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On The Issues Vote Match

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On The Issues
On the Issues logo.PNG
Basic facts
Affiliation:Nonpartisan
Top official:Dr. Naomi Lichtenberg, President and CEO
Year founded:1999
Website:Official website

The On The Issues Vote Match is a service provided by On The Issues, a nonpartisan website launched in 1999.

The "On The Issues Vote Match" has two parts:

  • A "VoteMatch" quiz that members of the public can take to sort out where they stand on twenty issues. The twenty issue areas include a section of questions on economic issues and a section of questions on social issues.
  • Information about the positions of a variety of prominent politicians about the same twenty issue areas. The staff of "On The Issues" conducts research using voting records, statements to the media, debate transcripts and citations from books authored by or about the politician to determine his or her stances on the twenty issues.

Taken together, the vote match process allows a voter to determine the extent of overlap between his or her policy preferences, and those of a given politician.

About "On The Issues"

The organization "On The Issues" describes its mission as follows:[1]

“ Our mission is to provide nonpartisan information for voters in the Presidential election, so that votes can be based on issues rather than on personalities and popularity.[2] ”

Staff

The staff list below is current as of May 2025.

  • Dr. Naomi Lichtenberg, President and CEO
  • Jesse Gordon, editor-in-chief and content manager
  • Will Rico, marketing and advertising
  • Pete Hoerr, Supreme Court editing
  • Sanjaya Ghimire, technical
  • Mary Ellen Quinn, editor
  • Daniel Kimmel, editor

Partnership with Ballotpedia

In May 2014, On The Issues and Ballotpedia entered into a partnership to share content. On The Issues shared a spreadsheet of its "Vote Match" results so that Ballotpedia staff could add that content onto Congressional and Gubernatorial profiles. This partnership was intended to provide Ballotpedia readers with more information about their elected officials and their issue stances. For more information about this, contact Geoff Pallay, Director of Strategic Projects.

About the Vote Match results

This is a sample image result that could be created from the quiz.

The quiz offered by "On The Issues" to individual voters and readers includes two different types of questions -- social and economic. On The Issues describes those categories as follows:[3]

  • Social Questions: Liberals and libertarians agree in choosing the less-government answers, while conservatives and populists agree in choosing the more-restrictive answers.
    • A high score (above 60%) means the candidate believes in tolerance for different people and lifestyles.
    • A low score (below 40%) means the candidate believes that standards of morality & safety should be enforced by government.
  • Economic Questions: Conservatives and libertarians agree in choosing the less-government answers, while liberals and populists agree in choosing the more-restrictive answers.
    • A high score (above 60%) means the candidate believes in personal responsibility for financial matters, and that free-market competition is better for people than central planning by the government.
    • A low score (below 40%) means the candidate believes that a good society is best achieved by the government redistributing wealth. The candidate believes that government's purpose is to decide which programs are good for society, and how much should be spent on each program.

Once a reader has taken the quiz, a chart is generated that displays the reader's political preferences in a grid. The grid can then be compared to any of the grids created by "On The Issues" staff for a number of prominent politicians. See, for example, the this grid representing the views of John McCain.

The five sections in the political preferences chart visually depict the results of the political preferences quiz. Each intersection line has a more detailed description. For example, if the result is slightly over the 50-50 line in the liberal section, the resulting label is a "libertarian-leaning liberal." For a result slightly under, the result is a "populist-leaning liberal."[4]

There are five sections in the political preferences chart. The following description was sent via email to Ballotpedia staff to describe the quiz results.[4][5]

  • A "hard-core liberal" would answer social questions to minimize government involvement, but would answer economic questions to include government intervention.
  • A "hard-core libertarian" would answer both social and economic questions to minimize government involvement.
  • A "hard-core conservative" would answer social questions to include government intervention, but would answer economic questions to minimize government involvement.
  • A "hard-core populist" would answer both social and economic questions with proposals that include government intervention.
  • A moderate would be a combination in some capacity of the four quadrants.

