Ballotpedia Writing Style Guide (Spring 2016)

8/18/2019 Ballotpedia Writing Style Guide (Spring 2016)

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STYLE GUIDE Maintaining textual integrity in the Encyclopedia of American Politics

Spring 2016


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Dear Ballotpedia team,

We are pleased to present the Spring 2016 edition of the Ballotpedia Style Guide.This guide should be regarded as your primary source for arbitrating decisions about

style, word usage, and mechanical consistency. The 2014 edition ofThe Associated Press Stylebook will serve as a supplemental guide; we defer to its guidelines inmany cases.

While we have endeavored to create a thorough style guide, this document is by nomeans comprehensive. We want you to regard this iteration of the guide as theauthoritative outline for proper style and usage at Ballotpedia, but please keep inmind that language is a constantly evolving medium and that our style guidelines will require ongoing re-evaluation and thoughtful discussion. Therefore, weencourage you to provide feedback on the guidelines presented here forconsideration in future updates to Ballotpedia’s style guide.

TIPS FOR USING THIS GUIDE • Consult the Ballotpedia Style Guide first. If an entry is not listed here

but is covered in the Associated Press (AP) style guide, then follow AP’sguidelines.

• Start at the index. Page numbers for each entry in the BP style guide can be

located quickly by searching the alphabetical listing by topic. The pagenumbers for commonly cited AP entries have been included here as well.

• Utilize the digital version. A PDF version of the style guide is alsoavailable, which allows users to find entries quickly using the search function.

We hope you find this guide useful and informative. If you have questions aboutanything listed (or not listed) in this guide, the copy editing team is happy to help you find an answer.

Sincerely,

The Copy Editing Team


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"abbreviations, acronyms, andinitialisms: An abbreviation is anyshortened word or phrase. Acronymsand initialisms are specific types ofabbreviations. Both acronyms andinitialisms are formed by taking thefirst letter of each word in a name orphrase, but acronyms are pronounced by sounding out the letters (as if the

first letters formed their own word), while initialisms are pronounced bynaming each letter individually. Forexample, FEMA would be an acronym, while FBI would be an initialism. Bothare abbreviations.

If a particular name or phrase (e.g., anorganization, a standardized test, or alaw) is commonly abbreviated, we may want to refer to it by its abbreviation inorder to avoid writing it out multipletimes. These names or phrases shouldnormally be written out in full on firstreference, followed by the abbreviationin parentheses. Subsequent referencesmay use the abbreviated form.

Examples: Republican NationalCommittee (RNC); Center forMedical Progress (CMP)

If an abbreviation is widely recognized(i.e., listed in a standard dictionary),

the full name may not need to be written out on first reference.

Examples: the FBI; the U.S.;NASA

see also : bills and resolutions (page3); months (page 21); state names,abbreviations for (page 33)

academic degrees: When writingout the names of degrees, use thefollowing forms:• an associate degree (not

associate’s )• a bachelor’s degree• a doctorate• a master’s degree• a Bachelor of Arts• a Master of Science• a Juris Doctor or Doctor of

Jurisprudence (not juris doctorate )

Use periods with all abbreviateddegrees:

• a B.A. or a B.S.• an M.A. or an M.S. Note that

the word an is used because areader would normally read“M.S.” as “em es” rather than

“Master of Science.” • an M.B.A.• a Ph.D.• a J.D.• an M.D.


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Do not capitalize academicdepartments or fields of study unlessthe field itself is a proper noun:

• a bachelor’s degree in

journalism• an M.A. in political science• a Ph.D. in English

Always italicize—but never capitalize—academic honors:

• magna cum laude• summa cum laude

accent marks: Use accent marks innames that normally use them. On aMac, these characters may be formed by using the shortcuts listed below. Windows users can find shortcuts atthe following website, but they mayfind it easier to simply copy and pastethe characters from another source:

www.drlemon.com/accents.html

Mac Shortcuts

Acute Á, á, É, é, Í, í, Ó, ó, Ú, ú Option + E, [character]

Circumflex Â, â, Ê, ê, Î, î, Ô, ô, Û, ûOption + I, [character]

Grave À, à, È, è, Ì, ì, Ò, ò, Ù, ù

Option + ’, [character] Tilde

Ã, ã, Ñ, ñ, Õ, õ Option + N, [character]

Diaeresis/

Umlaut

Ä, ä, Ë, ë, Ï, ï, Ö, ö, Ü, ü Option + U, [character]

Example: To form the characterü , hold

down the Option key and the U key. Anumlaut symbol (¨) should appear.Release both keys and type a lowercaseu .The vowel and the umlaut will merge tocreate ü .

advisor, adviser: Though bothadvisor and adviser are widelyaccepted spellings, Ballotpedia prefersadvisor . For official titles, follow thepreferred spelling of the word as written on official websites ordocumentation.

African American: When used asan indicator of race, the preferred termis black unless the individual self-identifies as an American person of African descent. Note: These terms arenot interchangeable, as not all African Americans are black nor are all black Americans necessarily of Africandescent .

The term African American shouldappear without a hyphen whether it isused as a noun or as an adjective.

amid: Use amid , not amidst .

article, section, and clausenumbers: When citing a particularpart of the U.S. Constitution or anylaw, separate the article, section, andclause numbers with commas. A


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comma should not be included afterthe last number given.

With the U.S. Constitution, article

numbers should be written in Romannumerals, while section and clausenumbers should be written in Arabicnumerals.

Example : Article I, Section 8 ofthe U.S. Constitution lists thepowers of Congress.

Asian, Asian American: Whenreferring to people of Asian descent,the preferred term is Asian or Asians ifthe specific country of origin is notknown.

The term Asian American is applied toindividuals of Asian birth or descent who live in the U.S., though it ispreferable to give the person’s specificcountry of origin when known (forexample, Filipino American or Indian American ).

The term Asian American (and any ofits substitutes, such as Chinese American ) should appear without a

hyphen whether it is used as a noun oras an adjective.

at large, at-large: Hyphenate at-large when used as an adjective. Donot hyphenate at large when it is used

as an adverb or as a part of a person’stitle.

Example : There are three at-largepositions on the school board.Example : Three school boardmembers are elected at large.Example : There are threemembers at large.

see also: by district, by-district (page5)

#Ballotpedia: Do not italicize thename Ballotpedia.

Example: Ballotpedia surveyed134 strategists, pollsters, activists,and lobbyists.

bills and resolutions: Theabbreviated forms of bills andresolutions should not use periods andshould contain a space between theabbreviation (SB, HB, SR, etc.) and thenumber.

Incorrect: H.B.714 Correct: HB 714

birthdays, placement of: Includea candidate’s or official’s birthday (ifavailable) both in the biography


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section and in the infobox. Do notinclude it in the introductory sentence.

board member: The phrase boardmember should not be treated as aformal title, so it should not becapitalized in any case. This guidelinealso applies to the phraseschool boardmember .

bolding: Always bold the page titlethe first time it is mentioned in the

introduction. Otherwise, be judicious with the use of boldface type, as it canonly add emphasis if used sparingly.However, do consider using boldfacetype for the following types of text:

• numbers/statistics• dates in timelines• important names• key facts

brackets: Writers may use brackets—rather than parentheses—toadd clarifications to quotes. Undermost circumstances brackets shouldonly be used to add text; do not use brackets to replace words in thequoted text.

see also: altering quotes

bulleted lists: Bulleted lists maytake multiple forms as long as they

satisfy two criteria: (1) consistency and(2) parallelism.

Consistency applies to two main

aspects of the list: capitalization andpunctuation. List items may start witheither capital letters or lowercaseletters, but this capitalization must beconsistent within a list (with theexception of proper nouns in a list ofitems that are otherwise lowercase).Some lists will not contain anypunctuation after individual list items, while others will use commas,semicolons, or even periods. In allcases, use the same type ofpunctuation mark after each list item. When using commas or semicolons,the entire list should be thought of as acomplete sentence; it should have aconjunction after the second-to-last

list item, and it should end with aperiod after the last list item.

For parallelism, make sure that eachlist item fits with the phrase/clausethat introduces the list. Second, makesure that each list item uses a similargrammatical structure. This means

that if the first list item is a noun, all ofthe following list items should benouns. If the first list item begins witha third-person singular verb, the otherlist items should also begin with third-person singular verbs. Note: Acomment to an individual list item


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may be inserted under that bullet point and indented further than theothers; such comments need not follow the same grammatical

structure. Example: Three states signed thelawsuit:

• Alabama• Mississippi• Louisiana

Example: He went to the storeand bought the following items:

• bread,• milk, and• butter.

