Your one-stop election resource page!
Every election cycle, I run around trying to find candidate and elections information. This year, I decided to build a page to help others (and myself!) locate this info quickly.
Information on Candidates
Campaign Contribution Limits – Use this to find out how much you can give to a candidate.
Ballotpedia – One of the best election information sites around. They pull information from a number of different sources for elections all across the US. They usually don’t go lower than State Representatives, but you can find financing, candidates, sponsored legislation, results of previous elections, even survey responses. A great way to start is to click their Sample Ballot Lookup tool. It will show the candidates and resolutions on your ballot that they follow. We will mention them several more times in this article.
Federal Election Commission – The place to find out contributions/spending for federal candidates (Congress, US Senate, etc.)
Georgia Government Transparency and Finance Commission (AKA the State Ethics Commission). This has historical information for races 2021 and before. It has been replaced by the website below…
Georgia Campaign Finance Commission – I hesitate to post this one. The interface is much prettier than the old one, but it takes a little time to learn how to navigate, and frequently finding a candidate is difficult. I have found that you can find a candidate with one search and find that they have received no donations, and then by another search and see the actual numbers. It could be user error on my part, but I think that is unlikely.
Gwinnett Count Easy Vote – This is where you find information on County level candidates. Gwinnett County campaign disclosure reports prior to 2015 are archived HERE.
OpenSecrets – If you want to get a big-picture overview of where money is going in campaigns, this is a good place.
Ballotpedia – They also have a page with school boards across the country, and the major counties in Georgia.
State Candidates – Look up qualified candidates at County, State and Federal level.
Elections
Ballotpedia (again) – Free district maps provided that you can find online are really bad. The Ballotpedia site has done a great job of showing the new districts. It also includes the old district side by side so you can compare. The link at the beginning of this paragraph shows Congressional, State House/Senate on a big Georgia map. To find individual districts, you have to explore a little. For instance, to see the old and new House District 96 side by side click HERE and scroll down. You can get to any House District by clicking HERE.
Election Results – The new consumer-friendly Secretary of State website. Nice graphics and not hard to navigate.
Voters
Georgia Voter Registration – Online registration.
Official Voter Resources – Has information on absentee ballots, sample ballots (when available) and links to all types of voting resources.
My GA Voter Page – The official site to find your registration status. Also has your precinct and district information. You can only look up your own status, unless you know someone’s birthday. To find any registered voter in Georgia, use the following link.
VoteRef – You can use this to find registered voters in many states, including Georgia. Not sure how up to date the information is, but we use it frequently to check on registration status of voters in other states.
Registered Voter Lists – Yes, you can actually by a list that has every voter registered in the state of Georgia. You can also purchase smaller (and less expensive) lists for specific districts. The lists are usually delivered via a link that you use to download a spreadsheet.
Voter History Files – These are not any good without the Registered Voter Lists (above) because they are only indexed by voter registration number. But they will tell you the voter history of any registered voter. Interesting story – I got into an argument with a person on Facebook who declared that you couldn’t tell who was registered in the state. I told him that I could, and I could also tell when they voted. He called me a liar. If I thought he was mad at that point, you should have seen him when I sent him his voter history. He threatened to turn me into the FBI.
Miscellaneous
National Change of Address – This is a very affordable site that will let you check some for free.
Our Campaigns – Explore on your own. Lots of information, bad presentation.
Gwinnett Property Tax Records – Find out who actually is on title at a specific address.
Spokeo – My favorite tool for finding contact information for people. The charge for full access is very reasonable.