Staff at On The Issues use the following additional descriptions to describe its political philosophy results. The following bullet points are from the On The Issues page about principles & values.[5]

  • Libertarian view: typically focusing on non-governmental solutions and private decision-making in both the social and economic dimensions. "Libertarian" is the philosophy that summarizes "socially liberal and fiscally conservative," although Libertarian Party members dislike that phrase.
  • Progressive view: Progressives, like libertarians, often describe themselves as "socially liberal and fiscally conservative;" progressives do so from the liberal side while libertarians do so from the conservative side.
  • Liberal or leftist view: typically focusing on helping needy members of society, and using government to achieve societal good; government intervention only in economic matters.
  • Conservative or rightist view: typically focusing on fiscal frugality, strength abroad, and moral integrity; government intervention acceptable in social and personal matters.
  • Populist view: typically focusing on local solutions instead of federal action, on decentralizing power, and on religion as the basis for societal good;
  • Centrist or mixed view: typically focusing on reforming or amending existing institutions rather than replacing them.

If an exact position cannot be identified, staff at On The Issues use the label "unknown." If an official has a large amount of unknown policy positions, this can effect the ultimate outcome of the ranking.

Issue areas

As of 2025, the following are the questions asked by the organization.

Note: The following explanatory text was taken verbatim from On The Issues with the organization's permission. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the source material. The 20 issue areas/stances are as follows (organized by category: social or economic):

Social:

  1. Abortion is a woman's unrestricted right
  2. Comfortable with same-sex marriage
  3. Keep God in the public sphere
  4. EPA regulations are too restrictive
  5. Stricter punishment reduces crime
  6. Pathway to citizenship for illegal aliens
  7. Expand the military
  8. Make voter registration easier
  9. Avoid foreign entanglements
  10. Marijuana is a gateway drug

Economic:

  1. Legally require hiring women and minorities
  2. Expand ObamaCare
  3. Privatize Social Security
  4. Vouchers for school choice
  5. Absolute right to gun ownership
  6. Higher taxes on the wealthy
  7. Support and expand free trade
  8. Support American Exceptionalism
  9. Prioritize green energy
  10. Stimulus better than market-led recovery

"Abortion is a woman's unrestricted right"

DocumentIcon.jpg See full methodology and background from "On The Issues": "Abortion is a woman's unrestricted right"

Positions:

  • Strongly Support means you believe:[6]
    • Abortion is a private decision between a woman and her doctor.
    • You believe in the 'Right to Choose' and are strongly pro-choice.
    • The right to abortion empowers women and is an important part of women's health rights and women's reproductive freedom. That right includes the right to a government subsidy for poor women who want an abortion.
  • Support means you believe:[6]
    • Restricting 'Partial-Birth Abortions' or other specific procedures is reasonable, but clinic access should be unfettered, since other women may choose differently than you. You are pro-choice, but believe that some restrictions are acceptable.
  • Oppose means you believe:[6]
    • The fetus is a human being who has rights independent of its mother's rights. You are "pro-life." While abortion under certain circumstances might be tolerated, the basic rights belong to the fetus, not the mother.
  • Strongly Oppose means you believe:[6]
    • Abortion is immoral because it kills a human being, and should never be tolerated. 'Roe v. Wade' should be overturned and we should protest abortion clinics as other forms of injustice are protested.

"Comfortable with same-sex marriage"

DocumentIcon.jpg See full methodology and background from "On The Issues": "Comfortable with same-sex marriage"

Positions:

  • Strongly Support means you believe:[7]
    • Neither governments nor corporations have any right to decide about sexual preferences. Give same-sex partners the same status as heterosexual partners, and give same-sex marriages the same status as traditional marriage.
  • Support means you believe:[7]
    • Homosexuals should be treated with equal respect as other members of society, not treated as criminals. You acknowledge the diversity of our society by including same-sex partners in most or all benefits of heterosexual marriage partners, but civil unions are preferable to using the term 'marriage.'
  • Oppose means you believe:[7]
    • Homosexuality is a lifestyle choice, and therefore those who choose it should live by the consequences of their choice. Marriage between a man and a woman is the central institution of American society - we shouldn't do anything that perverts that concept or threatens that ideal.
  • Strongly Oppose means you believe:[7]
    • Homosexuality is immoral. You believe that the 'Gay Agenda' seeks to normalize homosexual activity and make it part of the mainstream as 'just another lifestyle.' We must draw the line so that homosexual values are not imposed upon our children.

