About UnderVoters.org
UnderVoters.org is an independent, non-partisan voter advocacy project. We are not affiliated with any political party, PAC, campaign, or government agency. Our mission is to educate voters about the full scope of their rights and options at the ballot box — including the right to undervote, the case for crossover ballot reform, and the power of voting for candidates you personally know and trust. We believe that a smaller, more informed ballot is more democratic than a complete but uninformed one. We believe local elections deserve as much scrutiny as federal ones. And we believe that party-controlled primaries in one-party districts are one of the most effective suppression mechanisms in American democracy — not because of fraud, but because of design.
What Is Undervoting?
Undervoting means casting a ballot where one or more contests are left blank. It is not spoiling your ballot. It is not an error. It is a deliberate choice to withhold your vote in races where you lack sufficient knowledge to vote confidently. Election law in every state protects this right. When you don’t know the candidates in a race, the most honest thing you can do is leave it blank — not guess, not follow the party line, not vote for a familiar-sounding name. This site exists to help you fill in those blanks with real information, so every mark you do make is one you stand behind.
▶ You may leave any race on your ballot blank without voiding the entire ballot.
▶ Election workers cannot tell you that blank races are "errors" that must be filled.
▶ An undervote is not a spoiled ballot. It is a legal, counted ballot with some races left unvoted.
▶ Courts in multiple states have affirmed the right to partially complete a ballot.
The Crossover Ballot — A Reform Worth Fighting For
Here is where things stand. In a general election — November, your regular Election Day — you already have the legal right to split your ticket. You can vote for a Republican for sheriff and a Democrat for state legislature on the same ballot. That right exists in all 50 states and is one of the most underused tools available to voters. Use it.
Primary elections are a different story. Most states require you to declare a party and receive only that party’s ballot. A registered Democrat cannot vote for a Republican primary candidate. A registered Republican cannot weigh in on a Democratic primary. Independent voters are often locked out of primaries entirely, even though their tax dollars fund them. True crossover primary ballots — a single ballot letting you choose the best candidate from any party in the same election — do not exist as standard practice in most of the United States.
We believe they should. The primary is where elections are often actually decided, especially in one-party districts. Locking voters into a party at the primary stage hands party machinery outsized control over who ever appears on a general election ballot. The result is nominees chosen by the most partisan slice of an electorate, not by the community as a whole.
Several jurisdictions have already moved toward reform. Their results show it is possible — and that it works.
California (2012) and Washington State (2008) use a top-two nonpartisan primary: all candidates regardless of party appear on a single ballot; the top two vote-getters advance to the general election. Party registration is irrelevant — every voter gets the same ballot.
Alaska adopted a top-four nonpartisan primary in 2022 (Ballot Measure 2): the four highest vote-getters across all parties advance, followed by ranked-choice voting in the general election. This gives minor-party and independent candidates a real path to office.
Louisiana has used an open primary for state and local races since 1975: all candidates appear on one ballot; if no one clears 50%, the top two face a runoff regardless of party.
Many U.S. cities and counties — including Chicago, Los Angeles, Houston, and most New England towns — already hold nonpartisan local elections where party labels do not appear on the ballot at all. Voters choose among candidates on merit, not registration.
■ What we advocate: Every state should offer voters a single, unified primary ballot listing all candidates regardless of party affiliation. Primaries funded by public money should not be controlled by private party organizations.
Vote for Who You Know
The best credential a local candidate can have is not party endorsement or money — it is your personal knowledge of who they are. Your block captain. Your PTA president. Your fire department volunteer. Your former teacher. These are people you have seen act under pressure, make decisions, and live with consequences in your community. When you vote for who you know, you are exercising the purest form of democratic accountability. This site gives you the tools to look up who is on your ballot and what they stand for, so you can vote with knowledge rather than assumption.