Year’s Day (or New Year’s Day Observed)
Ballotpedia closes for these holidays, but some departments will maintain opt-out, on-call skeleton crew schedules.
BP Unplugged days
Ballotpedia holds BP Unplugged Days each year, a chance for the entire staff to unwind and recharge collectively. On BP Unplugged Days, Ballotpedia intentionally closes operations to the fullest extent possible.
Personal and sick leave
Ballotpedia offers all employees a bank of 10 days of paid sick leave per year (up to 80 hours), pro-rated based on an employee’s start date. Sick leave becomes available on the employee’s first day of employment. Personal/sick time may be used for an employee’s illness, well-care, and medical, dental and/or other appointments. Personal/sick time also may be used for illness and well-care of a member of an employee’s immediate family (including the employee’s spouse, partner, children, or parents), or in other situations, in accordance with the employee’s state laws.
Parental leave
As a covered employer under the Family and Medical Leave Act, employees who are expecting parents and have been employed with Ballotpedia for one year are eligible to take up to 12 weeks of leave to care for the birth or adoption of a child. Concurrently, Ballotpedia offers all benefits-eligible employees up to 4 weeks of paid parental leave and up to 2 weeks of any personal and sick leave available. FMLA-eligible employees may take up to 6 additional weeks of unpaid parental leave.
401(k) retirement savings plan
Starting with your first paycheck, you can defer a portion of your income into our comprehensive 401(k) retirement savings plan. You can contribute to either a Roth 401(k), a Traditional 401(k), or both, allowing you flexibility based on your individual financial goals and tax planning strategies. Contributions can be made up to the IRS annual limit, enabling you to build a robust retirement fund. Our 401(k) plan is designed to help you achieve a secure financial future.
Health and Dependent Care Savings Accounts
In addition to our basic benefits package, staff are also eligible to receive/enroll in:
- Health Savings Account (HSA) — staff enrolled in Ballotpedia’s HDHP are eligible to set up an HSA to defer pre-tax portions of their income to pay for out-of-pocket medical expenses up to the IRS annual limit.
- Flexible Spending Account (FSA) — a Flexible Spending Account option to defer pre-tax portions of income to cover eligible out-of-pocket medical expenses up to the IRS annual limit.
- Dependent care FSA — a Dependent Care FSA to set aside pre-tax income to cover eligible dependent care expenses (daycare, preschool, after-school programs, etc.), helping manage childcare costs while gaining significant tax savings.
Compensation
Ballotpedia has a comprehensive and transparent compensation philosophy, annual staff assessment process, and performance level system that employees learn about during onboarding. Our compensation approach is adaptable and strongly tied to performance and proven expertise, ensuring consistency and fairness across our nationally distributed staff.
Technology
After completing their review period, Ballotpedia purchases new staff a second monitor to support their work.
Interning at Ballotpedia
Work directly with our close-knit teams. Help us solve the political information problem as we strive to cover every election in America!
Throughout the year, Ballotpedia hosts 100% remote, paid internship opportunities. Our Spring internship program runs from January to May. Our Summer internship program runs from June to August. Our Fall semester runs from September to December. Like our full-time staff, Ballotpedia interns work remotely. As of 2024, interns are paid a minimum of $15.00 per hour (or their state’s minimum wage, whichever is higher). Depending on the specific program, interns work part-time (about 10–20 hours per week) and enjoy substantial autonomy over the scheduling because we know you need to balance your internship with schoolwork and other commitments!
Application process
We accept and process internship applications on a rolling basis. Applicants are asked to submit a resume, a cover letter detailing their interest in Ballotpedia’s mission, and a neutral, non-partisan writing sample during their application. Once those are reviewed, select candidates are assigned a brief writing and data research assignment. From there, applicants will meet with Ballotpedia staff to discuss the program in a 30-minute interview. Final applicants receive their offers to join the program about one month before it begins.
Available internship opportunities
Links to current openings in alphabetical order and link to the main Job Opportunities page
Our internship programs
Editorial Content
Editorial Content interns are embedded in one of our seven core Editorial Content teams or functions: Ballot Measures, Elections, Events, Law, Local Expansion, News, and Policy. Interns contribute directly to our mission, including (but not limited to):
- Working on articles on candidates and elections (Federal, State, or Local)
- Assisting teams in news tracking and monitoring
- Researching candidate stances and biographies
- Researching election results and inputting them into our database
- Researching race expenditures and endorsements
- Processing Candidate Connection surveys
- Conducting research projects to improve overall data quality
- Participating in brainstorming sessions with experienced staff members
- Writing and researching on various political topics
- Processing new volunteer applications and supporting volunteer program activities
- Supporting Ballotpedia fellows program activities
- Assisting with Editorial Content Department metrics and reporting data collection
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Sydney Baker
The Ballotpedia internship experience sharpened my research and analytical skills, deepened my understanding of American politics, and gave me a front-row seat to the inner workings of a mission-driven organization. I'm grateful for the mentorship I received and the meaningful projects I contributed to. This internship has truly provided pivotal growth in my professional journey.
Communications
Our communications interns work directly with one of our specialized communications team members on a number of communications and marketing projects aimed at promoting Ballotpedia’s mission-critical work to key audiences, including but not limited to:
- Assisting with Ballotpedia’s social media, including creating posts and graphics
- Assisting with Ballotpedia’s various email products, from daily and weekly newsletters to special campaigns
- Responding to communications from a variety of external sources
- Assisting in coordinating and completing webinars, briefings, or similar group events
- Collecting a variety of data points, tracking subscribers, engagement, and more
- Helping develop compelling presentations, infographics and reports
- Monitoring and reporting on media mentions
- Participating in special research projects
- Participating in promotional planning and activities
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Abigail Campbell
Interning with Ballotpedia was a wonderful experience. I was guided and taught throughout various projects while being allowed to be creative and explore my ideas and projects. I have learned about American politics and meaningful ways to reach and educate people. It was an invaluable experience with great mentorship!
Tech (GIS Analysis)
GIS Analyst Intern’s primary job is researching and formatting shapefiles for political boundaries. Ballotpedia's Sample Ballot Lookup Tool allows voters to see upcoming elections for their address. This and other functionality will be powered by your work. This includes:
- Researching to understand the legal requirements for who can vote in which types of elections
- Sourcing maps through online research, outreach to government offices, or georeferencing to create new shapefiles
- Testing and formatting the files to conform to Ballotpedia's database requirements
- Working with the Ballotpedia database to add the boundaries and perform tests
- Completing other GIS or database-oriented activities will be assigned based on skill, interest, and need
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Rook Bowman
Interning with Ballotpedia provides not just the opportunity to strengthen technical skills, but also the chance to work with a supportive team toward the incredibly important goal of making election information clear for American voters.
External Relations
Looking to grow your career in non-profit fundraising and development while helping to contribute to an amazing mission? External Relations interns assist the department with activities to support Ballotpedia’s donor relations, strategic partnerships, and data sales opportunities. This includes:
- Conducting basic research about potential partners and donors for Ballotpedia
- Assisting with aspects of donor recognition and record keeping such as donor database entry, thank you note writing, and other donor recognition as appropriate
- Preparing research on elections and other related topics that may be needed for small and large partnerships
- Being tasked with data entry and data clean-up
- Utilizing Salesforce to produce reports and manage Ballotpedia’s database of external contacts
- Completing other special projects as assigned.
