What is OpenCampaign?

Our mission is to allow voters and politicians to share local issues and make politics more open and connected. Openness is the key to a healthy functioning democracy and the coloration of ideas between voters and politicians. OpenCampaign is the evolution of politics in the 21^st century that draws voters and politicians into a Virtual Town Hall to create, discuss and highlight important issues. It allows individuals to have a voice in the political sphere without the inflexibility and limitations of current methods. It provides politicians at all levels of government to engage voters and gauge policy in real-time from the local level all the way up to the federal level.

Who creates the content?

Our team, data providers, users like you, and politicians create content on OpenCampaign. User generated content is created by the following types of users, voters, politicians, and our OpenCampaign team members.

All users must adhere to our Terms of Service.

What is an Issue?

An issue is a statement created by our team, individual users like you or politicians. Issues can be created in the following categories:  Local (city and county), State, or National Issues. Examples of issues can range from parking tickets to the use of drones in foreign countries.  Each statement requires that you state either an agreement or disagreement on that issue.

What is the difference between a local and national issue?

A local issue is specific to an area e.g. City, County or State.  For example, a local issue in southern California such as the drought and water restrictions is not an issue in a state like Maine. The same issue of drought would fall under the “Environment” category as a national issue.

How do I create content?

First you have sign up for an account. Voter accounts are free and always will be. You can create content by creating an issue. Users can create either local or national issues. Users can also add responses to other user’s issues. This can be done once you have agreed or disagreed to an issue, in the comment section.

Can I view issues if I do not have an account?

Yes, you will be able to view all the local and national issue content on the site. You will have to sign up if you want to create an issue or engage in another user’s issue.

How do I match to a local politician?

There are two types of matching on OpenCampaign.

First: The use of agreements and disagreements are used to match you to both local voters and politicians. Ex. If you create an issue and another voter or politician agrees with you, then you will match on that one issue. Issues are categorized by city, county, state, and national. Users can match on issues at all levels of government.

Second: Political Quiz. Open Campaign has created a political quiz that helps match you to national politicians (Presidential, House of Congress, and U.S. Senate) on 21 national issues. The issues are a combination of special interest scores, dynamic candidate speech, and voting records.

I am a politician, how do I create a profile? 

If you are a politician you can select the politician account type and sign up. You will need to select the type of government (Federal, State, or Local) district and office type. Incumbents will need sign up with their government email, add their candidate id, candidate website link, office start date, and election date. Challengers will be required to submit election date.

Why does the site ask for my location?

OpenCampaign needs access to your location so we can display local issue to your location.

How do I login with FB?

You can click on the FB icon from either the homepage, login pop up box, or the login page. 

Why would I login with FB?

Logging in with FB helps you create an account very quickly and helps provide us with important data to get your OC account set up. Once the account is set up you will be able to see local issues of your current city and hometown.

What data do you capture from FB sign up?

We capture your basic profile information. This includes, email, profile image, name, age, current city, hometown, political and religious affiliation.

Why do I need to add my street address?

Because of the gerrymandering laws, state and federal districts are constantly changing. Your state district is not the same as your federal district and districts are drawn through neighborhoods at the street level. The address is used so we can show you who your state and federal politicians are. This also let’s you see who all the new challenger candidates are.  

How do I reset my password?

If you logged in using FB, you will only be able to reset your password on FB and log back into Open Campaign through the social sign up.

If your account was not set up with a FB social sign up you can go to the sign up page and request a password reset. A password-reset link will be sent to your email address with instructions on how to reset you password.

Will my information be shared with third parties?

Any personal data collected on OpenCampaign social network will be used as stated in our Privacy Policy.