Write down what you stand for once. Then let an AI research every name on your ballot and score each one against your own values, with sources. No more voting for people you know nothing about.
Don't vote the party line out of habit. Don't vote off an attack ad built to make you angry. This tool lines up your values against each candidate's actual record (their own words, votes and actions, with links), so you see the pros and cons before you sign on the line. Not after.
It takes about an hour. You'll binge a season of a show without thinking twice. These people make decisions about your money, your rights and your kids for years. Give them an hour.
You run the research in two AIs: one researches (Run 1), a different one checks it (Verify). We tested 11 AIs on real ballots. These combinations gave the best Vote Cards:
Never used one of these? Making a free account takes about a minute: sign up with your email or phone number, tap the code they text or email you, and you're in.
Kimi gave the best single run. Claude was the strongest checker.
Also good: Grok for Run 1, then Perplexity to verify.
Never check with ChatGPT or Grok. ChatGPT won't mark ✅/❌ and Grok approved everything without really checking. Skip Gemini, Meta AI, Copilot, DeepSeek and Qwen: they skipped races, quit partway or got facts wrong. Free plans have limits, so using a different AI for each step also helps.
Everything depends on this step. Your county makes a sample ballot for your exact precinct, with only your races on it. With it, the AI spends all its effort on your 10 to 20 races and digs deep. Without it, the AI guesses across the whole county (every district, every write-in) and every answer comes back thin. We learned this the hard way in testing.
Still can't get it? In this order:
1. Your state's voter registration lookup (search "[your state] voter registration lookup"). Many link your sample ballot, and they list your precinct and district numbers.
2. Ballotpedia's sample ballot lookup: correct federal, state and legislative races for your address, but county races only in large cities. Pick "Vote411 or another summary" below and the AI adds the county races.
3. Call your county clerk. They'll tell you where it is.
Also fill these in. State, county and election date are always needed. Your sample ballot shows your district numbers at the top or in the race names; copying them here helps the AI double-check.
A few lines, in your own words, about what you believe and what you expect from the people who govern you. When a candidate never states a position on something, your creed is how their record gets judged.
Open any topic you care about. Pick how much it matters, then write your position or tap an example. Skip anything you don't care about. Examples come from every side, so pick what is true for you.
A dealbreaker is a position so important that a candidate who crosses it gets flagged at the top of your vote card, no matter how many other boxes they check. You get 3, and only 3.
Why only 3? Almost no candidate agrees with you on everything. Pick ten dealbreakers and every name on your ballot gets flagged, which tells you nothing. Three forces you to name what you truly will not compromise on, so the flags mean something. Mark them inside any topic in Step 3.
Your profile and ballot are dropped into the Informed Vote Protocol prompt. First pick how you'll run it. The better the AI tool, the better the results.
You run the research in two AIs: one researches (Run 1), a different one checks it (Verify). We tested 11 AIs on real ballots. These combinations gave the best Vote Cards:
Never used one of these? Making a free account takes about a minute: sign up with your email or phone number, tap the code they text or email you, and you're in.
Kimi gave the best single run. Claude was the strongest checker.
Also good: Grok for Run 1, then Perplexity to verify.
Never check with ChatGPT or Grok. ChatGPT won't mark ✅/❌ and Grok approved everything without really checking. Skip Gemini, Meta AI, Copilot, DeepSeek and Qwen: they skipped races, quit partway or got facts wrong. Free plans have limits, so using a different AI for each step also helps.
Choose one of the two options above to get your prompt.
Run each part in a new chat. Each one ends with its own results block. Paste all of them into the Vote Card viewer together and it builds one card.
Steps 1 and 3 are required. Step 2 is strongly recommended.
Every AI gets things wrong sometimes: an old fact, a missed vote, a bad link. One run gets you the research. A second AI checking the first catches what it missed. The third step turns it into a card you can read in the booth.
Paste each part into its own new chat. Copy the next part when the last one finishes.
