On the Ballot

About On the Ballot

On the Ballot with Ballotpedia connects people to politics by providing neutral, nonpartisan, and reliable information on our government, how it works, and where it’s headed. This year, we're hoping to learn more about what our audience and what topics you want us to tackle. Complete a brief 5 minute survey to review the show and share some feedback: https://forms.gle/zPxYSog5civyvEKX6 Stream On the Ballot wherever you listen to podcasts. If you have any questions, comments, or love for BP, feel free to send it to us at ontheballot@ballotpedia.org or on Twitter.

Publisher

Ballotpedia

Category

news

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

30 Jun 2022

Latest episode

23 Oct 2026

Latest episodes

261 episodes in the feed.

1. 

   23 Oct 2026

   2026 Ballot Measures and Down-Ballot Races to Watch, with Ballotpedia’s Lara Bonatesta and Victoria Rose

   On this episode: Ballotpedia’s Lara Bonatesta from our events team and Victoria Rose from our ballot measures team join Host Norm Leahy to cover what’s further down the ballot this November. They break down the trends behind this year’s 164 statewide ballot measures, from voter ID and the initiative process to California’s proposed ‘billionaires tax,’ why so many seats are open this year, the secretary of state and attorney general races that help shape how elections are run, how data centers have become an issue at every level of the ballot, and the races and measures they’ll be watching on election night. On the Ballot’s Midterm Mania is here to help you know your ballot up and down before you vote on November 3rd. Tune in for conversations with election analysts, journalists, and Ballotpedia’s brightest on policy, the people, and everything in between. Subscribe to stay ahead of the headlines! Episode Highlights: 00:00 - Show Intro & Meet Lara Bonatesta and Victoria Rose 06:00 - Open Seats, Redistricting, and Record Retirements 14:05 - Secretaries of State, AGs, and Other Down-Ballot Races 19:30 - Data Centers Up and Down the Ballot 26:08 - The Races and Measures to Watch on Election Night 32:39 - First Returns: Florida, Virginia, and the LA Mayor’s Race Show Notes: Lara Bonatesta is a staff writer on Ballotpedia’s events team, where she covers congressional, state executive, and mayoral elections. Victoria Rose is the lead writer on Ballotpedia’s ballot measures team, where she covers statewide ballot measure trends. Explore all of 2026’s statewide ballot measures: https://ballotpedia.org/2026_ballot_measures (https://ballotpedia.org/2026_ballot_measures) Read Ballotpedia’s State Executive Competitiveness Report: https://ballotpedia.org/Annual_State_Executive_Competitiveness_Report,_2026 (https://ballotpedia.org/Annual_State_Executive_Competitiveness_Report,_2026) See everything on your ballot with Ballotpedia’s Sample Ballot Lookup: https://ballotpedia.org/Sample_Ballot_Lookup (https://ballotpedia.org/Sample_Ballot_Lookup) Find registration deadlines, early voting dates, and more in Ballotpedia’s 2026 Voter Toolkit: https://ballotpedia.org/Ballotpedia%27s_Voter_Toolkit (https://ballotpedia.org/Ballotpedia%27s_Voter_Toolkit) More from Ballotpedia: Sign up for Civic Blueprints, a substack by Ballotpedia Founder and CEO Leslie Graves: ⁠ (https://ballotpedia.org/From_the_desk_of_Leslie_Graves)https://civicblueprints.substack.com/ (https://civicblueprints.substack.com/) Sign up for our Newsletters: https://ballotpedia.org/Ballotpedia_Email_Updates (https://ballotpedia.org/Ballotpedia_Email_Updates) Stream "On the Ballot" on Spotify or wherever you listen to podcasts. If you have questions, comments, or love for BP, feel free to reach out at ontheballot@ballotpedia.org or on X (formerly Twitter) @Ballotpedia. *On The Ballot is a conversational podcast featuring interviews with guests across the political spectrum. The views and opinions expressed by them are solely their own and are not representative of the views of the host or Ballotpedia as a whole.

2. 

