Legal & Transparency

What This Is

VoteOut is independent political speech published by Bryan Weaver, a Texas sole proprietor. It is protected by the First Amendment and regulated by federal and state election-compliance rules. This page explains, in plain language, how we’re thinking about those rules so nothing about the project is hidden.

For the full analysis with statutory citations, see docs/legal-analysis.md in the repo.

Our Speech Posture

VoteOut is nonpartisan — we don’t favor any political party, and we label incumbents the same way regardless of party. VoteOut is also anti-incumbent — we openly advocate replacing incumbents. These two things live together: we treat all parties equally, and we think accountability means being willing to vote out the people currently in office.

VoteOut does not endorse any specific challenger. The pocket card identifies incumbents and urges voters to consider replacing them — that is our viewpoint, stated plainly.

What We Don’t Do

• We do not coordinate with any candidate, campaign, party, or PAC.
• We do not accept donations. Revenue is postcard sales only.
• We do not run ads or resell your data.
• We do not claim 501(c)(3) status; buying a postcard is not a tax-deductible contribution.
• We do not call ourselves a “nonpartisan voter guide” in the FEC-regulatory sense; we’re an independent speaker with a viewpoint.

The Legal Framework, Briefly

First Amendment. Urging voters to defeat incumbents is core political speech, protected by Buckley v. Valeo, Citizens United v. FEC, and McIntyre v. Ohio Elections Commission. The government cannot punish us for publishing this site.

Federal election law (FECA/FEC). Federal rules require “paid for by” disclaimers on paid political ads and on mass mailings over 500 pieces in a 30-day window that name federal candidates. They also require reporting of independent expenditures above $250 per federal candidate per year. We include a disclaimer on the site footer and on every postcard, and we track expenditures from day one.

Texas Election Code. Texas requires a disclosure on political advertising under § 255.001. Our footer disclaimer is designed to satisfy both federal and Texas requirements with a single statement.

Polling place. Texas law (§ 61.012) expressly allows voters to bring personal written materials to help them vote. The pocket card is designed as personal reference material for the buyer, not as a leaflet to hand to other voters.

Political Advertising Disclaimer

Data Sources

Incumbent / challenger status comes from public APIs:

• Google Civic Information API — ballot contests and representatives.
• OpenFEC — federal incumbent-challenge status (codes I, C, O).
• OpenStates — state legislators.
• Static 2026 election data — a manually maintained fallback for all 50 states and DC, used when Google Civic has not yet published data for an upcoming election.

If you spot a labeling error, please email support@voteouteveryone.com. Corrections are public and tracked in the repo.

Contact & Corrections

Questions, concerns, or corrections: support@voteouteveryone.com.