Host a Ballot Party
Inspire your friends, families, and colleagues to vote informed by bringing together your community for a Ballot Party!
What is a Ballot Party?
A Ballot Party is an interactive event in which guests come together to research their ballot so that everyone leaves informed and prepared to vote. They can be hosted in-person or online - among friends or with complete strangers. Our resources are nonpartisan and inclusive, so anyone can host!
Why host?
Across the country, there are 500,000 local elected officials that make decisions that affect our lives every day: setting funding for roads, monitoring our drinking water, and choosing the leadership of our schools. Yet many voters either guess at the bottom of their ballot or leave choices blank entirely. With Ballot Parties, individuals in any of the 50 states and DC can prepare to vote together, making the experience personal and just plain more fun! No matter your level of political knowledge or experience, hosting a Ballot Party is a great way to bring people together around voting and increase civic engagement.
What do I need to host?
Anyone can host! All you need is a group of friends or colleagues interested in working together to understand their ballot. BallotReady provides digital materials to help you plan your party including, including:
- Host itineraries and resources for sending invitations beforehand and thank-you notes to follow up
- Pre-created and editable slides to show your guests
Can Ballot Parties be hosted online?
Yes, Ballot Parties can be hosted anywhere. In the past, Ballot Parties have been successfully hosted in offices, local bars, and living rooms as well as Zoom and Google Meet.
What are the minimum requirements to host?
You will need people in mind to invite, access to computers or phones to do ballot research, and a commitment to voting informed.
How do I get people interested in a Ballot Party?
We find the easiest way is to ask! Start a conversation or a group chat, create a Facebook event, or send an email blast. Once you start the conversation, you’ll probably find that a lot of your friends are looking for an opportunity like this. Who doesn’t want to vote informed?
Are Ballot Parties nonpartisan?
Yes, BallotReady.org features a free, nonpartisan voter guide to every race and every referendum. Guests of all political persuasions are invited to host Ballot Parties.
How are local races covered like school boards and city councils?
For most states, BallotReady covers local positions down the ballot with some exceptions for hyper-local races like Neighborhood Councils or political party positions.
Do people actually vote at Ballot Parties?
BallotReady provides individualized voter guides that allow users to research, save, and share their ballot choices, which they can then bring with them into the voting booth on Election Day (or earlier, if your state has early voting).