How to Use PartyLine

1

Rank your priorities (2 minutes)

The survey opens on the Priorities step. Tap the 13 issue topics in the order that matters most to you. Your top-ranked issues will count more toward your final match scores — so if healthcare is your #1 concern, politicians' healthcare votes will carry more weight than their votes on, say, foreign policy.

What you'll see

#1 Healthcare

#2 Climate & Environment

#3 Economy

+ 10 more topics…

2

Answer questions topic by topic (5–8 minutes)

For each of the 13 topics, you'll answer a few sub-questions on a 5-point scale from "Strongly Agree" to "Strongly Disagree." You don't have to answer every question — PartyLine can generate scores from partial answers. Each topic also shows a brief context description so you understand what the policy debate actually is before answering.

Example question — Healthcare

"The government should guarantee health coverage for all Americans."

Strongly Agree Agree Neutral Disagree Strongly Disagree

The progress bar shows "X of 13 topics started" — you can skip a topic entirely if you don't have a strong view on it.

3

Read your match results

After entering your location, PartyLine shows your match percentage with each politician in your area. The percentage is a weighted alignment score — higher means their actual votes are closer to your stated positions. Cards are sorted by match score, with your best match at the top.

Example match card

Sen. Jane Smith

Democrat · Texas · Incumbent

84%

Strong match on Healthcare, Climate · Mixed on Economy

Incumbents are scored from real voting records. Candidates are estimated from stated positions and party platform alignment — look for the label on each card.

4

Open a profile to see issue-by-issue breakdown

Click any match card to open the full profile. You'll see a score bar for each of the 13 issues, showing where the politician's votes landed on the −2 to +2 scale versus where you answered. Issues where you're closely aligned show green; issues where you diverge show the gap clearly.

Example issue score row

Healthcare 93% match

Economy 41% match

5

Verify the underlying votes (optional)

Every score is based on official roll call data. If a score surprises you, you can trace it back to the actual votes. See the verification guide for step-by-step instructions using Congress.gov and GovTrack.