   21 Oct 2026

   Covering 116,000 Candidates with Ballotpedia’s Doug Kronaizl

   On this episode: Ballotpedia Managing Editor Doug Kronaizl joins Host Norm Leahy to go behind the scenes of Ballotpedia’s local election coverage, which spans about 55,000 elections and 116,000 candidates in 2026, a record for Ballotpedia. They discuss how the team tracks down candidate lists county by county, why some elections are run by law firms or neighbors with a landline, the unusual offices they’ve found along the way, from landowner elections to votes counted in dollars, and the plan to cover every elected office in all 50 states by 2028. On the Ballot’s Midterm Mania is here to help you know your ballot up and down before you vote on November 3rd. Tune in for conversations with election analysts, journalists, and Ballotpedia’s brightest on policy, the people, and everything in between. Subscribe to stay ahead of the headlines! Episode Highlights: 00:00 - Show Intro & Meet Doug Kronaizl 04:22 - Single-Source vs. Multi-Source States 09:34 - Calling Law Firms and Landlines 12:04 - Landowner Elections and Votes Counted in Dollars 17:28 - Endorsements and Getting to Know Local Candidates 23:08 - The Road to All 50 States Show Notes: Doug Kronaizl is a managing editor at Ballotpedia, where he leads the team gathering information on tens of thousands of local candidates every election cycle. Look up every contest on your ballot with Ballotpedia’s Sample Ballot Lookup: https://ballotpedia.org/Sample_Ballot_Lookup (https://ballotpedia.org/Sample_Ballot_Lookup) Learn more about Ballotpedia’s 2026 local election coverage: https://ballotpedia.org/Local_election_coverage,_2026 (https://ballotpedia.org/Local_election_coverage,_2026) More from Ballotpedia: Sign up for Civic Blueprints, a substack by Ballotpedia Founder and CEO Leslie Graves: ⁠ (https://ballotpedia.org/From_the_desk_of_Leslie_Graves)https://civicblueprints.substack.com/ (https://civicblueprints.substack.com/) Sign up for our Newsletters: https://ballotpedia.org/Ballotpedia_Email_Updates (https://ballotpedia.org/Ballotpedia_Email_Updates) Stream "On the Ballot" on Spotify or wherever you listen to podcasts. If you have questions, comments, or love for BP, feel free to reach out at ontheballot@ballotpedia.org or on X (formerly Twitter) @Ballotpedia. *On The Ballot is a conversational podcast featuring interviews with guests across the political spectrum. The views and opinions expressed by them are solely their own and are not representative of the views of the host or Ballotpedia as a whole.

3. 

   19 Oct 2026

   Down-Ballot Races Explained: Leslie Graves on Closing the Local Information Gap

   On this episode: Exploring the part of the ballot where many voters run out of information: the school boards, judges, county offices and special districts that make up more than 500,000 elected offices nationwide. They discuss why so many voters leave the booth unsure about their down-ballot choices, Ballotpedia’s plan to cover every contest on every ballot by 2028, how candidate surveys and local endorsing groups help fill the gaps, and preparing to enter the busiest stretch of the year. On the Ballot’s Midterm Mania is here to help you know your ballot up and down before you vote on November 3rd. Tune in for conversations with election analysts, journalists, and Ballotpedia’s brightest on policy, the people, and everything in between. Subscribe to stay ahead of the headlines! Episode Highlights: 00:00 - Show Intro & Meet Leslie Graves 01:18 - Here There Be Dragons: The Offices Voters Don’t Know 05:02 - Ballotpedia’s Plan to Cover Every Contest 10:00 - Candidate Surveys and Local Endorsements 13:28 - Why Local Information Is So Hard to Find 17:08 - Volunteers, AI, and the “Big Six Weeks” More from Ballotpedia: Sign up for Civic Blueprints (https://civicblueprints.substack.com/ ), a substack by Ballotpedia Founder and CEO Leslie Graves Sign up for our Newsletters (https://ballotpedia.org/Ballotpedia_Email_Updates ) Stream "On the Ballot" on Spotify or wherever you listen to podcasts. If you have questions, comments, or love for BP, feel free to reach out at ontheballot@ballotpedia.org or on X (formerly Twitter) @Ballotpedia. *On The Ballot is a conversational podcast featuring interviews with guests across the political spectrum. The views and opinions expressed by them are solely their own and are not representative of the views of the host or Ballotpedia as a whole.

Who has been a guest on On the Ballot

Names identified in recent episode analyses. Showing up to five guests.

• Zachary Shemtob
• Leslie Graves
• Annie McDonough
• Carl Tobias
• Brent Johnson

Reach and audience

Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.

Apple Podcasts (US)

5.0 / 5

7 ratings

Spotify

5.0 / 5

27 ratings

Podcast Authority Score: 63 / 100

A composite of feed quality, social presence, YouTube performance and engagement. Read the methodology.

Quality

93

Social presence

0

YouTube

0

Engagement

82

Contact On the Ballot

Guest appearances

Books guests

Based on episode analysis; this does not confirm that the show is currently accepting guests.

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Questions about On the Ballot