BallotDataAPI
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Changelog

What changed in the API, newest first. New fields and parameters are added without notice, so ignore fields you don’t know. Anything that could break a client is marked Changed or Removed.

November 11, 2026

  • Measures: ballot_text (the wording as printed on the ballot), full_text_url, and vote_meaning on each Yes and No choice.
  • Candidates: incumbent on each choice (true, false, or null where we don’t know yet), in the API and in Endorsement Stream events.
  • Contests: unopposed, and party_lines_unverified and question_wording in details.
  • GET /v1/endorsements/{id}/history: every change to an endorsement, with the values before and after, including its deletion.
  • changed_since on GET /v1/endorsements, to sync only what’s new.
  • GET /v1/changes: every endorsement added, changed or deleted since a time, with the values before and after.
  • GET /v1/candidates and GET /v1/candidates/{id}: search candidates, and every endorsement each one received.
  • GET /v1/elections/{slug}/export: a whole election in one download, as JSON or CSV.
  • added_by on every endorsement (automatic, staff or data_load), and endorsement_id on each pick in GET /v1/contests/{id}.
  • Endorsement Stream: endorsement.updated events carry changed and previous (the values before the change), and every event carries endorsement.added_by.
  • min_endorsements on GET /v1/endorsers, and endorsement_count on GET /v1/endorsers/{slug}.
  • Changed: an endorser’s endorsement_count now counts contests, so a ranked-choice order or a vote-for-N slate counts once, as on endorsedby.org. It used to count each pick.

October 28, 2026

  • Every parameter is described with an example, and each reference entry has a sample using every parameter.

October 26, 2026

October 24, 2026

  • Changed: GET /v1/endorsements lists the basics of each endorsement; GET /v1/endorsements/{id} has the full record.
  • No request rate limits.

October 22, 2026

  • Removed: the combined per-contest view. GET /v1/contests/{id} has every endorser’s position in a contest.
  • Keys and the stream read only what the account bought; asking for a state outside it is a 403 outside_purchase.
  • Every error carries a request_id, also sent as the X-Request-Id header.

October 20, 2026

  • The API moved to api.ballotdata.net.

October 16, 2026

  • Removed: address, ZIP, district and representative lookups. Choose contests by state, election or id.

October 15, 2026

  • First release: elections, contests, endorsers, endorsements, officeholders, coverage, Spanish ballot text and the Endorsement Stream.
Changelog · BallotData API