"Keep God in the public sphere"

DocumentIcon.jpg See full methodology and background from "On The Issues": "Keep God in the public sphere"

Positions:

  • Strongly Support means you believe:[8]
    • Judeo-Christian values are American values. Belief in God is what America was founded upon, so tax-funding religious organizations, or praying in school, does not violate the separation of church and state. Displaying the Ten Commandments is appropriate because they are the moral basis for Western law. The Pledge of Allegiance should continue to include the phrase "Under God."
  • Support means you believe:[8]
    • We need to teach values in our schools and account for our religious values in providing social services. The more our children are exposed to prayer, the Ten Commandments, and other traditional values, the better off they are.
  • Oppose means you believe:[8]
    • Faith-based organizations and prayer in schools are inappropriate because they fail to recognize American pluralism and religious diversity.
  • Strongly Oppose means you believe:[8]
    • Separation of church and state precludes allowing school prayer, or providing funding for religious organizations. It also precludes other aspects of religion in government buildings, such as posting the Ten Commandments in public places. We should not violate the Constitutional principle in this case.

"EPA regulations are too restrictive"

DocumentIcon.jpg See full methodology and background from "On The Issues": https://www.ontheissues.org/VoteMatch/q8_2016.asp "EPA regulations are too restrictive"]

Positions:

  • Strongly Support means you believe[9]:
    • The earth is humankind's domain to do with as we see fit.
  • Support means you believe[9]:
    • Human needs come first, but it's ok to account for environmental needs after human needs are accounted for.
  • Oppose means you believe[9]:
    • We should balance animal rights with human needs, accounting for nature's value for humans as well as for other environmental benefits.
  • Strongly Oppose means you believe[9]:
    • Animals have inherent rights, and nature has inherent value.

"Stricter punishment reduces crime"

DocumentIcon.jpg See full methodology and background from "On The Issues": "Stricter punishment reduces crime" Positions:

  • Strongly Support means you believe[10]:
    • 'Three Strikes' laws put dangerous repeat offenders where they belong - behind bars, for life. And the Death Penalty gets rid of them once and for all. Mandatory sentencing and strict enforcement make sure that judges don't let off criminals too easily.
  • Support means you believe[10]:
    • Keep death penalty and 'Three Strikes' laws on the books because they seem to be effective, but consider ways to deal with special circumstances so we can avoid horror stories of inappropriate imprisonment.
  • Oppose means you believe[10]:
    • Strict enforcement of pre-determined sentencing threatens civil rights and should be used cautiously. Police, courts and prisons should focus on effective enforcement rather than strict enforcement. The death penalty should be used with extreme caution, if at all.
  • Strongly Oppose means you believe[10]:
    • Judicial discretion should not be diminished by formulaic sentencing like 'Three Strikes.' Let judges and juries decide what penalties to apply in each case. The death penalty should be abolished as "cruel and unusual punishment".

"Pathway to citizenship for illegal aliens"

DocumentIcon.jpg See full methodology and background from "On The Issues": "Pathway to citizenship for illegal aliens"

Positions:

  • Strongly Support means you believe:[11]
    • Immigration restrictions are basically racist because they keep out Hispanics and other non-whites. We should reform US immigration laws and use them to increase our diversity and cultural tolerance. Social services should be offered to all residents of the United States regardless of immigration status. Illegal aliens should be offered amnesty if they prove themselves as productive members of society.
  • Support means you believe:[11]
    • The government should make few restrictions on immigration. If the number of immigrants is too high, establish an immigration fee and raise it until the number of immigrants is acceptable. Or change the immigration quotas by some other method.
  • Oppose means you believe:[11]
    • Maintain legal immigration while enforcing against illegal immigration. Tighten our borders - decrease substantially or stop all immigration so we can address domestic problems.
  • Strongly Oppose means you believe:[11]
    • We should strictly enforce our immigration laws by increasing border patrols, and we should crack down on illegal immigrants already in the US by deportation and by removing all their social benefits. In the long run, we should decrease immigration.

