Terms and concepts used throughout the platform.
Registration & Voters
Registration Advantage
The percentage point difference between the two major parties' registration shares. "D+15" means Democrats have 15 percentage points more registered voters than Republicans in that jurisdiction.
No Party Preference (NPP)
California's term for voters who decline to state a party affiliation. Often called "independents" elsewhere. NPP voters are a large and heterogeneous group—not uniformly moderate or persuadable.
Turnout Rate
The percentage of registered voters who cast a ballot in an election. A 65% turnout rate means 65% of registered voters voted.
% of Registered vs. % of Electorate
"% of Registered" is a group's share of all registered voters. "% of Electorate" is their share of people who actually voted. Comparing these reveals which groups over- or under-perform relative to their registration weight.
Ideology & Voting Patterns
Political Lean / Ideology Score
A classification based on how a jurisdiction votes on statewide ballot propositions, ranging from Very Progressive to Very Conservative. Calculated from aggregated proposition results across issue categories.
Partisanship Score
A 0-100 measure of how closely a race's results correlated with party registration. High scores (70+) mean the race followed party lines; low scores suggest candidate qualities or issues mattered more than party.
Party Alignment
Which candidate or position was most supported by each party's voters, based on actual voting patterns rather than party labels.
Ticket-Splitting
When voters support different parties for different offices on the same ballot (e.g., voting for a Democratic president but a Republican state legislator).
Campaign Finance
Committee
A registered entity that raises or spends money to influence elections. Includes candidate committees, PACs, ballot measure committees, party committees, and major donors.
Candidate Committee
A committee controlled by a candidate to support their own election. One candidate, one committee per office sought.
General Purpose Committee
A committee that can support or oppose multiple candidates and measures. Most PACs are general purpose committees.
Ballot Measure Committee
A committee formed specifically to support or oppose a ballot proposition. Can raise unlimited amounts.
Major Donor
An individual or entity that gives $10,000+ in a calendar year. Files Form 461 rather than Form 460. Shows contributions made, not received.
Independent Expenditure (IE)
Money spent to expressly advocate for or against a candidate or measure without coordinating with any campaign. Not subject to contribution limits.
Late Contribution
A contribution of $1,000+ received within 90 days of an election, or $5,000+ at any other time, that must be reported on Form 497. The 90-day contributions require 24-hour disclosure; the $5,000+ contributions require disclosure within 10 days.
Cash on Hand
A committee's bank balance as of the end of a filing period. A point-in-time snapshot, not a real-time figure.
Elections & Results
Top-Two Primary
California's primary election system where all candidates appear on one ballot regardless of party, and the top two vote-getters advance to the general election—even if they're from the same party.
Ballot Dropoff
The percentage of voters who cast a ballot for top-of-ticket races (President, Governor) who also voted in a particular down-ballot race. Lower dropoff indicates a less visible race.
Precinct
The smallest geographic unit for which election results are reported. Precinct boundaries can change between elections.
Margin
The percentage point difference between the winner and runner-up. A 10-point margin means the winner received 10 percentage points more than the second-place finisher.
Geographic & Jurisdictional
Jurisdiction
Any geographic political unit: county, city, legislative district, school district, special district, etc.
Overlapping Districts
Jurisdictions that share some of the same voters. A city overlaps with its county, state legislative districts, congressional district, and various school and special districts.
Legislative District
A geographic area represented by an elected legislator: Assembly District (80 statewide), Senate District (40 statewide), or Congressional District (52 statewide).
Data & Metrics
Relative Standing
A percentile-based comparison showing where a jurisdiction ranks among similar jurisdictions. Expressed as Very Low, Low, Average, High, or Very High.
Correlation Coefficient
A statistical measure (-1 to +1) of how consistently two variables move together. Strong positive correlation means precincts high on one variable tend to be high on the other.
ACS (American Community Survey)
The Census Bureau's ongoing survey that provides detailed demographic and socioeconomic data. Most Census data on the platform comes from 5-year ACS estimates.
Cal-Access
The Secretary of State's database for state-level campaign finance filings. The source for all statewide committee data.
Netfile
An electronic filing system used by many California cities and counties for local campaign finance disclosure. The source for most local committee data on the platform.
Platform-Specific
Activity Feed
A chronological stream of recent campaign finance filings, showing late contributions, independent expenditures, new committees, and periodic statements as they're filed.
Election Report
A detailed post-election analysis page showing precinct-level results, coalition heatmaps, geographic breakdowns, and statistical summaries for a completed race.
Projection Tool
A scenario planning feature that estimates electorate composition at different turnout levels, based on historical patterns for that specific jurisdiction.