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Scope of Ratings and Endorsements (as of February 2015)
Organizations (termed Special Interest Groups): any business, PAC, or any collection of individuals that produce a rating; any Special Interest Group that produces an endorsementRatings and Endorsements: any rating or endorsement that covers a candidate or official tracked by Vote Smart on the state or federal level (including territories)
Content Covered Per Special Interest Group: name, address, phone numbers, emails, website URL, and appropriate categories and tags.
Content covered Per "Rating" or "Endorsement": year, legislative session or election they were released for, the name of the scorecard (based on our policies), ratings text/description, officials and candidates that were given the rating or endorsement, and appropriate categories and tags.
Data Sources
Primary Sources: in the Special Interest Groups Sub-Department, we take all of our information from primary sources. Primary sources can be defined as "the most direct source." We want our data to come from the interest group itself. So, if a news outlet is speaking about a group's new rating or endorsements, it would serve as pointers for us to the primary source. Verified social media accounts can be used as a primary source. Below are examples of primary sources and how the data from that source is displayed on our website.Rating Scorecard:
Rating Scorecard from the Humane Society
Vote Smart's Display of the Humane Scorecard
Endorsement:
Endorsement from the Feminist Majority PAC
Vote Smart's Display of the Feminist Majority PAC Endorsement
Other notes on primary sources:
Ratings and endorsements come from the Special Interest Group itself, though leads may be derived from politicians' statements or media sources.
- An official website of that Special Interest Group
- Content submitted to us directly from the Special Interest Group
- Verifications provided by official representatives of that Special Interest Group (reached via phone or email if a website is out of date or unavailable)
Secondary Sources: in the Special Interest Groups Sub-Department, we do not take any information from secondary sources. A secondary source can be defined as any source not published by the special interest group themselves. An example would be anything in the New York Times or scorecards published by another political information resources like Ballotpedia. Please never take any information from secondary sources. Data is much more reliable when we take it directly from the primary source.
With permission from the National Director, secondhand reports from reliable third-party media sources may be used.
- PR Newswire is an approved secondary source.
Expected Frequency of Updates
New ratings and endorsements from Special Interest Groups we track: quarterlyNew interest groups to add to our database: twice a year
SIG contact information update: once a year
Contacts for special interest groups: 3 attempts a year, or less if a rating is found or the interest group states they are not intending to release a rating or endorsement that year
