We the Compounders

Your vote

What you can do about all of this.

The budget, the debt and the tax code are set by the people we elect. This page helps you find what's on your ballot, how voting works where you live, and what to ask the people asking for your vote. It doesn't tell you whom to vote for. The questions apply to every candidate, in every party.

The general election is Tuesday, November 3, 2026. All 435 House seats are on the ballot, along with 35 Senate seats and many state and local offices and ballot measures. Look up your state below: some deadlines have passed, but many states still let you register, and some let you register and vote the same day.

1Look up your state

Checked against official sources in October 2026. Deadlines and rules change, so confirm on your state's election site before you rely on them.

2Why primaries matter

For most seats, the November election isn't close. Ballotpedia counts only 46 of the 435 House districts as battlegrounds this year. Everywhere else, the real choice is made in the party primary months earlier, and few people take part: about 1 in 5 eligible voters voted in the 2022 primaries, against about half in that November's general election.

Who can vote in a party's primary depends on your state. If yours is closed, you may need to register with a party well before the primary, sometimes months before.

TypeWho can vote in a party's primaryStates
Closed Only voters registered with that party. 8
Partially closed Party members, and unaffiliated voters if the party allows it. 9
Open to unaffiliated voters Party members and unaffiliated voters, but not members of another party. 8
Partially open Any voter, but the party ballot you choose may be recorded or count as joining that party. 5
Open Any registered voter, choosing one party's ballot in private. 15
Top-two and similar One primary with every candidate on it; the top finishers advance, whatever their party (Alaska sends four, California and Washington two; Louisiana and Nebraska have their own systems). 5

Counts from the National Conference of State Legislatures, State Primary Election Types (May 2026). Rules can differ for presidential primaries, which parties run. The 2026 primaries are over; the next ones are in 2028.

3Questions to ask any candidate

Campaigns are good at slogans. These questions ask for specifics, the same way this site does. They come from the ideas behind the rest of the site, and a candidate of any party can answer them well or badly.

1 Living within our means

“Will you vote for budgets that stop the debt from growing faster than the economy? Which taxes would you raise, or which spending would you cut, to get there?”

On today's laws, the Congressional Budget Office projects the debt will grow from about 100% of the economy to about 175% by 2056, and interest on it already costs more than defense. How the debt got here.

A real answer names programs or taxes and roughly how much. “Cut waste” or “make others pay their fair share” isn't a plan on its own. Try balancing it yourself first: you'll know a specific answer when you hear one.

2 Where the money should go

“What would you spend more on, what would you spend less on, and how would you pay for anything new?”

Social Security, Medicare, other health programs, interest and defense are nearly 80% of federal spending. Anything new means moving money from something else, raising taxes, or borrowing. Where the money went this year.

Listen for both halves. Every new program has a cost, and every cut lands on someone. A candidate who names only what they'd add, or only what they'd cut, has told you half the plan.

3 No individual stocks in office

“While you're in office, will you hold only broad funds or a blind trust, and not own or trade individual stocks?”

Supporters of a ban point out that members of Congress write laws that move companies' profits and get briefings the public doesn't. Opponents say disclosure is enough and a ban would discourage people from serving. Under the STOCK Act of 2012 they must report trades over $1,000 within 45 days, but they can still own and trade individual stocks. In July 2026 the House passed a bill barring members, spouses and dependent children from buying new stocks; it also carried an unrelated voter ID requirement. In September it fell short of the 60 votes needed to advance in the Senate. A Senate committee approved a stricter ban in 2025 that hasn't had a vote. None has become law. In a 2023 University of Maryland survey, 86% of voters supported a ban, with similar support in both parties. Federal judges already must step aside from any case involving a company whose stock they own, however small the stake.

Ask whether the pledge covers a spouse, and whether it means selling what they own now or only not buying more. Funds that hold a broad slice of the market, like index funds, are what most proposals allow.

4Your candidate checklist

Add the candidates on your ballot and note how each answers. It's saved only in this browser, on this device: nothing is sent anywhere.

5Between elections

Your representatives work for you all year, not just at election time.

  • Find them: your House member (by ZIP code) and your two senators.
  • Tell them what you think: build your plan in Balance the budget, copy the link, and send it with a few sentences on why. Messages from constituents with a specific ask get read.
  • Watch how they vote: every recorded vote is public, on the House Clerk's and Senate's sites.
  • Check your registration before each election, especially after a move: Can I Vote, from the National Association of Secretaries of State.

Sources

We the Compounders is nonpartisan and doesn't support or oppose any candidate, party or ballot measure.