Example: Follow the steps belowto sign up for an account:

• Go to the website’s home page.• Click on the “Join now” link at

the top of the page.• Enter the requested

information and follow theon-screen instructions.

by district, by-district:Hyphenate by-district when used asan adjective. Do not hyphenatebydistrict when it is used as an adverb oras a part of a person’s title.

Example : The council holds by-district elections.Example : City council membersare elected by district.

see also: at large, at-large (page 3)

$cancel, canceled, canceling,cancellation: Spell in accordance with the listing in this entry.

capitalization: This entry lists a fewof the most general capitalizationguidelines for Ballotpedia. Morespecific topics are listed separatelythroughout the style guide.

DISTRICTSCapitalize all district names.

Examples : Ohio's 3rdCongressional District; HoustonIndependent School District;Colorado's 18th Judicial District

GOVERNING BODIES

Capitalize the proper names of allgoverning bodies.

Examples : the United StatesSenate; the Texas House ofRepresentatives; United StatesCongress; the Michigan SupremeCourt

Never capitalize adjectives pertainingto governing bodies unless they arepart of a proper noun, such as apublication or district name.

Examples : congressional


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candidates; presidential elections;a gubernatorial bid

SHARED NOUNS

Do not capitalize nouns that areshared by multiple modifiers, even ifeach individual pair would becapitalized.

Examples : the Democratic andRepublican parties; Williamsonand Tarrant counties; the 1st and2nd districts

Note: This guideline does not apply totitles directly preceding an official’sname.

Examples : Justices Kennedy andGinsburg; Senators Rubio and Cruz

TITLESCapitalize the names of official titles

when they directly precede theofficial’s name.

Examples : U.S. Secretary of StateJohn Kerry; Senate MajorityLeader Mitch McConnell;California Attorney GeneralKamala D. Harris

Do not capitalize the names of officialtitles when they appear alone or whenthey are separated from the official’sname by a comma.

Examples: the U.S. secretary ofstate; Mitch McConnell, the senatemajority leader; California’s

attorney general; elections for U.S.representative

see also: political titles (page 26);

governmental bodies (AP page 110)

capitalization, page titles, andheadings: All page titles, sectionheadings, graph titles, and table titlesshould capitalize only (1) the first wordand (2) proper nouns. Assume formaloffice titles are proper nouns whenused alone; otherwise, they should betreated as common nouns. Capitalizethe first letter after a colon.

Example: Local ballot measures;The Trans-Pacific Partnershiptrade deal: An overview; OhioSecretary of State; Ohio secretaryof state election, 2016

capitalization, titles/offices inintroductory sentences: Follownormal capitalization rules for thename of a title or office in anintroductory sentence (i.e., capitalize ifit appears directly before theofficeholder’s name, but lowercase it ifit is used as a common noun).

Example: The governor of SouthCarolina is an electedconstitutional officer...Example: An electedconstitutional officer, GovernorNikki Haley of South Carolina…


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capitol: The wordcapitol shouldalways be capitalized in reference tothe U.S. Capitol (i.e., the building in Washington, D.C.), even when it

appears alone, as in “the Capitol.”Lowercase the wordcapitol whenreferring to a state’s capitol buildingunless it appears as part of a propername.

Examples: the U.S. Capitol; theCapitol (referring to the U.S.Capitol); the Michigan StateCapitol; the state capitol

chairman, chairwoman, chair:Use chairman or chairwoman whenthe gender of the individual is known.Use the term chair if the gender isunknown or if making a genericreference to the office. All three termsshould be capitalized as formal titles when they directly precede a chair’sname.

chronological elements, orderof: List most timelines and events inreverse chronological order, with themost current stories at the top of thesection, unless there is a compelling

reason to do otherwise.

city council: Do not capitalizecitycouncil unless it is being used with the

municipality’s name as the body’sofficial title.

Examples: the Oakland CityCouncil; the city council of

Oakland; members of Oakland’scity council

climate change: See the globalwarming, climate change entry onpage 13.

comma: In general, follow theguidelines on AP page 289. However,use the Oxford or serial comma in allcases.

Incorrect: The group discussestopics such as abortion,immigration and healthcare.Correct: The group discussestopics such as abortion,

immigration, and healthcare.

comprised of, composed of:Though the phrasescomprised of andcomposed of are used interchangeablyin casual speech, the wordcomprise actually means the opposite ofcompose . The verbto comprise means

“to contain,” so it is normally used inthe following way: [larger entity]comprises [smaller parts of entity]. Asan alternative, you can also use thephrases composed of or made up of .


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Incorrect:The U.S. is comprised of 50 states.Correct:The U.S. is composed of 50 states.

The U.S. is made up of 50 states.The U.S. comprises 50 states.

congressman, congresswoman:Congressman and congresswoman may be used interchangeably withrepresentative , whether appearing as aformal title before a name or as a

common noun. These terms may only be used to refer to members of the U.S.House of Representatives; formembers of the U.S. Senate, use the word senator . Capitalize these words when they appear as a title before aname.

see also: representative (AP page225); political titles (page 26)

coordinating conjunction,beginning a sentence with:Coordinating conjunctions ( for , and ,nor , but , or , yet , and so) are generallyused to connect two words, phrases, orclauses within a sentence. Ballotpediadoes not consider it an error to start asentence with a coordinatingconjunction. That being said, thisshould not be overused because it doesgive a more informal tone of voice.

When beginning a sentence with acoordinating conjunction, never use acomma after the conjunction unless you are setting off a nonessential

clause or phrase. Example: Joe Sestak claimed thathe did. But we find that Sestak’sstatement mischaracterizes whatToomey said.Example: They have pooled over aquarter million dollars into this year's school board races. Andthose with the biggestcontributions were candidates on board with charter schools.

councilman, councilwoman,council member: Use councilman or councilwoman when the gender ofthe individual is known. Use the termcouncil member if the gender is

unknown or if making a genericreference to the office.

Capitalizecouncilman andcouncilwoman when they appear asformal titles directly before a person’sname. Also capitalize the wordcity if itprecedes one of these titles. Treatcouncil member as an occupationaldescription rather than as a formaltitle; do not capitalize it in any case.

Examples: City Councilman JohnConnolly; Councilman JohnConnolly; city council member


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Example: Voters had to vote forthe same party whose primary they voted in.

dash (—): In general, follow theguidelines listed underdash on page291 of the AP style guide. However, donot include spaces around an em dash.

see also: em dash (—) (page 12)

dates, basic format: When

writing out a full date, use the form[month] [day], [year]. Never useordinal numbers (1st, 2nd, etc.) withdates. Whenever possible, avoid usingfull dates as adjectives. If avoiding thisphrasing is not possible, remember toinclude a comma following the year.

Incorrect: The election was heldon November 4th, 2014. Correct: The election was held onNovember 4, 2014.

Incorrect: He won the November4, 2014 election.

Acceptable: He won theNovember 4, 2014, election. Preferred: He won the election

on November 4, 2014.

dates, formatting date ranges: When writing a range of dates, ahyphen may be used instead of the word to . Hyphens should not be used

in phrases such as “from __ to __”and “between __ and __.”

When only years are given, do not

include a space before or after thehyphen.

When full dates are given, include aspace on both sides of the hyphen. Ifthe date range is ongoing, capitalizethe word Present and use spacesaround the hyphen.

Examples :• the 2015-2016 school year• January 3, 1997 - January 3, 2013• January 3, 2013 - Present

In general, use full years when giving arange of years. In some cases, it might be preferable to use only the last twodigits of the latter year. In either case,

be consistent throughout the page. Incorrect: 2012-2013 and 2014-15

Acceptable: 2012-13 and 2014-15 Preferred: 2012-2013 and 2014-2015

decimals, rounding: Decimals

should always be rounded to the sameplace in tables, charts, and graphs.These numbers should not be writtenout past two decimal places (thehundredths place) unless there is acompelling reason to do so.


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In the text of an article, decimalsshould generally be rounded to onedecimal place (the tenths place) unlessgreater precision is needed. When

reporting decimals under one, thenumber may be rounded to twodecimal places (or more, if necessary).For example,24.86 percent should berounded to 24.9 percent , but 0.352tons should be rounded to0.35 tons .

When making comparisons about arelated set of data, always bring thenumbers out to the same decimalplace, even if the data set includessome whole numbers.

Example: The candidates received41.5 percent, 40.0 percent, and18.5 percent of the vote total,respectively.

disabled, handicapped: Follow AP guidelines in all cases (page 77).

For more specific questions related tothis topic (e.g., use of the termamputation or amputee ), conform tothe National Center on Disability andJournalism (NCDJ) style guide:

http://ncdj.org/style-guide/

disclaimers and explanatorynotes: Disclaimers and explanatorynotes may appear in the Footnotessection of an article (alongside

citations). They may also appeardirectly under the relevant text ortable. In all cases, these notes should be italicized but not bolded.

