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MassVoter helps Massachusetts voters see which candidates on their ballot match their views. Pick your town, take a short quiz for each race, and see who you agree with and on which issues.

How the quizzes are made

Every quiz is researched with AI and double verified against the original sources. We start from what the candidates have actually said and done: debates, interviews, campaign websites, and voting records. Each question puts the two candidates’ positions side by side in plain words. Before a question goes live, it is checked a second time against those sources for accuracy and fairness.

When there isn’t enough on the record

Some candidates haven’t said much publicly, especially in local races. In those races, every candidate gets the same MassVoter questionnaire with the same questions. A candidate who doesn’t answer is marked “Did not respond to the MassVoter questionnaire.” A quiz goes live only once it has at least five questions. Until then, the race shows “Soon.”

How we stay nonpartisan

• MassVoter doesn’t endorse any candidate, party or ballot question side.
• Every candidate in a race gets the same questions, and every answer comes from their own words, with sources.
• Answer order is shuffled, so you can’t tell whose answer is whose.
• Points both candidates agree on are shown separately and don’t count toward your match.
• Ads are clearly labeled. Every candidate pays the same rates, and every political ad shows who paid for it. A campaign’s ad never appears on its own race’s quiz, and political ads never appear on quiz results.
• Advertising never affects the questions or how results are figured.
• Following a town, board or legislator never changes what we cover. Everyone who follows the same thing gets the same email, and follower numbers are never shown.

Each quiz compares the two leading candidates in a race, and anyone else on the ballot is still listed.

In the news

State legislator pages, city and town pages, and the pages of current local board members (city councils, select boards and school committees) show recent news stories that name that person in the headline or the opening paragraphs, newest first. Each story shows only its headline, the outlet, the date and a link to read it.

• Headlines appear exactly as each outlet published them. MassVoter does not write, choose or rate the stories.
• Every story that names the person this way is listed, whether it reflects well on them or not. The only stories left out are ones about a different person with the same name, and letters to the editor, opinion columns and editorials, so the list stays news reports.
• Every person is searched the same way, twice a day. Statewide outlets are searched for every legislator; local outlets are searched for the officials in the area they cover.
• We only use outlets that are free to read: no paywall and no free-trial limit. Each story is checked before it is listed, and any story marked as paid content is left out.

Current sources:

• Fall River Reporter (published by MassVoter’s founder)
• New Bedford Guide (published by MassVoter’s founder)
• The New Bedford Light
• WPRI 12
• CommonWealth Beacon
• NBC Boston
• 7News WHDH
• WWLP 22News
• Dorchester Reporter
• The Berkshire Edge
• CapeCod.com
• Martha's Vineyard Times
• Plymouth Independent
• Cambridge Day
• The Somerville Times
• Watertown News
• YourArlington
• The Concord Bridge
• Natick Report
• WBSM
• WBUR
• WCVB 5
• Boston 25 News
• GBH News
• NEPM

Disclosure: MassVoter’s founder, Michael Silvia, is the publisher of Fall River Reporter and New Bedford Guide. Their stories are listed by the same rules as every other outlet’s.

Your privacy

You don’t need an account. We save your quiz answers and your town, but nothing that identifies you. Your phone or computer remembers which quizzes you’ve finished, your results and your badges, so we can suggest the next one and show your ballot summary. That stays on your device. We never see it. If you tell us your town, we keep it only for that visit. If you’d like to stay connected, you can give us just your email and town. Your email is never linked to your quiz answers.

After Election Day

MassVoter keeps going after November 3. When the Legislature passes a bill, we’ll show the vote count, what it means in plain words, and how your own legislators voted, all from the official record. We never grade or score legislators.

Supporting MassVoter

MassVoter is free and has no paywall. If it helps you, you can support it once or monthly. Support never affects what we cover, and we don’t accept it from candidates, campaigns, political parties, PACs or ballot question committees.