How we check · Amherst County ballot

How we fact-check what each side says

Every argument we quote is checked against the legal text and the official record. These rules apply to every claim, from either side, everywhere on this site:

We rate what the text does, including what it would predictably lead to. When the text’s own words point to a result and only a court ruling is left, the claim is “Supported by the text,” not overstated. Waiting for a court doesn’t make a plain reading wrong.
We rate what a claim implies, not only its literal words. A claim that is true but leaves voters believing something false about today, for example that something legal is under threat, gets “Needs context” with the missing fact. If steering voters to that false impression is the point of the claim, for example making a question seem to be about something other than what it changes, it is “Deceptive.”
A fact check may never contradict the wording check or side effects on the same page. A claim that matches a side effect we list can’t be rated overstated or deceptive. The site won’t build if it is.
Same scale, same wording, both sides. We rate the claim, not the person or the side.
Values, and predictions the text doesn’t point to, are “Opinion.” Opinion isn’t a mark against a claim.

Accurate: Matches the legal text or the official record.
Supported by the text: A prediction the text’s own words point to. A court would have the final say.
Needs context: True as far as it goes, but leaves out something that changes the picture.
Overstated: Has a basis in the text, but claims more than the text does.
Deceptive: Contradicted by the legal text or the official record, or built to steer voters away from what the question actually changes, even if some words are true.
Opinion: A value judgment or prediction. It can’t be proved true or false.

How we flag taxing and spending

Every tax and bond question shows how the government asking for the money has taxed, spent and borrowed over the last ten years, and who pays. The same rules apply to every government:

Every figure comes from the government’s own audited annual report, which must show the last ten years.
We divide by population and adjust for inflation, so growth that only keeps up with more residents and higher prices doesn’t count.
A measure is flagged when, per resident (or per student) and after inflation, it rose more than 10% from the first year to the latest. A measure that rose less, or fell, isn’t flagged, and we say so.
A lower tax rate is flagged when tax bills still went up: the county’s average bill on an existing home, or, where it doesn’t publish one, real estate tax per resident. Virginia law treats a rate above the equalized rate, the rate that would raise the same money from existing property, as a tax increase that needs its own public hearing. We show the change after inflation next to it.
A flag is a fact about the numbers, not a verdict. Growth can pay for real needs. We show it so voters can weigh it.

Our principle · Jesse Howe, Open Voting Project

Why side effects matter

Everything else on these pages is a finding, checked by the same rules for every measure. This is the one principle we hold, and it’s about how laws are written, not what they’re for.

Whatever a measure is about, we don’t think it’s wise to pass one written in a way that allows dangerous side effects. The better path is a different approach: a better-written law that does what its supporters intend without the side effects. Voters shouldn’t have to accept harms the ballot never mentions to get the part they want.

That holds for any measure, from any side. A flawed bill can be fixed and brought back. A constitutional amendment that passes with a flaw takes years to undo.

This principle is about how laws are written. Where we take a position on a measure, it’s labeled and signed on that measure’s page. How you vote is your decision.

How we pick which votes to show

We don’t choose. For each sitting member of Congress on this ballot, we list every vote in the current Congress that decided whether a bill or resolution passed, newest first, under one fixed rule:

Included: votes on passage, on passing a bill under suspension of the rules, on conference reports, on agreeing to a Senate or House version, on joint and concurrent resolutions, and on veto overrides.
Left out: amendments, cloture, motions to proceed or table, nominations, and resolutions that only set the terms of debate. These are real votes too, and you can see every one in the official House and Senate roll-call lists.

House votes come straight from the Clerk of the House. Senate votes come from Voteview (UCLA), which copies the Senate’s official roll calls, because the Senate’s own files don’t allow automated downloads. Every vote links to its official roll-call page.

Local boards and councils

For anyone on the ballot who sits on a county board or town council now, including candidates running for a different seat, we list every vote since January 1, 2025 where the official minutes record how each member voted by name. Votes that only run the meeting are left out: adopting the agenda, approving minutes, the consent agenda, closed sessions, and adjourning. Votes the minutes record only as “carried” or “all in favor” can’t be credited to individual members, so they aren’t listed.

Frederick County’s votes come from the approved minutes printed in each Board agenda packet. Purcellville, Stephens City and Middletown post their own minutes, some as scanned pages that we read with text recognition. Every vote links to the page of the minutes it comes from. Leesburg and Lovettsville block automated downloads, and Hamilton doesn’t post minutes online, so for those candidates we link to the town instead. Candidates who don’t sit on any of these bodies have no record to show.

How we check candidates’ backgrounds

Every candidate gets the same Background tab: who they are, past offices and runs, and an official records check, each with its sources. We use the candidate’s own campaign site, government websites, state election results and local news. When we can’t confirm anything beyond the ballot listing, we say so rather than guess.

The records check lists only official outcomes: court judgments, criminal convictions, ethics or election-law findings, campaign-finance penalties and professional discipline. Charges without a recorded outcome, pending cases and accusations are left out, for every candidate alike, because a charge or a claim isn’t a finding. Virginia’s court records can’t be searched automatically, so each tab links to the public court search for you to check yourself.

Where the money and sponsor figures come from

Federal candidates: each campaign’s reports to the Federal Election Commission for 2025–26, including every PAC that gave and spending by outside groups for or against them.
County and town candidates: reports filed with the Virginia Department of Elections. Town races in towns under 25,000 people only have to report if they raise or spend over $25,000 or the town requires it, so many small-town candidates have no reports.
Amendments: sponsors and roll-call votes from the General Assembly’s own records, and every referendum committee registered for or against each question, with its position as it registered.

We show the same figures for everyone, in ballot or alphabetical order, with the date they run through. Money raised isn’t a measure of merit, and a donation doesn’t prove influence. It’s public so you can see who backs whom. Reports lag a few weeks, so the newest money may be missing.