Example: This text is quotedverbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributedto the original source. Example: This number was foundby dividing each member's totalnet worth growth percentage bythe number of years included inthe calculation.

District of Columbia: On firstreference, useWashington, D.C. Onsecond reference, D.C. is acceptable.Use District of Columbia only whenthe full name seems necessary forcontext.

&Election Day, election night:Reserve capitalization of Election Day only for the November general election(the first Tuesday after the first Mondayin November). All other elections may bereferred to aselection day (lowercase).

The phrase election night should belowercased in all cases.


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em dash (—): In general, follow theguidelines listed underdash on page291 of the AP style guide. However, donot include spaces around an em dash.

How to create an em dashon a Mac option + shift + -on a PC Numlock + Alt + 0151 in HTML — Note: Copying and pasting thesymbol may be easier on aWindows computer.

ex officio: The wordex officio should not be italicized, hyphenated orplaced in quotation marks.

Example: He is an ex officiomember of the committee.

exclamation point (!): Follow theguidelines for using exclamationpoints that are listed on page 292 ofthe AP style guide.

Exclamation points should never becombined with a comma or a period(whether in text or in references).

Example: Supporters all carriedsigns reading “Jeb!” which they

were handing out at the front door.

external links, format of:Format the external links section as a bulleted list, keeping the link namessuccinct but intelligible. External links

should not be formatted likereferences. Italicize only elements that would be italicized in the text of anarticle.

Edit view: * [https:// johnkasich.com/ John Kasich 2016campaign website]Result: John Kasich 2016campaign website Edit view: * [https://www.opensecrets.org/politicians/summary.php?cid=N00009738 Culberson onOpenSecrets]Result: Culberson on OpenSecrets

If the list is lengthy, consider groupingpages by category. Note: The template {{CongLinks}} is a good example ofhow to set this up .

external links, in text: Most

external links should be added to the bottom of the page in the Externallinks section. In some cases, however,it may be appropriate to link to anexternal website in the text of anarticle. External links are especiallyuseful when referencing a legaldocument; the full text can be linked to

the document’s name or description.

If the word or phrase to which you want to attach the link may someday become a Ballotpedia page, it is bestnot to include an external link and toinstead make it a red link.


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see also : red links (page 30)

'foreign words: Do not italicizeforeign words that have been largelyadopted by the English language, butdo italicize words in other languagesthat are not familiar to a majority of

English speakers. One way to makethis determination is to see if the wordis in the English dictionary.

Example: He hosted a party withdrinks and hors d'oeuvres.Example: She served as thecommittee’sde facto president.Example: His melancholicattitude was caused by strong senseof Weltschmerz .

Latin species names are consideredunfamiliar foreign words and should be italicized.

Example: Gray wolves (canislupus ) live in packs and hunt as agroup.

front-runner: Always include ahyphen in the term front-runner .

(gay: AP: “Used to describe men and women attracted to the same sex,though lesbian is the more commonterm for women. Preferred overhomosexual except in clinical contextsor references to sexual activity. Includereferences to sexual orientation only when it is pertinent to a story, andavoid references to ‘sexual preference’

or to a gay or ‘alternative lifestyle.’”

Use only as an adjective, never as anoun.

see also: heterosexual, homosexual,straight (page 15); lesbian (page 19);LGBT/LGBTQ (page 20); queer (page28); same-sex marriage (page 31);sexuality and gender identity (page31); transgender, transsexual (page 37)

global warming, climatechange: The terms global warming and climate change are notinterchangeable. Global warming refers to the long-term trend of a risingaverage global temperature.Climatechange refers to the changes in theEarth’s climate (e.g., changes inprecipitation patterns and extreme weather) that occur as a result of therising average global temperature.


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grassroots: Grassroots should be written as one word.

Example: His campaign was agrassroots effort.

groundwater: Use one word forgroundwater .

Examples : the extraction ofgroundwater; the quality ofgroundwater

gubernatorial: Spell in accordance

with the listing in this entry.

)Hawaii: Do not use an apostrophe when writing Hawaii unless it is a partof a proper name (e.g., the name of anorganization or publication).

Incorrect: Honolulu is the capitalof Hawai’i. Correct: Honolulu is the capital ofHawaii. Correct: She is a graduate ofHawai’i Pacific University.

headers: On a wiki-based site,headers can be as big as Level 1(=Header=) and as small as Level 6(======Header======).

On Ballotpedia, normal headersshould stay between Level 2 and Level5. Level 1 is the same size as the pagetitle, and Level 6 is smaller than the

normal page text, so these levelsshould be avoided under mostcircumstances.

Note: Level 1 headers can be used tocreate tabs.

healthcare: Use one word for

healthcare .Examples: the healthcare bill; hispolicy on healthcare

he, she; his, her: English does nothave a gender-neutral, singular, third-person pronoun. While informalEnglish often usesthey or their to fill

this void, Ballotpedia will consider thisan error; the words they and their should be used only as pluralpronouns. When this need arises, the best option is to rephrase the sentence.For instance, you may choose to makethe subject plural, allowing you to usea plural pronoun. When this is notpossible, usehe or she or his or her .

Incorrect: A candidate may dropout if they do not receive enoughsupport.

Acceptable: A candidate maydrop out if he or she does notreceive enough support.


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Preferred: Candidates may dropout if they do not receive enoughsupport.

see also: they, their (page 37)

heterosexual, homosexual,straight: In general, heterosexual ispreferred over straight to describepeople who are attracted to theopposite sex.

The term homosexual should beavoided. It is a clinical term used todescribe those who are attracted to thesame sex, and it is considered outdatedand/or offensive to many gay andlesbian people. Appropriatesubstitutes may includegay , lesbian ,or same-sex , depending on thecontext.

see also: gay(page 13); lesbian (page19); LGBT/LGBTQ(page 20); queer(page 28); same-sex marriage(page31); sexuality and gender identity(page 31); transgender, transsexual(page 37)

Hispanic, Latino/Latina: The words Hispanic and Latino/Latina should not be used interchangeably,though both may be used to describethe same person in many cases.

Latino/Latina: Refers to someonefrom Latin America (Mexico, Central America, or South America)

Hispanic: Refers to someone from anySpanish-speaking country

A person from Brazil would beLatino/Latina but not Hispanic. Aperson from Spain would be Hispanic but not Latino/Latina. A person fromCuba would be both Hispanic andLatino/Latina.

In cases where either word would beappropriate, follow the person’spreference if known. Otherwise,Latino/Latina is preferred. Whenpossible, be more specific (forexample, Mexican American, Cuban,or Puerto Rican).

however: Writers are permitted tostart sentences with the conjunctiveadverb however , but this constructionshould not be overused.

hyphen: In general, follow AP’sguidelines for hyphen usage on pages

292–293. Use a hyphen when pairingan ordinal number with a superlative(e.g., “second-largest”).

see also: dash (page 10)


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*infobox: In nearly all cases, anyinformation provided in the infoboxshould also be included within the textof the article so that it can be properlysourced. Avoid using citations withinthe infobox itself.

infobox, formatting of: Forinformation inside an infobox, follow

these formatting guidelines: • The name listed in the infobox

must match the page title (for thesake of DPLs).

• Consider all formal titles to beproper nouns, and thereforecapitalize them.

• Consider all professions commonnouns and capitalize only the first word (e.g., Business owner).

• Spell out dates; do not use simplynumbers and slashes.

Incorrect: 01/01/16 - 12/31/16 Correct: January 1, 2016 -December 31, 2016

see also : dates, formatting date

ranges (page 10)

internal links: An internal link is alink in the text of a Ballotpedia articlethat links to another Ballotpedia page.These links are created by placing two

sets of square brackets around thepage title, like this: [[Page title]]

In some cases, we may need to alter

the linked text to make it fit with the surrounding text. To do this, we canuse a pipe ( | ) after the page title,followed by the desired text. Thesechanges may be necessary to change wording or capitalization.

Example : Brad Winter is the[[New Mexico Secretary ofState|secretary of state]] of NewMexico. Example : Cory Booker is a[[United States Senate|U.S.senator]].

WHEN TO USE

Internal links should be used with thefirst reference of that page name (or of

a closely related concept) in anyarticle. The internal link shouldgenerally be added again if the term isrepeated on the page under a differentLevel 2 heading. Additional internallinks may be used if they would add tothe user experience, but they are notrequired.

USE OF REDIRECTS

It is acceptable to link to a redirectpage; for example, you may use[[Republican]] rather than typing[[Republican|Republican Party]] whenlinking to the Ballotpedia page called


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“Republican Party.” Writers areencouraged to create redirect pages forlowercase versions of office titles. Thisenables you, for example, to type

[[Wisconsin secretary of state]] andhave it redirect the reader to our pagecalled “Wisconsin Secretary of State.”

