Ballotpedia:Leslie Graves - Founder and CEO

Leslie Graves is the founder and CEO of Ballotpedia, the nation’s most trusted source of unbiased information on politics, elections, and policy.

Since founding Ballotpedia in 2007 at her kitchen table in Spring Green, Wisconsin, Graves has transformed it from a small volunteer effort into an essential democratic institution that serves voters, researchers, activists, students, and journalists alike.

“Ballotpedia’s sustainability stands as an outlier in the graveyard of nonpartisan election sites." - John Gastil and Andrea Felicetti, The Information Society

Mission
What began as a personal quest for trustworthy, spin-free information on ballot initiatives evolved into Graves' life mission. Struck by the partisan nature of available electoral information and the general lack of accessible resources, she established Ballotpedia with an unwavering commitment to neutrality and factual accuracy. Under her leadership, the organization has developed rigorous systems to ensure objectivity—employees "leave their politics at home," and comprehensive audits and metrics guide content development. This cultural dedication to neutrality has made Ballotpedia the definitive encyclopedia of American politics, with professionally authored content that millions rely upon for making informed decisions.

518,000 Elected Officials, One Trusted Source
Graves is currently leading Ballotpedia's most ambitious initiative yet: ensuring every voter in the United States can easily find the list of candidates for all of their elections, along with meaningful information about all of those candidates. Federal elected officials represent 0.01% of all U.S. elected officials. State officials represent 3.7%, while 96% of all elected officials in the U.S. are local. The politicians who dominate the news barely scratch the surface of the number of politicians in the United States.

Ballotpedia’s initiative responds to a fundamental democratic deficit: millions of eligible voters stay home each election cycle—not from apathy, but because they lack the tools and information to participate confidently, particularly in local and down-ballot races. Through innovative approaches like the Sample Ballot tool (used by more than 3 million Americans in 2024) and the Candidate Connection survey, Graves’ Ballotpedia systematically dismantles barriers to democratic participation.

Impact and Vision
The metrics of Ballotpedia's influence are staggering—1.4 billion lifetime pageviews and 4 million newsletter subscribers—but Graves measures success through individual stories of voter empowerment, like the Atlanta mother who emailed Ballotpedia that she “finally felt equipped to vote in school board elections that would shape her child's future.”

Through her monthly column, The Pathfinder," which was part of the PBS/WNET Preserving Democracy initiative, Graves guided readers on a journey of civic discovery, exploring both the machinery and the meaning of American democracy.

Her vision is clear: a future where voters are "engaged, enthusiastic, and equipped to make a difference." It's not just about providing information—it's about fostering and preserving democracy.

Contact

• Email Ballotpedia: [email protected]