Nearly 70% of races went uncontested in 2022
Sign up below for a detailed breakdown of uncontested races during the 2022 General election cycle and important context for this research:
Our data shows voters had no real choice on a majority of their ballot
A staggering 67% of races that appeared on ballots in November 2022 were unopposed or uncontested. This means that the number of candidates appearing on the ballot for a majority of given positions (like city councilor, county commissioner, etc.) was less than or equal to the number of allowable selections that could be made by a given voter. In other words, voters were left scanning through potentially hundreds of high-impact positions on their ballot with only one option to vote for (or, more likely, skip altogether).
Armed with the knowledge that they will not face an opponent in their upcoming election, incumbents remain in office unchallenged and unaccountable to voters.
Moreover, voters are left helpless and confused at the ballot box—and even more inclined to vote for 1-2 races at the top of the ballot and disregard the rest.
However, this problem in our democracy does present a unique opportunity—for potential candidates.
Running for elected office may be easier and more accessible than many Americans might imagine (in fact, you might not even have an opponent!) and is an impactful way to represent your community’s interests beyond just voting.
Learn more about the problem and the opportunities below, and see how BallotReady has helped recruit thousands of new candidates to run for office through partnerships with Run For Something, Snapchat, and others.
The numbers get more significant down the ballot
According to an analysis of our database conducted by matching our extensive positions and candidacies data, this breakdown from the 2022 General Election cycle shows the percentages of races/positions that went uncontested at each level.
While the gap between the 3% of uncontested federal races and the 35% of state level positions is significant, the numbers really start to get alarming as you move into local levels of government.
Our data shows that a whopping 91% of regional district attorney positions across the country went uncontested in 2022, along with 85% of district & circuit court judicial positions. For those looking to reform and impact our criminal justice and public safety policies, this is a massive oversight (and clear opportunity).
Sign up below the see this complete breakdown, and answer some questions about caveats and edge cases.
Only a few states have low levels of uncontested races
Almost every state in the country in 2022 saw a majority of positions that appeared on the ballot go uncontested and only five states were sub 40%.
The issue does not appear to be isolated to red or blue states, nor states with big top of the ballot elections vs those without.
Even high profile election states like Georgia, Arizona, Texas and New York saw 70% of races go uncontested, according to our estimates representing thousands of positions on the ballot.
Armed with a candidate recruitment tool, groups with programs in states like these have a real opportunity to cut into these numbers and help inform more voters of the the opportunity to run for office.
Kudos to New Hampshire: Impressively, less that 18% of New Hampshire’s races counted in our 2022 data went uncontested.
A fundamental problem, a fundamental opportunity
Uncontested elections is a significant flaw in our democracy and leads to a wide array of implications for candidates, elected officials and voters alike. The overall outcome is that the gap between local government and its constituents grows and participation in our democracy decreases. Local government institutions where constituents desire reform like criminal justice, public transportation, and public education see none because those in charge are not held accountable during election cycles and do not have to campaign for votes.
But the solution is obvious—more people need to run for office. And in order to accomplish that, more constituents must learn about the opportunities they have to run for office, the eligibility requirements and how to get started. That’s why BallotReady created Recruitment Engine, the best way to inform and connect potential candidates with opportunities to run for office.
BallotReady partners with a number of groups to help provide access to this information and recruit thousands of first-time candidates to run for local office.
Add candidate recruitment to your toolkit, like Snapchat
Problem
Early in 2021, Snapchat saw through our data that 70% of races went uncontested in 2020. They knew they were in a unique position to address this due to their wide scope of users.
Solution
In response, they built their first tool with our candidate recruitment data: The Run for Office Mini. This same data that powers our Recruitment Engine enables potential candidates to see positions they are eligible to run for, down to the local level.
Results
On April 28, 2022, Snapchat announced that over 4 million people accessed the tool to see where they were eligible to run. A remarkable 25,000 users signed up to take steps towards launching a campaign.
Next Steps
Candidate recruitment is an all year, every year endeavor. Add our Recruitment Engine to your toolkit to increase your impact this year.
Read more about how BallotReady partnered with Snapchat and Run For Something to see how we tackled uncontested races with innovative recruitment efforts and how we can inspire more constituents to get involved, together.