WITH TITLES, POSSESSIVES

You do not need to alter the text of aninternal link to include a person’s fulltitle or to include’s for a possessivename. It is not considered an error todo so, but it is more efficient toeliminate this extra step.

Incorrect: [[Rand Paul|Sen. RandPaul]] suspended his presidentialcampaign. Correct: Sen. [[Rand Paul]]suspended his presidentialcampaign.

Incorrect: [[Bobby Jindal|BobbyJindal’s]] term ended in January2016. Correct: [[Bobby Jindal]]’s termended in January 2016.

italics : The following guidelinesoutline when and how to use italics inthe text of an article:

COMPANIES, ORGANIZATIONS,AND LAW FIRMS The names of companies and

organizations should be written inplain text, without italics.

Example: Members of the SierraClub released a statementcondemning BP after the oil spill.

Because law firms are simplycompanies, their names should beformatted in plain text like those ofany other company. Try changing thephrasing of the sentence if the name ofthe law firm looks too confusing.

Example: He spent five years asan attorney working for the lawfirm of Pietragallo, Bosick &Gordon.

COURT CASES The names of court cases shouldalways be italicized.

Example: The U.S. SupremeCourt legalized same-sex marriagein Obergefell v. Hodges .

FOR EMPHASIS Try to avoid using italics for emphasisin Ballotpedia articles. Draw attentionto important text through phrasingrather than formatting.

Incorrect: In the speech, he saidthat pro-life causes werereally important to him. Correct: The speech highlightedhis efforts to ban abortion in theU.S., discussing his support for a“Life at Conception Act.”


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FOREIGN WORDS Do not italicize foreign words thathave been largely adopted by theEnglish language, but do italicize

words in other languages that are notfamiliar to a majority of Englishspeakers. One way to make thisdetermination is to see if the word is inthe English dictionary.

Example: He hosted a party withdrinks and hors d'oeuvres.Example: She served as the

committee’sde facto president.Example: His melancholicattitude was caused by strong senseof Weltschmerz .

Latin species names are consideredunfamiliar foreign words and should be italicized.

Example: Gray wolves (canislupus ) live in packs and hunt as agroup.

MISC. RULES Italicize the names of specific ships,trains, airplanes, and spacecraft.

Italicize titles of visual artwork, such

as paintings and sculptures.Do not italicize the names of products,games, or computer/phoneapplications.

TITLES Italicize the names of long artistic works and works that can be brokendown into parts. These works include

the following:• Books• Newspapers• Magazines• Academic journals• Movies• Television series• Plays, operas, and musicals• Music albums• Long poems• Blogs• Websites containing individual

articles

Put quotation marks around thenames of the smaller sections thatmake up items in the list above. These

smaller sections include the following:• Chapters of a book• Articles in a newspaper,

magazine, or academic journal• Titles of episodes in a television

series• Acts of a play• Songs in an album•

Articles from a blog or website

Note that television and radio stations(including call signs) should not beitalicized. These are treated ascompanies rather than as artistic works. If we need to cite the website of


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a television or radio station, the website title may be written in italics, but in these cases, the website domainshould be added for clarity.

Example : Fox News reported thatMcCarthy would not run forspeaker.Example: The article onBoehner’s resignation can be foundon CNN.com .

WORDS AS WORDS When referring to a word as a wordrather than as the object it represents,italicize the word rather than putting itin quotation marks.

Example: The w ord amnesty hasa positive connotation for someand a negative connotation forothers.

This rule also applies when referring toletters as letters.

Example: The letter i appears fourtimes in the word Mississippi .

+Latino, Latina: Refers to someonefrom Latin America (Mexico, Central America, or South America)

see also: Hispanic, Latino/Latina (page 15)

legislatively referred: Do nothyphenate the modifier legislativelyreferred .

Example: It is a legislativelyreferred constitutional amendment,

legislature: Capitalize the wordlegislature when it follows a statename. Do not capitalize it when itstands alone or when the wordstate isused in place of the state’s name.

Examples: the WashingtonLegislature; the Wyoming StateLegislature; the state legislature;the legislature

lesbian: Acceptable as both an

adjective and a noun to describe women who are attracted to the samesex. Note that the term lesbian woman is redundant.

Include references to sexualorientation only when it is pertinent toa story, and avoid references to “sexualpreference” or to a gay or “alternativelifestyle.”

see also: gay (page 13); heterosexual,homosexual, straight (page 15);LGBT/LGBTQ (page 20); queer (page28); same-sex marriage (page 31);


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sexuality and gender identity (page31); transgender, transsexual (page 37)

LGBT, LGBTQ: Abbreviation forlesbian , gay , bisexual , andtransgender . WhenQ is added to theend of the acronym, it typically standsfor queer and/or questioning . Theabbreviations LGBT and LGBTQ areacceptable on first reference and donot need to be spelled out.

see also: gay (page 13); heterosexual,homosexual, straight (page 15); lesbian(page 19); queer (page 28); same-sexmarriage (page 31); sexuality andgender identity (page 31); transgender,transsexual (page 37)

literary present tense: When writing about a specific text, alwaysuse the present tense to describe theevents that occur within the text. Note:This caveat sometimes necessitatesshifting verb tenses within a sentence,which is ok in this context .

-main article, see also: In the textof an article, we may want to directreaders to another page on Ballotpedia

without using an in-text internal link.Often, we do this through a “See also”or “Main article” link at the top of asection. Use the See also designation

to direct readers to related topics.Reserve the Main article designationfor directing readers to a morecomprehensive page about the sametopic. Note: This See also link isseparate from the See also section atthe bottom of the page.

Such links should be italicized, andthey should be indented by placing thecode :: before the text.

media: The wordmedia may betreated as singular or plural. When


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.names (of individuals): Use aperson’s full name on the firstmention. On subsequent mentions—including those in later sections of anarticle—use only the last name unlessthe first name is necessary for clarity. When text is being transcluded ontoanother page, be sure that no stray lastnames appear without clear context.

naming conventions, profilepages: The basic format for profilepage names is FIRSTNAMELASTNAME. Under mostcircumstances, profile pages shouldnot include nicknames or middleinitials.

In all cases, the profile page nameshould match the name in the page’sinfobox.

When a person is primarily known bya nickname (as seen on campaignmaterials, etc.), that nickname may beused instead of the person’s birth

name in a profile page name. In thesecases, a redirect page should becreated from the person’s birth nameto the main profile.

Example: Piyush Jindal is knownprimarily by his nickname, Bobby.

The main profile page would belisted under “Bobby Jindal” with aredirect from “Piyush Jindal.” Theinfobox would also read “Bobby

Jindal,” but the introductorysentence would begin as follows:Piyush “Bobby” Jindal.

When a person is primarily known bya name including a middle initial, themiddle initial may be included in theprofile page’s title.

Example: George W. Bush andGeorge H.W. Bush are primarilyreferred to using their middleinitials, so the page titles for bothindividuals may use their middleinitials.

If there are two people with the samefirst and last name, the page titles

should be differentiated by adding thestate name for each candidate orofficial in parentheses after his or hername. For example, you might havepages called “John Smith (NorthCarolina)” and “John Smith(Tennessee).”

If there are two people with the samename from the same state, the office orcandidacy should be used in additionto the state. For example, you mighthave pages called “John Smith(Louisiana school board member)” and“John Smith (Louisiana state


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senator).” If there are two people withthe same name and the same position,use a middle initial to differentiate thetwo pages.

In any case where two people share thesame first and last name, adisambiguation page titledFIRSTNAME LASTNAME should becreated. This page will link to theindividual pages.

see also: nicknames, individuals(page 23); middle initials (page 21)

nationwide: Spell in accordance with the listing in this entry.

nicknames, individuals:Nicknames can be included in quoteson first reference, but they shouldgenerally not appear in page titles or inthe infobox. When middle initials areused, the nickname should appearafter the initial.

Example: Barbara “Bobbi”Petrungaro

If a person is known primarily by his

or her nickname—as demonstrated bytheir campaign materials, references tohim or her in media, etc.—a writer maysubstitute the nickname for the firstname in the page title and infobox.Continue to place the person’s legal

name (with nickname in quotes) in theintroductory sentence. Additionally, aredirect page should be created usingthe legal name.

Example: Hyland “Buddy” FowlerJr. (The page title is “BuddyFowler,” which redirects from“Hyland Fowler Jr.”)

see also: middle initials (page 21)

none: The wordnone may be

singular or plural depending oncontext. It is treated as singular whenit means “not one” or when it refers toa mass noun (something that isuncountable). It is treated as plural when it means “not any.” In somecases, either form may be used because “not one” and “not any” both work in context.

