Local Expansion Staff Researcher (Remote)

The Position

Ballotpedia is seeking to hire a full-time, 100% remote Local Expansion Staff Researcher. 

Reporting to the Local Expansion Managing Editor, the Staff Researcher will conduct research and outreach to gather official election documents and information needed to comprehensively cover local elections, all the way down to the smallest cities and school districts. The researcher will ingest this data into Ballotpedia’s database to support accurate election and candidate coverage, assist in managing and auditing candidate research workflows, and monitor changes in election calendars to ensure Ballotpedia reflects the most up-to-date information.

As a Local Expansion Staff Researcher, you will build a strong understanding of how local elections are documented and communicated by jurisdictions of all sizes. You will learn to identify and interpret official election materials, extract relevant information, and contribute to improving the scope and quality of Ballotpedia’s local election and candidate coverage.

This is a great position for a skilled researcher who is passionate about the opportunity to help expand fact-based, neutral election coverage in the United States for American voters, especially at the local level.

Responsibilities

As a Local Expansion Staff Researcher, you will:

• Research reliable election information sources and conduct outreach to gather official election documents for local contests.
• Process and ingest election and candidate data into Ballotpedia’s database, using both automated tools and manual review.
• Monitor changes to election schedules and documentation to ensure Ballotpedia reflects up-to-date information for upcoming local elections.
• Maintain and improve databases of sources and research processes to enhance the consistency and completeness of election coverage over time.
• Conduct data review and data cleanup activities, including:
• Reviewing data for accuracy and completeness, making corrections based on Ballotpedia’s data standards and current information in our database.  
• Building knowledge of state and local election practices across assigned jurisdictions to support accurate interpretation of election materials.
• Participate in other election activities supporting Ballotpedia’s elections coverage, including: 
• Researching election laws and other relevant electoral topics as needed.
• Identifying opportunities and implementing workflows to add to the depth and quality of Ballotpedia’s local election coverage.
• Improving access to Ballotpedia’s local election coverage on-site.
• Promoting Ballotpedia’s local election coverage.

Qualifications and Characteristics

An ideal Local Expansion Staff Researcher will:

• Have a passion for elections, election and voter information, and politics, with a commitment to Ballotpedia’s mission to remain neutral in providing fact-based, objective coverage.
• Have excellent research skills and the ability to follow general guidelines to locate appropriate online and direct outreach sources and record information in an organized, concise manner to answer detailed questions.
• Exhibit resourcefulness, curiosity, and an ability to recognize when information falls outside existing processes to investigate further and communicate findings that can improve team understanding.
• Have exceptional attention to detail and an ability to understand complex processes and consistently follow instructions over a large number of iterations.
• Be able to accurately and concisely summarize complex concepts, difficult text, and detailed structures.
• Have sharp critical thinking skills with the ability to understand the varied structures of a large number of sources and apply more general categories and logical statements to those structures.
• Work collaboratively within a team by proactively communicating progress, sharing relevant discoveries, and coordinating efforts to ensure smooth cooperation on shared election and candidate research.
• Enjoy organizing their own lives and the world around them through elegant structures. 
• Enjoy receiving and implementing critical feedback for constant improvement.
• Be adept at using utilities such as Google Chrome, Docs, and Sheets, or similar tools to navigate, find, record, organize, and clean up information gathered from the Internet.
• Have interest in or experience using AI tools to increase productivity.
  

Environment

The Local Expansion Staff Researcher will work remotely from their home location. All Ballotpedia staff work remotely. To join Ballotpedia, you must have a computer with Internet access.

Ballotpedia offers a flexible work environment, BP Flex, in which