We tested 11 AIs on Oct 31, 2026 (free plans, Missouri and California ballots, test voters leaning right and left), then the top ones again on Nov 1 on a real Illinois ballot, free and paid. Every AI made mistakes. That's why Step 2 exists, why your card checks every mark, and why every mark links to its source. Paid plans generally do better; we didn't test every paid plan.
| AI | How it did on a real 17-race ballot (Nov 1, 2026) |
|---|---|
| Kimi paid | Best single run: all 17 races, 270 findings, scored, about 15 minutes. Still missed a few things a Verify caught (a wrong incumbent flag, a judge's court order). Free plan: often too busy, and one big job can use up your allowance. |
| ChatGPT Think on | Best free researcher: all 17 races from the ballot PDF, 117 sourced findings, about 20 minutes. Won't mark ✅/❌ (everything is "your call"), so you must run Verify after it. |
| Perplexity Computer mode | Best free checker: opened every link, fixed 24 mistakes and scored every finding ChatGPT left blank. About 10 minutes. The free plan has a limit (ours ran out after 10 to 15 big runs over three days). Saves a copy in your Library: delete it after. |
| Claude paid | Strongest checker in our tests: opened 138 to 149 links per check and made 85 to 93 corrections. The free plan wouldn't compare candidates to your positions. |
| Grok free | Fast and read the ballot right, but very thin on its own: about 1 finding per candidate. With a Perplexity Verify after it, the card came out solid (103 marks). Don't use Grok to check another AI's work. |
| GLM chat.z.ai | Careful but slow (over 2 hours in our test), and many sites blocked it. Chinese company: chats may be stored in China. |
| Gemini | Not recommended. On the real ballot it skipped the U.S. Senate race entirely, found only 6 facts for 32 candidates and wouldn't mark anything. |
| Meta AI, Copilot, DeepSeek, Qwen | Not recommended from our Oct 31 tests: added a candidate who lost the primary, quit partway, mixed up who said what, or barely researched. |
Fairness check: research depth was equal for both parties in both states. One pattern: candidates on your side tend to get more ✅/❌, and the other side more 🟡. A 🟡 means "look closer," not "fine." Free plans have usage limits; if you hit one, finish when it resets or switch AIs.
A second AI double-checks the first one's facts and links and fixes mistakes. In our tests it caught 14 to 30 mistakes, every time. Your card shows how many links the checker says it opened. Best checkers: Perplexity (free) or Claude (paid). Used ChatGPT? This step is required for you: ChatGPT does the research but won't give ✅/❌ (it marks everything "your call"). The check fills in every mark. In our test, ChatGPT's research plus a Perplexity check gave a full card. If you researched with Perplexity, check with Claude or Kimi. Never use ChatGPT or Grok to check: ChatGPT won't mark ✅/❌, and Grok approved everything without really checking. The second AI can't see your first chat, so you hand it the Run 1 answer:
Why this order? Your phone or computer only holds one copied thing at a time. If you copy Run 1 first, then copy the Verify prompt, Run 1 gets erased. Used Thorough mode? Paste all 4 answers under the Verify prompt at once. If the check gets cut off, do one part at a time. Already saw your card? You can still do this later. Your Run 1 chat keeps the answer.
Open the Vote Card page and paste both answers: Run 1, then Verify (or tap Open a file if the AI gave you a download). The card uses the checked version and warns you if the checker changed your races. Tap Show my Vote Card. Ran it in 4 parts? Paste all four answers together.
Missing local races (county offices, local judges)? Copy just Part 2 (and Part 3 for judges) from Thorough mode, run it, and add the answer to your card with "Add to my card."
Open the Vote Card page →Tip: open the Vote Card page now and keep the tab open, so it's waiting when your research finishes.
Every AI engine has its own training and its own blind spots, and any of them can carry bias. Use the one you trust most, check its sources, and use a second engine to cross-check. You make the final call.
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Save my profile puts a small file on your phone or computer, usually in your Downloads folder.
Load my profile lets you pick that file next election and start where you left off.
Protocol Media never sees or keeps it.