About

What is Prism?

Prism is a free, nonpartisan tool that makes an informed vote take less work. First, we help you figure out your own stance on the issues in a race. Then we show you where each candidate lines up with you, and where they don't.

We put each candidate's record in one place, in plain language: what they said, what they did, and who funded them. The whole picture, side by side, so you can weigh it yourself.

No party. No endorsements. No agenda. No tracking, and your answers never leave your device.

We're starting with California. We want to go much further.

Why did we build this?

Democracy works when voters can make real choices. That means fair, honest information. It means space to decide what you believe based on your own life.

Most political information reaches you as a take (a quick opinion). A clip, an ad, a post about why the other side is wrong.

A take hands you a conclusion, not the reasons behind it. It can feel like understanding, but someone else did the thinking. That makes it easy to repeat a take without testing it against your own judgment.

There's a harder question: what would you do in their place? Every leader faces tradeoffs. Money spent on one thing can't be spent on another.

So when you see what a candidate did, or promised, ask yourself: would I make the same choice? Your answer tells you something real about what you believe. And "I don't know enough yet" is a real answer too.

The record is public. Every vote a candidate cast is on file. Every dollar they raised is in a filing. Most people just don't have time to dig through it all.

Prism puts the record in one place, in plain language, before you vote. What you do with it is up to you.

How does it work?

Answer a short quiz about issues that matter in this election. Weigh the ones you care about most. Skip the ones you can't decide on. See your matches. Then read what each candidate said, what they did, and who funded their campaign.

What's behind the name?

A prism takes a single beam of light and reveals the full spectrum of colors already inside it.

That's the idea. You already have a prism formed by your values, where you come from, what you've lived, and what matters to you. Prism's job isn't to tell you what to think. It's to help you see each candidate clearly, through your own understanding of them and the issues.

It's why you pick your own favorite color at the start, and why we start with the issues, so you can make up your own mind. The prism is yours, and your results show up in the color you chose.

When you see your matches, you see the things that take the most digging to find on your own: what each candidate said, what they've actually done, and who's funded them. You also see the things you already know them by, like their party.

So when a candidate's pitch comes down to "trust me, I'm in this party" or "don't trust them, they're in that party," you can look at the record: what they said, how they voted, and who paid for it. That's where the real answer is. We put all of the information in one place, so the full picture is yours to weigh.

See the full spectrum, be a Prism Voter.

What does Prism not do?

• No ads
• No tracking
• No data collected or sold
• Your quiz answers never leave your device
• No endorsements. Ever.

Prism does not tell you who to vote for. That's your job.

Where does the information come from?

Every claim about a candidate links to a primary source (the original record, not someone's summary of it):

• Official records of their votes and the bills they wrote
• Campaign filings that show who gave money to candidates (for California: CAL-ACCESS, FPPC, and FEC)
• On-the-record statements (interviews, debates, and statements from their office)
• Other public records

No opposition research (attack material gathered by rival campaigns). No campaign ads. If we can't trace it to an original document, we don't publish it.

What version is this?

Prism's first version ran in the June 2026 California Governor's primary. We're building the next version for the November general election.

Where is Prism going?

Right now, Prism covers statewide California elections. This is where we test our approach and learn from your feedback.

Over time, we want Prism to cover more of the races you vote on. That includes local races, where good information is hardest to find.

We also want to reach more voters who get left out. Most people can't sit through every debate or attend a town hall for every candidate. So we're building ways to make an informed vote possible without either.

And we think voters should have the same access to candidates that big donors get. We're working toward that too.

These are a few of the things we're testing this fall, during the November general election. We'll keep building and adding as we grow.

Voting is for everyone. The tools should be too.

Want to support Prism?

Prism is a work in progress. If you'd like to support what we're building, as a funder, researcher, or developer, we'd love to hear from you.

Have feedback for us?

Your feedback is anonymous unless you choose to add your email. We'll only use it to reply to you.

Prefer to reach us directly? contact@prismvoter.org