Press & media
VoteStack is a free, nonpartisan guide to every race on a voter’s ballot in Chicago and suburban Cook County, Illinois, and Los Angeles County, California, for the Tuesday, November 3, 2026 general election. This page is for reporters and editors: a fact sheet, a reporter FAQ, ready-to-use blurbs, logos and contact for interviews.
For general information about the project, see About VoteStack.
Fact sheet
- What
- A free website that shows every race on a voter’s ballot, with a short profile of each candidate and judge.
- Where
- Chicago and suburban Cook County, Illinois, and Los Angeles County, California.
- Election
- Tuesday, November 3, 2026.
- Candidates profiled
- 1,176 across the counties VoteStack covers, including judges and small local offices.
- Coverage launched
- Chicago and suburban Cook County, Illinois (338 candidates) on October 11, 2026; Los Angeles County, California (838 candidates) on October 17, 2026.
- Each profile
- Overview, campaign money (official filings), endorsements (bar association ratings for judges), and numbered sources with the date read.
- AI models
- DeepSeek V4 Pro drafts each profile from public sources. Google Gemini 3.1 Pro checks every sentence against its cited source.
- Human review
- Not per profile, so VoteStack can cover every race. Every sentence links to its source instead, and anyone can report an error from a profile.
- Ballot data
- The Cook County Clerk, the Chicago Board of Election Commissioners, and the Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk, checked against each authority’s sample ballot data.
- Cost to voters
- Free. No sign-up, no ads, no paywall.
- Funding
- Paid for by its maintainer and by voters who choose to pay toward it. No money from candidates, parties, campaigns, political action committees or governments.
- Code
- Open source under the Apache License 2.0. github.com/nikolai-laba/votestack
- Publisher
- VoteStack, LLC (a company, not a charity or a government agency).
- Who
- Nikolai Laba, Oak Park, Illinois. nikolai@votestack.org
- New areas
- Voters can sign up for new areas at votestack.org/notify.
Reporter FAQ
Why build this?
When I researched my own ballot, I had a dozen tabs open and still wasn’t sure about half the races. Judges and local offices are the hardest part. I wanted one place with all of it, explained plainly, with a source for every fact.
Doesn’t AI make things up?
It can, which is why the method is built around sources. The writing model has to cite one source for each sentence, and that source has to say everything in the sentence. A second model opens every cited page and keeps, corrects or removes each sentence. Software then checks links, dates and length before a profile appears. Mistakes can still get through, so every sentence links to its source, and anyone can report an error from the profile.
How we make profiles explains the research and the checks in detail.
Did a person read every profile?
Not one by one. Reviewing every profile by hand would limit VoteStack to a few races in a few places. Instead, it’s built to be checked: every sentence links to its source, software checks every link and date, and anyone can report an error from the profile. Each profile says plainly that a person didn’t review it.
How is this different from asking a chatbot?
Nothing is generated when you ask. Profiles are written once, checked, and published with their sources. The list of races comes from the election authorities and is compared with each authority’s sample ballot data, not from a model.
Is it partisan?
VoteStack doesn’t support or oppose any candidate, party or referendum, and the rules make that checkable:
- Candidates appear in official ballot order.
- Everyone in a race gets the same research and the same length limit.
- No candidate is featured or ranked.
- Party is shown as text, not color.
- VoteStack takes no campaign money.
Who pays for it?
Its maintainer, and voters who choose to pay toward it. It takes no money from candidates, parties or campaigns.
What about the energy and cost of AI?
Each profile is written once per election, not each time someone visits.
What do you collect about visitors?
VoteStack uses your address once to find your districts. It isn’t saved, logged or added to the page link. The names you pick under Saved choices stay on your device. Sign-ups for new areas store only an email address and ZIP code.
How does Los Angeles County coverage differ from Cook County?
Methodology is identical. Los Angeles County has 838 candidates profiled across every race on the ballot; Cook County has 338. Cook includes a judicial-retention block (voters say yes or no to keep sitting judges); Los Angeles doesn’t have that structure. Everything else (ballot data sourced from the election authorities, per-sentence citations, bar association ratings for judges, campaign money from official filings) works the same way in both counties.
Is a Spanish version available?
Not yet. VoteStack is English-only through the November 3, 2026 election. Spanish support is in development and will be a priority for upcoming elections.
What’s next?
Covering more places. People elsewhere can sign up at votestack.org/notify.
Ready-to-use copy
Paste any of these into a story, newsletter or resource page. No attribution required.
One line
VoteStack (votestack.org): a short, sourced profile of every candidate on your Chicago, suburban Cook County, or Los Angeles County ballot, including the judges, school board seats and other local races that get little coverage anywhere else. Free, nonpartisan and open source.
50 words
Local races (judges, school board, state legislature) often come with little for a careful voter to go on. VoteStack is a free site that gives every candidate on your Chicago, suburban Cook County, or Los Angeles County ballot a short, sourced profile: their record, campaign money and endorsements. Enter your address for Tuesday, November 3. votestack.org
100 words
Judges. School board. State legislature. Water reclamation. The races below the top of the ballot are where even careful voters often find little to go on. VoteStack is a free site that gives every candidate on your Chicago, suburban Cook County, or Los Angeles County ballot a short, sourced profile: their record, campaign money and endorsements, with bar association ratings for judges. AI drafts each profile from public sources and a second AI checks every sentence against its source, so you can click through and read it yourself. VoteStack takes no money from candidates, parties or campaigns. For Tuesday, November 3. votestack.org
Social post
Who’s running for your school board, judgeships and the other local races on your ballot? VoteStack gives every candidate on your Chicago, suburban Cook County or Los Angeles County ballot a short, sourced profile. Free and nonpartisan: votestack.org
Logos
Right-click or long-press each image to save, or copy the URL. Please don’t alter the logos.
Contact and interviews
Nikolai Laba, VoteStack’s maintainer, is available for interviews and can walk through a profile from source to published page. Email nikolai@votestack.org.