The easiest rule of thumb for usingnone is to use a plural verb wheneverthe noun following “none of” is pluraland a singular verb whenever the nounis singular.

Example: None of the membershave opposed the bill.

Note: This sentence may also bewritten with a singular verb if thegoal is to stress “not one,” but the plural form is more common.Example: None of the water issafe to drink.


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nonpartisan: Write nonpartisan asone word without a hyphen.

Examples: a nonpartisanelection; the nonpartisan

organization

nonprofit: Write nonprofit as one word without a hyphen.

Example: a 501(c)3 nonprofitorganization

numeric ranges: Follow AP’s

guidelines listed underranges on page221.

When prefacing a range with apreposition ( from or between ), linkthe numbers with a written word (to orand ) rather than with a hyphen. Whendisplaying a range with a hyphen, usefigures for all numbers, even if they areless than 10.

Examples: between four and 12 vetoes per term; candidates whoearned 9-15 percent of the vote;from 50 to 60 cases a year

When writing dollar ranges thatinclude the wordmillion , writemillion

beside both the upper and lower bounds to avoid confusion. Withpercent ranges, no such repetition isrequired.

Examples: $14 million to $36million (not $14 to $36 million); between 14 and 36 percent

/Obamacare, Affordable CareAct: On the first use, refer to Obama’shealthcare law as the Affordable Care

Act (or the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act) and mention thatit is commonly called Obamacare. Insubsequent references, use the wordObamacare or the abbreviation ACA.This can also be interspersed withterms like the healthcare law orObama’s healthcare law . Do not usequotes when referring to Obamacare.

Examples: President Obamasigned the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, commonlyknown as Obamacare, into law onMarch 23, 2010; the ACA created anew type of nonprofit healthinsurance company; UnderObamacare, insurance companies

cannot deny an individual coveragedue to pre-existing conditions.

officeholder: Spell in accordance with the listing in this entry.


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0page components, order of:Follow the hierarchy listed below whenordering page components. Note: Notall pages will include all of theseelements.

• Recent news• See also• External links• Footnotes

parentheses: Writers are welcometo use parentheses when doing soimproves clarity and ease of reading.Parentheses may also be used tocommunicate a person’s partyaffiliation or to display anorganization’s abbreviated name.

Examples: Read King (R);Federal CommunicationsCommission (FCC)

Parentheses should not be used to addsupplemental information to quotedmaterial; use brackets for this purposeinstead.

see also: abbreviations, acronyms,and initialisms (page 1); partyaffiliation (page 25); brackets (page 4)

party affiliation: Politicalaffiliations after a candidate’s or

official’s name should be written inparentheses, following the formats written below. If the party is anythingother than Republican (R), Democratic

(D), independent (I), Libertarian (L),or Green (G), write out the party’s fullname. In all cases, if the state ordistrict is obvious in context, the partyalone may be used. If both thestate/district and party are obvious, noparenthetical affiliation is necessary.

CANDIDATES FOR ANY OFFICE Format as: (party abbreviation)

Examples: Read King (R); PattyMerrick (D)

MEMBERS OF U.S. CONGRESS Format as: (party abbreviation +hyphen + state abbreviation)

Examples: Sen. Marco Rubio (R-

Fla.); Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.)

Note: Remember to use the AP stateabbreviation rather than the postalcode abbreviation.

MEMBERS OF A STATE LEGISLATURE Format as: (party abbreviation +

hyphen + district number) Examples: Louisiana State Sen.Troy Brown (D-2), Alabama StateRep. Phil Williams (R-6)

Note: With state legislators, the stateis not given in the parenthetical


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affiliation, so it must be made clear from the context of the article.

passive voice: The passive voiceplaces emphasis on theobject ratherthan on the subject of a sentence. Inother words, it emphasizes the thingthat is acted upon rather than thething that is acting. The active voice isgenerally preferable because it isstronger than the passive voice.Furthermore, the passive voice can

often leave out important details. Forinstance, “the lamp was broken”(passive) avoids placing blame on theactor, whereas “John broke the lamp”(active) adds an important detail to thestory.

While the passive voice can beoverused, it is acceptable—and oftenpreferable—when the actor isn’timportant or is already known.

Example: She was elected to thecourt in 2014.Example: Each section of thereport was given a separate scoringstructure.

photo captions: Photo captionsmay be written as complete sentencesor as short phrases/clauses. Capitalizethe first word in all cases. If a completesentence is used to caption a photo,use proper grammar and punctuation.

Do not end sentence fragments with aperiod.

Example: Feral swine in Michigan Example: Parrot feather, an

invasive aquatic species, has beenfound to threaten freshwaterresources.

When identifying members of a photo,list them from left to right (starting atthe top row if applicable), prefacingthe names with “from left” and a colon.

Example: From left: Sens. RobertThompson (R), Tim Johnson (D),John Peterson (R) Example: Top row, from left:Sens. Robert Thompson (R), TimJohnson (D), John Peterson (R);middle row: Rep. Jim Swenson (D),Sen. Peter Robertson (R) …

policymaker, policymaking:Spell in accordance with the listing inthis entry.

political titles: In keeping with APstyle (page 255), writers should“confine capitalization to formal titles

used directly before an individual’sname.” If a title does not appeardirectly before a person’s name—either because it is set off with commas or because the name does not appear in


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the sentence at all—spell it out fullyand do not capitalize it.

Example: The bill was signed intolaw by Governor Gary Johnson. Example: The bill was signed intolaw by the governor, Gary Johnson.Example: The New Mexicogovernor signed the bill into law.

In general, avoid repetition of titles before names; repeat them only whennecessary for clarity. In mostcircumstances, there is no need toreintroduce a person’s title with eachnew section of a page.

ABBREVIATIONS

Title Singular PluralGovernor Gov. Govs.LieutenantGovernor

Lt. Gov. Lt. Govs.

Senator Sen. Sens.Representative Rep. Reps.

Note: When appearing before a name, the four titles above can be abbreviated at thewriter’s discretion. Do not abbreviate titlesthat would not be easily recognized byreaders.

FORMATTING Ballotpedia has no official preferenceon the formatting of titles. Writersshould consider narrative quality andease of reading when making decisions with respect to word order,abbreviations, and parentheses.

Examples: Texas Gov. Greg Abbott; Governor of Texas Greg Abbott; Gov. Greg Abbott (Texas)

Note: When deciding how to formatnames of state or federal legislators,take care to make it clear (either fromthe title or from other context) whetherwe are referring to a state official or a federal official [e.g., “Georgia Senator John Smith” could refer to either astate senator or a U.S. senator. If it isnot clear from context, this title shouldbe amended to say “Georgia State Senator John Smith” or “U.S. Senator John Smith (R-Ga.)”].

FORMER, CURRENT,AND OTHER QUALIFIERS Additional qualifiers such as former and current should not be capitalized

with the title, nor should hyphenatedextensions likethen- or -elect .

Examples: former Senator FredThompson; then-LieutenantGovernor Gray Davis; Judge-electJeff Brown

PLURAL TITLES When a single title is held by morethan one individual in a sentence, thenames can be consolidated under oneplural title. The same capitalizationguidelines apply.

Example: She met Senators JohnCornyn and Ted Cruz at the event.


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Example: Two current senators,John Cornyn and Ted Cruz,attended the event.

see also: titles (AP page 255);legislative titles (AP page 147)

proper nouns with sharedwords: When two or more propernouns each end with a common word,the word does not need to be repeatedunless failure to do so would causeconfusion. The shared word—madeplural in this construction—should not be capitalized.

Examples: Polk and Miami-Dadecounties; the Manchester andMettawee school districts; the 14thand 15th circuits; the Republicanand Democratic parties

If the shared word comes at the beginning of the phrase, it may beappropriate to capitalize it. In thesecases, the word can function assomething of a title to the words thatfollow (see also: political titles).

Examples: Districts 1 and 3;Circuits 5 and 6; Reps. Amash and

Gohmert

proved, proven: The words proved and proven are both forms of the verbto prove . The word proved is used for

the simple past. As a past participle, proven is Ballotpedia’s preferred form.

Examples: she proved him wrong; he was proven wrong; it is a

proven fact; there are proven gasreserves

1queer: The term queer has beenappropriated by some LGBT people todescribe themselves. However, theterm is not universally accepted withinthe LGBT community, and it stillretains some of its pejorativeconnotations. Therefore, it is best toavoid the term unless it is used todescribe someone who self-identifiesas queer or it is used in a directquotation.

see also: gay (page 13); heterosexual,homosexual, straight (page 15); lesbian(page 19); LGBT/LGBTQ (page 20);same-sex marriage (page 31); sexualityand gender identity (page 31);

transgender, transsexual (page 37)

question mark (?): Follow theguidelines for using question marksthat are listed on pages 294–295 of the AP style guide.


