Candidate information

Why engage with Build a Ballot?

Voting can be an overwhelming process for many people. We exist to help voters cut through the noise and make informed decisions based on their values.

At the 2025 federal election, 600,000 Australians used Build a Ballot to research and plan their vote. As we expand to state elections across 2026 and 2027, we expect strong engagement from voters seeking clear, comparable information to help inform their voting decisions.

By engaging with us, you help ensure:

• Your policy positions are clearly and accurately reflected in the tool
• Voters can better understand where you stand

What you can expect from the process

If you’re an incumbent

If you currently hold a seat in parliament, we will:

1. Review publicly available information about your policy positions (including voting records, official statements and policy documents)
2. Assign preliminary support levels to the set of policies included in the tool
3. Send you our assessment and provide two opportunities to review and respond before the tool goes live

If there is insufficient information for us to assign support levels and you don't respond to us, you may not be eligible for a match score within the tool.

If you’re a non-incumbent

If you are not currently holding a parliamentary seat, we will:

1. Send you a questionnaire covering each policy included in the tool
2. Ask you to indicate your level of support for each policy statement
3. Request supporting evidence (such as policy documents, public statements or endorsements)

We review all responses before publication and may contact you if clarification is required.

If you have not previously made a public statement on a policy, but want to respond to the questionnaire, your response will be published on our website and treated as a public statement. If you choose not to provide a response to a policy statement, it will be marked “N/A” and excluded from match calculations.

How are you matched with voters?

We calculate match scores by directly comparing candidates' and users' positions on each policy. If a user and candidate both support a policy? That’s one match point. If one supports and the other opposes? They receive no match points for that policy. The overall match score represents the percentage of policies that the user and candidate agree on.

To make results easy to interpret for users, match scores are colour-coded:

• 70% and above — Green
• 40–69% — Yellow
• Below 40% — Red
• Insufficient information — Grey

Importantly, users are encouraged to conduct additional research and rearrange their ballot to ensure their final vote reflects their priorities.

Their final ballot order remains entirely at the voter’s discretion.

Timings and updates

• All candidates are contacted at least twice before the tool goes live.
• Responses are uploaded on a rolling basis up until election day.
• You may contact us at any time to update or clarify your position.

How to get in contact

If you are a candidate and would like to:

• Review your assessment
• Complete the questionnaire
• Update your responses

Please contact us at tool@buildaballot.org.au