# MyPolitics civic data methodology

[Developer guide](index.md) | [Coverage](https://mypolitics.vote/api/v1/?resource=coverage)

## Scope

The first release is an Arizona research directory for the 2026 general-election context. It exports active Arizona candidate records from the existing project database. Inclusion is not a new certification of ballot qualification, and the directory is not a complete personalized ballot. Municipal, school, judicial, and special-district completeness has not been certified.

## Facts and source references

Candidate records contain a public ID, name, office, district, party field, public website, and an official source link when the existing record supplies one. The export uses an explicit field allowlist. It does not read or export account, address, or quiz tables.

Topic text describes the statement associated with a research reference. Topic text itself is not an assertion that a candidate agrees with it. This release deliberately provides no position summary where a verified source excerpt has not been established.

Every reference is labeled:

- `candidate_research`: a source linked to an existing candidate-specific editorial record. This does not mean the candidate supplied or approved the record.
- `party_baseline`: a party-level source. It must not be attributed to the candidate as their statement.

`status: source_link_only` means the source URL exists in the project record. It does not certify source availability, source accuracy, or support for a specific assertion. `published_at`, `reviewed_at`, and `excerpt` are null until an evidence-review workflow supplies them. The API does not generate quotations or numerical candidate assessments.

## Comparisons

Comparisons accept two to four explicitly selected candidates from the same office/district group. Each receives the same selected topics. Missing evidence is `unknown`, never neutral or opposed. Candidate order follows the request and conveys no ranking. The API offers no endorsements, scoring, or election forecasts.

## Freshness and history

`snapshot_at` is the time public records were exported. It is not a source publication date or a fresh fact-check. `dataset_version` identifies an immutable observation snapshot. Refreshes are explicit operational steps; there is no automatic freshness SLA in this beta.

The change feed records added, updated, or removed public records and topic/coverage changes. Such events can reflect corrections or data maintenance. They do not establish that a candidate changed position. The initial event is a baseline, not a reconstruction of earlier history.

## Geography

State and election are explicit inputs. Only `AZ` and `2026-general` are currently accepted. The civic API does not accept voter addresses. A ZIP code or legislative district is insufficient to establish every contest on an individual ballot.

## Citation and reuse

Cite the original source URL together with the MyPolitics evidence/profile URL, snapshot version, provenance label, and relevant coverage limits. Source text, photographs, and other third-party materials retain their own rights. This API does not grant rights to redistribute third-party content. No copied source excerpts or portraits are included in this release.

The public beta allows querying the documented endpoints for research and integration evaluation with attribution. Commercial bulk redistribution, service-level commitments, and additional licensing require agreed terms; package code metadata must not be interpreted as a license to underlying third-party records.

For election procedures, use the [Arizona Secretary of State](https://azsos.gov/elections) and the responsible county election office. For correction requests, contact [MyPolitics](mailto:hello@mypolitics.vote) with the record ID and a supporting public source. A request does not change the record automatically.