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Question marks should never becombined with a comma or a period(whether in text or in references).

Example: The Washington Post ,

“Political insiders answer: Willthere be a brokered convention in2016?” January 31, 2016.

quotations, alterations: Observe

the following guidelines when deciding whether or how to alter the text of aquotation:

ADDING CLARIFICATIONUSING BRACKETS

You may add clarifications to quotesusing square brackets, but the wordsin brackets should normally be addedto the quoted text; under mostcircumstances, do not use brackets to

replace words in the quoted text.

It is acceptable to replace a quoted word with a word in brackets in twosituations: (1) You can change a verbto a different tense of the same verb ifnecessary to fit the quote into thesentence, and (2) You can change a

pronoun if necessary to keep the quotereferring to the correct person.

CHANGING THE CAPITALIZATIONOF THE FIRST LETTER OF A QUOTE

Start a quote that is a completesentence (even if it is only part of a

larger sentence in its original form)following a form of “to say” or a similar word with a capital letter.

Example: He said, “Pie is my

favorite food.”

Start a quote that is a sentencefragment—that completes the rest ofthe sentence—with a lowercase letter(unless it begins with a proper noun).

Example: She said that she“prefers cake to pie.”

If you need to alter the capitalizationof the original quote in order to fit withthese guidelines, use square bracketsaround the letter that has been altered.However, it is generally preferable toalter the sentence structure to makethe capitalization work as it exists inthe quote.

STYLISTIC CHANGES

Do not alter quotations to bring theminto conformity with BP or AP style. Ifthe quote uses a hyphen where an emdash should be used, leave the hyphen.If the quote fails to italicize anewspaper title, leave it in plain text.

quotations, quotes withinquotes: Always use single quotationmarks (‘ ’) around a quote that appears within another quote. Use doublequotation marks (“ ”) around the outerquote. This rule also applies to quotes


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that appear inside of the {{quote}}template. The large, blue quotationmarks count as the double quotationmarks, so any quotes that appear

within the larger quote should besurrounded by single quotation marks.

quotations, splitting quotes:Split quotes occur when a writerinterrupts a quote with a phrase suchas “he said” or “she continued.” Splitquotes should generally be avoided, but they may be used in moderation,especially when the source you arequoting from has already split thequote. While the two parts of the splitquote probably went together, wecannot be certain, so split quotes fromother sources should not be combined.

Example: “I want to thinkseriously about it,” Clinton stated.

“I probably won’t begin thinkingabout it until sometime next year.”

quotations, template use: As ageneral rule, use the {{quote}}template for quotes longer than twosentences. Writers may use theirdiscretion on this, however, keeping in

mind that the {{quote}} template mayalter the alignment of surroundingtext.

2re-elect, re-election: Use ahyphen in re-elect and re-election .

Examples: She was re-elected. Helost his re-election bid.

red links: Red links are not visible toreaders who are not signed in. Writersare encouraged to create red links forany text that may someday become its

own Ballotpedia page.

To add a red link for a page thatdoesn’t exist yet—Planned Parenthood,for example—type square bracketsaround the name in the edit window:[[Planned Parenthood]].

All red links are tracked so that we cantell which red-linked pages would bemost valuable for us to create.

runner-up, runners-up: Spell inaccordance with the listing in thisentry ,

running mate: Spell in accordance

with the listing in this entry.

runoff: Write runoff as one word without a hyphen.

Example: The top two voterecipients advanced to a runoff.


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3same-sex marriage: Ballotpediaprefers the term same-sex marriage togay marriage . Use the traditionaldesignation ofwife or husband forthose who are legally married. Theterm spouse may also be applied toeither partner in any marriage, but donot use it simply to avoid applying theterms husband and wife to same-sex

couples.

see also: gay (page 13); heterosexual,homosexual, straight (page 15); lesbian(page 19); LGBT/LGBTQ (page 20);queer (page 28); sexuality and genderidentity (page 31); transgender,transsexual (page 37)

sexuality and gender identity:Be sensitive to issues of bias when writing about the sexuality and genderidentity of an individual or group. Ingeneral, do not make references toone’s sexuality or gender identityunless that detail is pertinent to thestory. Avoid references to “sexual

preference” or an “alternativelifestyle.”

Be conscientious of the variousdesignations for those whose sexualityand gender identification is an

important component of their self-identity; do not make assumptions.

see also: gay (page 13); heterosexual,

homosexual, straight (page 15); lesbian(page 19); LGBT/LGBTQ (page 20);queer (page 28); same-sex marriage(page 31); transgender, transsexual(page 37)

[sic ]: If you notice a typo in quotedtext, use the {{sic}} template (whichappears as [sic] when saved) directlyafter the error—not at the end of thesentence—to show that it is an error inthe original source rather than one weintroduced. In all cases, [sic] should beitalicized and placed inside square brackets.

Use [sic] in inline quotes, but not in block quotes that use the {{quote}}template. Our quote template containsa disclaimer saying that any errors inthe text are attributed to the originalsource; this note takes the place of[sic].

Use [sic] only after obvious typos anderrors, such as “hte” for “the,” ratherthan for grammatical errors or styleissues.

Because both the {{sic}} template andthe manual insertion of [sic] create


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coding errors when placed inreferences, the HTML code[''sic''] can be used when a word is misspelled in the text of a

reference.

signature filing deadline: Do nothyphenate any words in the phrasesignature filing deadline .

Example: The signature filingdeadline is on June 1, 2016.

split infinitives: An infinitive is a verb form consisting of the wordto plusthe most basic form of a verb. Forinstance, to run , to eat , and to work areall infinitives. A split infinitive occurs when an adverb is placed between the word to and the verb, such as in “toquickly run” or “to diligently work.”

Split infinitives can normally beavoided by moving the adverb to adifferent location in the sentence.Some grammarians hold that splitinfinitives constitute a grammaticalerror, so it’s often best to avoid them.However, split infinitives are almostnecessary in some cases, and they willnot be considered errors onBallotpedia.

Example: The group failed toexplicitly request a special election.

Example: It allowed the assemblyto essentially raise taxes based oninflation.Example: It should be easy for a

regular person to quickly locate the budget on the website.

spokesman, spokeswoman,spokesperson: Use spokesman orspokeswoman when the gender of theindividual is known. Use the termspokesperson if the gender is unknown

or if making a generic reference to theposition. None of these terms functionas official titles, so they should not becapitalized even if they directlyprecede a person’s name.

sprout template, usage: A sproutis a short article that may be no morethan two or three sentences in length. A sprout page should be created when we want to create a quick placeholderarticle that is expected to grow in thefuture (though we may have noimmediate plan to add to the article).Sprout pages should still includecategories, and they may or may notalso contain a See also section, an

External links section, a Footnotessection and a basic infobox.

The sprout template should not beused merely to show that a page ismissing standard components.


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Example: A page containing onlythe following text would beconsidered a sprout: “Thomas R. J.Newbern was a judge for the 6B

Judicial District of North Carolina.He retired at the end of his term inDecember of 2012.”

state: In general, follow theguidelines listed on AP page 243.However, capitalize the wordstate when it is used (1) between a statename and a governmental body or (2) between a state name and an officialtitle used directly before an official’sname.

Examples : • He won election to the state

Senate.• He won election to the

Connecticut State Senate.• The state representative is

running for re-election.• In North Carolina, state

Representative James Dixon isrunning for re-election.

• North Carolina StateRepresentative James Dixon isrunning for re-election.

state names, abbreviations for: Do not abbreviate state names in thetext of an article. In tables, charts, andgraphs, state names may beabbreviated.

Use the Associated Press abbreviationsfor state names rather than the two-letter postal code abbreviations:

STATE ABBR. Alabama Ala. Alaska Alaska Arizona Ariz. Arkansas Ark.California Calif.Colorado Colo.Connecticut Conn.Delaware Del.Florida Fla.Georgia Ga.Hawaii HawaiiIdaho IdahoIllinois Ill.Indiana Ind.Iowa IowaKansas Kan.

Kentucky Ky.Louisiana La.Maine MaineMaryland Md.Massachusetts Mass.Michigan Mich.Minnesota Minn.Mississippi Miss.

Missouri Mo.Montana Mont.Nebraska Neb.Nevada Nev.New Hampshire N.H.New Jersey N.J.New Mexico N.M.


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New York N.Y.North Carolina N.C.North Dakota N.D.Ohio Ohio

Oklahoma Okla.Oregon Ore.Pennsylvania Pa.Rhode Island R.I.South Carolina S.CSouth Dakota S.D.Tennessee Tenn.Texas TexasUtah Utah Vermont Vt. Virginia Va. Washington Wa. West Virginia W.Va. Wisconsin Wis. Wyoming Wyo.