"Expand the military"

DocumentIcon.jpg See full methodology and background from "On The Issues": "Expand the military"

Positions:

  • Strongly Support means you believe:[12]
    • We have an obligation as the leaders of the world to maintain a strong military. And we have an obligation to our service personnel to pay them adequately.
  • Support means you believe:[12]
    • We should consider carefully before making more cuts - for example, base closings have hurt local economies, and reducing military personnel has put pressure on employment.
  • Oppose means you believe:[12]
    • Build smart, not necessarily big. Money is often better spent on issues other than defense. We should cut back on troops stationed abroad and focus on quality of our troops instead of quantity.
  • Strongly Oppose means you believe:[12]
    • Defense spending includes huge amounts of pork-barrel spending and should be reduced dramatically. We should change our Defense policy to one of defense, instead of one where we police the world. Pull US troops out of Europe, Japan, Korea, and elsewhere. We are wrong to have a military that is as large as the rest of the world combined.

"Make voter registration easier"

DocumentIcon.jpg See full methodology and background from "On The Issues": "Make voter registration easier"

Positions:

  • Strongly Support means you believe[13]:
    • Voter ID laws are racist and intended to suppress minority voting.
    • More enforcement of right to vote, not enforcement against voters.
    • Public funds should be used for political campaigns.
    • The best way to reduce the influence of big-money lobbyists and special interests is to remove as much money as possible from campaigning. Free television time would be a good start.
  • Support means you believe[13]:
    • Voter ID laws just make it harder for people to vote, and we should work to make it EASIER to vote.
    • Reforms are needed in campaign finance, in order to reduce the influence of moneyed interests.
    • Those reforms might include restrictions on personal donations to political campaigns; restrictions on corporate, labor union, or PAC donations; and restrictions on PAC activities.
  • Oppose means you believe[13]:
    • ID requirements for voting are reasonable.
    • Politicians will always find loopholes in any campaign finance reform, so the best approach is just to monitor campaigns for lawbreaking and leave the rest to the press. Better reporting of donations would be useful.
  • Strongly Oppose means you believe[13]:
    • Voter fraud undermines the most fundamental process of democracy, and we need to fight it.
    • Campaign donations are free speech, and should not be limited for corporations nor for individuals. PACs and 527 committees should be similarly allowed free speech via unlimited spending on any issue or any candidate they choose.

"Avoid foreign entanglements"

DocumentIcon.jpg See full methodology and background from "On The Issues": "Avoid foreign entanglements"

Positions:

  • Strongly Support means you believe[14]:
    • The United States never should have invaded Iraq; we should not make the same mistake with Iran.
  • Support means you believe[14]:
    • The US should stay out of Iraq & Iran, and should exit Afghanistan as soon as possible, because there is no further military solution in any of those countries.
  • Oppose means you believe[14]:
    • We must prevent Iran from gaining a nuclear weapon. We should leave Afghanistan only when they can defend themselves.
  • Strongly Oppose means you believe[14]:
    • We should keep military action on the table for Iran, and we should prepare for that military action seriously. Same for North Korea and others who oppose American national interests.

"Marijuana is a gateway drug"

DocumentIcon.jpg See full methodology and background from "On The Issues": "Marijuana is a gateway drug"

Positions:

  • Strongly Support means you believe:[15]
    • Drug use is immoral and drugs poison our youth and our society. We should fight the Drug War using all reasonable means - Just Say No!
  • Support means you believe:[15]
    • The Drug War is winnable if we invest enough resources. We should do whatever we have to do: More police, more border patrols, more intervention abroad, more prison terms, more prisons.
  • Oppose means you believe:[15]
    • We should have regulated decriminalization. Medical marijuana might be legalized, for example, as might clean hypodermic needles. Our drug policy should be reformed, with less criminal penalties and more drug abuse clinics.
  • Strongly Oppose means you believe:[15]
    • The Drug War should be ended. It has failed, condemning a 'Lost Generation' of blacks and Hispanics to prison and criminal records. End it now like we ended alcohol Prohibition, and organized crime and drug-related crime will decrease like it did when Prohibition ended.

