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The Precision Partners Agency · The Briefing

Two tools.
Every race. Every measure.

You don't need an opinion on everything on your ballot. You need a consistent way to check anyone's work, including ours. These are the two frameworks behind every scorecard in The Briefing.

The Proximity Test The Receipt Test
The Frameworks

Not opinions.
Questions anyone can check.

For Candidates · Every Election
The Proximity Test

Voting records tell you what a politician did once in office — not whether they understand the problem or are motivated to fix it. The Proximity Test gets underneath the record. It applies to every candidate on every ballot, primary and general alike.

1 What has this candidate actually done on this issue — before this moment put them on a ballot?
2 Have they been close enough to the problem to know what questions to ask?
3 Is this candidate — or the ecosystem around them — incentivized to solve the problem, or to keep it alive?
See It Applied — Supreme Court → See It Applied — Congressional Districts → See It Applied — State Senate & House →
For Initiatives & Measures · General Election Only
The Receipt Test

The government is your biggest bill. A ballot measure is a line item on that bill. Before you approve any expenditure — or any restriction — check the receipt.

1 Who benefits if this passes? Follow the money and the backers — whose problem does this solve?
2 Who bears the cost? Not just financially — who absorbs the burden of implementation?
3 What does it do to power? Does this expand access, rights, and representation — or does it restrict them?

Washington law never puts initiatives on a primary ballot — only candidates get narrowed in a primary. This test is part of your General Election toolkit, not your Primaries one. You won't need it for August 4, you will for November 3.

See It Applied — Your Ballot →
Put Both to Work
Your Ballot

These two tests only matter once you apply them to something real. Your ballot splits into two moments, candidates first, then candidates and measures together. Here's where each one lives.

Aug 4 Primaries — candidates only. The Proximity Test, applied federal to local.
Nov 3 General Election — surviving candidates plus every initiative. Both tests, together.
The Primary Record → Your Ballot →

Want to see these frameworks applied to Onward Notes' civic analysis? Read Onward Notes →

Two questions. Every time.

Now go apply them. We know better. So we vote like we know.

The Primary Record → Your Ballot →