Note: If you have difficulty

remembering the AP abbreviations,use the {{abbr}} template. Forinstance, {{abbr|mi}} will show up as“Mich.” and {{abbr|ok}} will show upas “Okla.”

state nicknames: In general, usestate nicknames sparingly and only

when the context of the article isinformal enough to support suchusage. Be conscientious of readers’relative familiarity with certain statenicknames as opposed to others. The

following is a list of some of the morecommonly known state nicknames:

Ariz. The Grand Canyon State

Ark. The Natural State Calif. The Golden State Fla. The Sunshine State Ga. The Peach State Hawaii The Aloha State Ind. The Hoosier State Ky. The Bluegrass State Mich. The Great Lakes State Miss. The Magnolia State Mo. The Show Me State N.H. The Granite State N.J. The Garden State N.Y. The Empire State N.C. The Tar Heel State Ohio The Buckeye State Okla. The Sooner State Pa. The Keystone State

S.C. The Palmetto StateTenn. The Volunteer State Texas The Lone Star State

State of the Union, State ofthe State, State of the City:Capitalize State of the Union , State ofthe State , and State of the City when

referring to the addresses given by apresident, governor, or mayor,respectively. Do not capitalize the wordsaddress or speech when used with these terms.


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Example : The president deliveredthe State of the Union address.

statehouse, state house: Always

capitalizestatehouse or state house when used in conjunction with aspecific state (e.g., the VermontStatehouse), but lowercase when itappears alone, as in “the statehouse.” Different states have different namesfor the buildings where theirlegislatures conduct business.Depending on the state, these buildings may be referred to as a statecapitol, a state house, a statehouse, oreven a legislative hall. The followingchart details which designation eachstate uses to describe its capitol building.

Legislative Hall

DelawareState Capitol

Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas,California, Colorado, Connecticut,Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho,Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky,Louisiana, Michigan, Minnesota,Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska,

Nevada , New Mexico, New York,North Carolina, North Dakota,Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania,South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas,Utah , Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Wyoming

State House Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts,New Hampshire, New Jersey, RhodeIsland, South Carolina, Vermont

Statehouse Indiana, Ohio

statewide: Spell in accordance withthe listing in this entry.

Supreme Court of the UnitedStates: Always capitalize the fullproper name Supreme Court of theUnited States . Retain capitalization when shortened to Supreme Court , butdo not capitalize when shortenedfurther to court .

Examples: the Supreme Court ofthe United States; the SupremeCourt; the court

supreme courts of the states: Capitalize full proper names of statesupreme courts, but lowercasesupreme court when the state name isdropped. Do not capitalize whenshortened to court , and do notcapitalize when referring generically tosupreme courts across the states.

Examples: the WisconsinSupreme Court; the supreme court;the court; eight state supremecourts have ruled


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Note that in New York, the courtsknown assupreme courts are trialcourts rather than courts of last resort.This should be clarified if the fact is

unclear from context. Conversely, notall courts of last resort are known assupreme courts (e.g., the MarylandCourt of Appeals, the Oklahoma Courtof Criminal Appeals).

see also: court names (page 9)

4telephone numbers: Formattelephone numbers as follows:(XXX) XXX-XXXX

Do not preface area codes with a 1,even if the number is toll-free.

the, usage with proper nouns:Some proper nouns (politicalorganizations, universities,newspapers, school districts, etc.) arenormally preceded by the wordthe ,

while others are not. If the wordthe isimproperly included or omitted, our writing will sound unnatural to thosefamiliar with that particular subject.

There are not always solid rules as to when the is needed and when it is not.The most general rule is that propernouns containing a preposition

(usuallyof ) are almost alwayspreceded by the wordthe . However,there are also many proper nouns thatdo not contain a preposition but thatshould still be preceded bythe .

Often, the best way to determine whether or not to includethe is to runa Google News search and see how amajority of other news sources formatthe name.

There are a few constructions thatapply almost universally. Below are afew examples:

• the University of ___• ___ University• the ___ Times/Journal/Post• the ___ School Board• the ___ Board of Education• the ___ Association• the ___ Center• the Center for ___• the Department of ___• the ___ Foundation

In all cases, the wordthe should becapitalized only if it is part of thenoun’s proper name. For mostorganizations, universities, and schooldistricts, the word the should be leftlowercase. Publications vary in their


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preference to include or omit the wordthe , but a partial list of the mostcommon newspaper titles can befound on pages 178-179 of the Associated Press Stylebook .

they, their: Do not use the wordsthey or their as singular pronouns.

see also: he, she; his, her (page 14)

think tank: Do not hyphenate the

term think tank . Example: The HeritageFoundation is a conservative thinktank.

tilde: Use a tilde in names thatnormally include them. Never use~ or! to indicate approximations; instead,use about or approximately .

Examples: Marisela Saldaña; LaNueva España

see also: accent marks (page 2)

today, tomorrow, tonight: Evenin news articles that include datelines, write out the full date (e.g., January 31,

2016) instead of using a relativemarker of time such astoday ,tomorrow , or tonight or a day of the week such asWednesday .

toward: Use toward , not towards .

transgender, transsexual: An adjective, transgender is anumbrella term for people whosegender identity and/or expression

differs from what is typicallyassociated with their sex at birth.Though some transgender people maytake hormones prescribed by theirdoctors or undergo surgery to changetheir bodies, a transgender identity isnot dependent upon medicalprocedures.

Those who have undertaken medicalprocedures to change their bodies tothe gender with which they identifymay prefer the term transsexual . It isnot, however, synonymous withtransgender, nor is it an umbrellaterm. Many transgender people do notidentify as transexual. Use only as an

adjective as in “transsexual woman” or“transsexual man” (wherewoman orman refers to the sex with which theindividual self-identifies).

see also: gay (page 13); heterosexual,homosexual, straight (page 15); lesbian(page 19); LGBT/LGBTQ (page 20);queer (page 28); same-sex marriage(page 31); sexuality and genderidentity (page 31)

travel, traveled, traveling,traveler: Spell in accordance withthe listing in this entry.


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5war on drugs, war on terror: Writers are encouraged to avoid thephrases war on drugs and war onterror unless they are used in aquote. If the terms are used outsideof a quote, writers should notcapitalize them or place them inquotation marks.

Example: In his speech, Paulsaid that the war on drugs hadfailed.

6vote-getters, vote recipients:The term vote-getters should be written with a hyphen. In contrast,vote recipients should not behyphenated. Both terms may be usedinterchangeably.


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References

FORMATTING BY SOURCE TYPE

ACADEMIC JOURNAL ARTICLES

Follow the format recommended by theChicago Manual of Style .

EDITVIEW

Last name, First name. ''Article title.'' ''Journal Title'' Volume,Issue no. (Year): page range.

READVIEW

Last name, First name. ''Article title.'' Journal Title Volume, Issueno. (Year): page range.

EXAMPLE Christens, Brian, and Paul W. Speer. "Predicting Violent CrimeUsing Suburban Densities." ''Behavior and Social Issues'' 14, 2.(2005): 113-27.

Note: Include a URL if one is available.

BALLOTPEDIA ARTICLES

Avoid using the tags to cite Ballotpedia pages. Instead, use double- bracketed internal links or a "See also"/"Main article" line at the top of the section.(Such notes should be italicized, and they should be indented by placing the code “::” before the text.)


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BOOKS

EDITVIEW

Last name, First initial. (YEAR). ''Title''. Location: PrintingPress. (pages #-#)

READVIEW

Last name, First initial. (YEAR). Title . Location: Printing Press.(pages #-#)

EXAMPLE Cohen, R., et al. (2015). ''The Almanac of American Politics2016''. Bethesda, MD: Columbia Books Inc. (pages 78-85)

• Include a URL if one is available.• If there are two authors, put both names in the same format, separated by an

ampersand (&).• If there are three or more authors, use a comma and the termet al. (no italics)

after the first name.

CAMPAIGN WEBSITES

EDITVIEW

[URL ''NAME YEAR campaign website'', "Page name," accessedDATE]

READVIEW

NAME YEAR campaign website , "Page name," accessed DATE

EXAMPLE [ http://www.coleforcolorado.com/about-tj/ ' 'TJ Cole 2016campaign website'', "About TJ," accessed March 9, 2016]

• Examples of common page names include “Meet NAME,” “The Issues” and“Endorsements.”

• Since campaign websites often expire the year after an election, writers may wish to archive these URLs. SeeReferences: Archived links (page 43) formore information.


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COURT CASES

EDITVIEW

Court, '' Case name'' , Date decision is handed down

READVIEW Court, Case name , Date decision is handed down

EXAMPLE Supreme Court of Kansas, ''United States v. Nixon'', July 24,1974

Note: The court name should be the same as the Ballotpedia page name for thatcourt. Include a URL if one is available.