External links

Footnotes

  1. ↑ On The Issues, "About Us," accessed June 13, 2014
  2. ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
  3. ↑ On The Issues, "Example candidate response with explanation," accessed June 18, 2014
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Geoff Pallay, "Email exchange with On The Issues co-founder Jesse Gordon," June 17, 2014
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 On The Issues, "Background on Principles & Values," accessed June 18, 2014
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 On The Issues, "VoteMatch - Abortion is a woman's unrestricted right," accessed June 13, 2014
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 On The Issues, "VoteMatch - Comfortable with same-sex marriage," accessed June 13, 2014 Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name "samesex" defined multiple times with different content Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name "samesex" defined multiple times with different content Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name "samesex" defined multiple times with different content
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 On The Issues, "VoteMatch - Keep God in the public sphere," accessed June 13, 2014
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 9.3 On The Issues, "EPA regulations are too restrictive," accessed June 14, 2025
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 10.3 On The Issues, "Stricter punishment reduces crime," accessed June 14, 2025
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 11.3 On The Issues, "VoteMatch - Pathway to citizenship for illegal aliens," accessed June 13, 2014
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 12.2 12.3 On The Issues, "VoteMatch - Expand the military," accessed June 13, 2014
  13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 13.2 13.3 On The Issues, "Make voter registration easier," accessed June 14, 2025
  14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 14.2 14.3 On The Issues, "Avoid foreign entanglements," June 14, 2025
  15. ↑ 15.0 15.1 15.2 15.3 On The Issues, "VoteMatch - Never legalize marijuana," accessed June 13, 2014
  16. ↑ 16.0 16.1 16.2 16.3 On The Issues, "VoteMatch - Legally require hiring women and minorities," accessed June 13, 2014
  17. ↑ 17.0 17.1 17.2 17.3 On The Issues, "VoteMatch - Expand ObamaCare," accessed June 13, 2014 Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name "obamacare" defined multiple times with different content Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name "obamacare" defined multiple times with different content Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name "obamacare" defined multiple times with different content
  18. ↑ 18.0 18.1 18.2 18.3 On The Issues, "VoteMatch - Privatize Social Security," accessed June 13, 2014 Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name "soc" defined multiple times with different content Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name "soc" defined multiple times with different content Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name "soc" defined multiple times with different content
  19. ↑ 19.0 19.1 19.2 19.3 On The Issues, "VoteMatch - Vouchers for school choice," accessed June 13, 2014 Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name "schools" defined multiple times with different content Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name "schools" defined multiple times with different content Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name "schools" defined multiple times with different content
  20. ↑ 20.0 20.1 20.2 20.3 On The Issues, "VoteMatch - Absolute right to gun ownership," accessed June 13, 2014 Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name "guns" defined multiple times with different content Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name "guns" defined multiple times with different content Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name "guns" defined multiple times with different content
  21. ↑ 21.0 21.1 21.2 21.3 On The Issues, "VoteMatch - Higher taxes on the wealthy," accessed June 13, 2014
  22. ↑ 22.0 22.1 22.2 22.3 On The Issues, "VoteMatch - Support and expand free trade," accessed June 13, 2014 Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name "freetrade" defined multiple times with different content Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name "freetrade" defined multiple times with different content Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name "freetrade" defined multiple times with different content
  23. ↑ 23.0 23.1 23.2 23.3 On The Issues, "VoteMatch - Maintain U.S. sovereignty from U.N.," accessed June 13, 2014
  24. ↑ 24.0 24.1 24.2 24.3 On The Issues, "VoteMatch - Prioritize green energy," accessed June 13, 2014
  25. ↑ 25.0 25.1 25.2 25.3 On The Issues, "VoteMatch - Stimulus better than market-led recovery," accessed June 13, 2014
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