Methodology
How every record
How every record
is verified
VoteFiles states a fact in its own voice only when it can link the official source that proves it. When no official record exists, the page says: “No official record has been found at this time. We are watching for updates.” These rules are generated from the same checks that decide what we publish.
Data type
Election deadlines
SourceThe official election office or statute for each state and territory. Each date we publish is saved with a copy of the official source and the exact passage that states the date.
Rules
- Categories: registration, early in-person voting, mail-ballot request, mail-ballot return, Election Day voting.
- A date is published only while it is verified, before its recheck date, and and not on our list of dates being rechecked.
- Every day we look at each official source again. We hold back a date when the exact verified passage no longer appears on the official page; the official source could not be retrieved; the official PDF changed.
- Every date change, withdrawal and hold is listed in the public list of changes and on the corrections page.
Data type
Officeholder rosters
SourceMembers of Congress: the public “congress-legislators” list and Voteview, which are built from the official record; both are named on the sources page. State and local officeholders: official government lists that we have reviewed and approved.
Rules
- We only use official lists that anyone can open on the web. Lists that need a login or password are not used.
- In court records we never link a person from a name alone: the case title must name the office and match exactly one officeholder on the date of the record.
Data type
Roll-call votes
SourceVoteview’s roll-call files for each Congress (UCLA), updated regularly without deleting history. Where the House Clerk or Senate publishes the roll call, the vote links that official record.
Rules
- Vote positions recorded: YEA, NAY, PRESENT, NOT VOTING.
- Claim vs. Record checks a statement against the recorded vote only.
- Permanent links you can cite exist for these kinds of record: bills, votes, executive orders, election deadlines.
Data type
Bills and laws
SourceGovInfo’s official bill status records and Statutes at Large details; citations link to Congress.gov.
Rules
- Measure types are printed as the official record prints them (H.R., H.J.Res., H.Con.Res., H.Res., S., S.J.Res., S.Con.Res., S.Res.).
- Status labels are worked out from official actions. They never appear in a citation; a citation carries only what the official record says.
- News coverage of a bill is shown only as attributed headlines from the last 7 days.
Data type
Topics
SourcePrimary government records gathered for each topic under our editorial verification rules (version 2.1).
Rules
- Attention (accepted news coverage over 7 days) ranks topics. It never establishes what government did.
- A separate Action score measures official records dated within the last 30 days. High attention cannot raise the Action score.
- A public treatment must pass the scope, primary-record, contrary-record, later-action, identity, gap and freshness checks. If a required source cannot be reached, the topic is not published.
Data type
Coverage pages
SourceHeadlines from news outlets, shown word for word with the outlet name, the time it was posted and a link. We never copy article text.
Rules
- Outlets are ordered only by when their first headline appeared, never by a rating. At most 3 headlines per outlet are shown.
- What outlets report is labeled as their reporting, not as VoteFiles facts.
- The "On the record" panel lists only official records named in the coverage or confirmed by our research desk (at most 12). Matching words alone never put a record there.
Data type
Stock trades and financial disclosures
SourceNot published. Federal law limits the use of these reports, so VoteFiles links to the official search pages of the Clerk of the House and the Secretary of the Senate instead.
Rules
- No trade or disclosure report is copied, summarized or counted on VoteFiles (5 U.S.C. 13107(c)).
Data type
Campaign money
SourceVoteFiles does not publish campaign contribution or spending records at this time. Federal Election Commission data is used only for election dates on the federal ballot pages.
Rules
- Before any contribution data is published: every contribution will link to its Federal Election Commission or state filing, and donor names and addresses are never sold, licensed or used for solicitation (52 U.S.C. 30111(a)(4)).
- A contribution is never presented as proof of a favor in return, and Federal Election Commission registration is never presented as ballot status.
When we are wrong
Corrections are public
Material corrections, desk updates and every change to a published deadline are listed on the corrections page with the official source behind them.