ORIGINAL INTERVIEWS AND CORRESPONDENCE

EDITVIEW

''Ballotpedia staff OR [[Ballotpedia:Name|Name]]'', "Method ofcorrespondence with Interview Subject," DATE

READVIEW

Ballotpedia staff or Name , "Method of correspondence withInterview Subject," DATE

EXAMPLE ''[[Ballotpedia:Abbey Smith|Abbey Smith]]'', "Emailcommunication with Jean McHatton," October 20, 2015

SOCIAL MEDIA

EDITVIEW

[URL ''Name of Social Media Platform'', "Page name," accessedMONTH DAY, YEAR]

READVIEW

Name of Social Media Platform , "Page name," accessed MONTHDAY, YEAR


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Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn

When referencing general user pages, use the person’s official social medianame (if available) rather than the “@” handle.

Examples:Twitter , "Elizabeth Warren," accessed February 26, 2016 Facebook, “Elizabeth Warren,” accessed February 26, 2016 LinkedIn , “Elizabeth Warren,” accessed February 26, 2016

When referencing content from a specific social media post, link to thatspecific post rather than to the general user account (e.g., rather than linkingto the “Donald J. Trump” page on Facebook, link to the post in question). OnFacebook and Twitter, this unique URL can be found by clicking thetimestamp of the post. Format those references as follows: Example: Twitter , "Elizabeth Warren on January 6, 2016," accessedFebruary 26, 2016 Example: Facebook , "Elizabeth Warren on January 6, 2016," accessedFebruary 26, 2016


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WEBSITES

EDITVIEW

[URL ''Name of Website'', "Article or page name," accessedMONTH DAY, YEAR]

READVIEW

Name of Website , "Article or page name," accessed MONTH DAY,YEAR

EXAMPLE [http://www.governing.com/topics/politics/tns-new-mexico-dianna-duran.html ''Governing'', "New Mexico secretary of statepleads not guilty," September 17, 2015]

• If the publication date is known, a publication date may be given instead of an

accessed date. If a publication date is given, simply omit the wordaccessed .• When linking to any website’s main page, writers may leave out the “Article or

page name” part of the reference.

YouTube

When referencing YouTube videos, useYouTube as the source and the videotitle as the page name. Date the reference using the upload date.

Example: YouTube , "Remarks by Senator Warren on Citigroup andits bailout provision," February 26, 2016

FORMATTING GUIDELINES

ARCHIVED LINKS

In order to prevent our links from going out of date, writers may choose to archive

the current version of a page and provide the URL of the archive rather than that ofthe original site. Most often, this is done through the Wayback Machine(https://archive.org/web/). In these cases, the citation should be formatted the sameas if you were citing the original source, but rather than giving the publication oraccessed dates, you should include the "archived" date.


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Example: [URL ''San Francisco Elections Office website'', "Proposition JSimplification Digest," archived September 9, 2014]

ARTICLE TITLES ENDING IN PUNCTUATION MARKS If an article title ends in a question mark, exclamation point, or period, do not placean additional comma after the final punctuation mark. If an article title ends in aquotation mark, change the inner quotation marks to single quotation marks (‘ ’) andplace the comma inside both sets of quotation marks.

CASE OF ARTICLE TITLES Article titles may be copied and pasted directly into references in their originalformat, so some article titles may be written in title case (where all words other thanarticles, conjunctions, and prepositions are capitalized), while other titles will be written in sentence case (where only the first word and proper nouns arecapitalized). Ballotpedia’s preference is that articles written in all caps be changed tosentence case. This can be done manually or by using a browser extension such asConvert Case for Google Chrome.

INCLUDING SEARCH RESULTS IN A REFERENCE On some websites, running a search for a particular term will not yield a new URL.In these cases, the URL will simply take readers to the main search page rather thanto the page containing the cited information. Since we cannot provide a direct link tothe desired page, writers are encouraged to instead include a search term at the endof the reference. These search terms should be placed in parentheses and italicized.

Example:

EDITVIEW

[http://thomas.loc.gov/home/nomis.html ''The Library ofCongress'', "Search Presidential Nominations," accessed October 29,2015] ''(Search term PN1786-103)''

READVIEW

The Library of Congress, "Search Presidential Nominations,"accessed October 29, 2015 (Search term PN1786-103)


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PLACEMENT OF REFERENCES IN TEXT

Place each reference immediately after the ending punctuation mark of the sentenceit follows (i.e., no extra space).

Examples: The chief judge of a circuit court is selected by peer vote andserves a three-year term.[1]

When citing multiple sources in a row, arrange them roughly in the order in whichthe cited information appears; do not spend extra time arranging references innumerical order within the text.


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comma .......................................... 7

committee .......................... see AP , 52

company names .................... see AP , 53

compared to, compared with .... see AP , 57

compound adjectives .............. see AP , 58

comprised of, composed of ....... ........ ... 7

Congress ............................. see AP , 59

congressional ....................... see AP , 59

congressional districts ........ ..... see AP , 59

congressman, congresswoman .............. 8

conservative ........................ see AP , 60

constitution ......................... see AP , 60

contractions ......................... see AP , 61

contrasted to, contrasted with .. see AP , 61

convention .......................... see AP , 62

coordinating conjunction, beginning

a sentence with ...................... 8

council, counsel .................... see AP , 63

councilman, councilwoman,

council member ...................... 8

court decisions ..................... see AP , 64

court names .................................... 9

courtesy titles ...................... see AP , 64

credentials ..................................... 9

Customs .............................. see AP , 67

%dangling modifiers ................. see AP , 68dangling prepositions ......................... 9

dash (—) ....................................... 10 10

data ............................... see AP , 68

dates, basic format .......................... 10

dates, formatting date ranges ............. 10

death, die ........................... see AP , 72

decades .............................. see AP , 72

decimals, rounding .......................... 10

Democrat/Democratic ............ see AP , 73

department ......................... see AP , 73

different ............................. see AP , 75

dimensions .......................... see AP , 76

directions and regions ........ ..... see AP , 76

disabled, handicapped ...................... 11

disclaimers and explanatory notes ........ 11

district ............................... see AP , 78

District of Columbia ......................... 11

dollars ............................... see AP , 79

&e.g. ............................... see AP , 86

each other, one another .......... see AP , 82

either…or, neither…nor ........... see AP , 86

-elect ............................... see AP , 87

Election Day, election night ........ ........ 11election returns .................... see AP , 87

ellipsis ............................. see AP , 291

em dash (—) ................................... 12

email ............................... see AP , 87

equal, equaled, equaling ......... see AP , 89

essential clauses, nonessential

clauses ...................... see AP , 89

ex officio ...................................... 12exclamation point (!) ........................ 12

executive branch .................. see AP , 92

external links, format of .................... 12

external links, in text ....................... 12


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'federal .............................. see AP , 96

fewer, less .......................... see AP , 98

first lady ............................ see AP , 99foreign names ..................... see AP , 102

foreign words ................................. 13

former ............................. see AP , 103

fractions ........................... see AP , 103

front-runner .................................. 13

fundraising, fundraiser .......... see AP , 105

(gay ........................................ 13

general assembly ................. see AP , 107

global warming, climate change .......... 13

good, well ......................... see AP , 110

GOP, Grand Old Party ........ .... see AP , 110

government ........................ see AP , 110

governmental bodies ........ ..... see AP , 110

governor ........................... see AP , 111

grassroots ..................................... 14

groundwater .................................. 14

gubernatorial ................................. 14

)Hawaii ........................................ 14

headers ........................................ 14

healthcare .................................... 14

he, she; his, her ............................. 14

heterosexual, homosexual, straight ...... 15

Hispanic, Latino/Latina .................... 15

homicide, murder,

manslaughter ............. see AP , 122

House of Representatives ....... see AP , 123

however ........................................ 15

husband, wife ..................... see AP , 124

hyphen ......................................... 15

*i.e. ............................. see AP , 125

illegal immigration ............... see AP , 125

include ............................. see AP , 127

infobox ......................................... 16infobox, formatting of ....................... 16

internal links .................................. 16

when to use .......................... 16

use of redirects ...................... 16

with titles, possessives .......... ... 17

Internet ............................ see AP , 130

italics ......................................... 17

companies, organizations,and lawfirms ..................... 17

court cases ........................... 17

for emphasis .......................... 17

foreign words ........................ 18

misc. rules ............................ 18

titles ................................... 18

words as words ....................... 19

8Joint Chiefs of Staff ....... ....... see AP , 137

judge ............................. see AP , 137

junior, senior, III ................. see AP , 138


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+languages .......................... see AP , 144

late ............................. see AP , 144

Latino, Latina ................................. 19law

Documents

Ballotpedia Writing Style Guide (Spring 2016)