The 2020 Presidential Anti‑Corruption Scorecard
77% of voters say corruption is a top issue facing the country. See where the candidates stand on critical anti-corruption reforms, then ask them to pledge to #FixDemocracyFirst.
RepresentUs scored major presidential candidates based on their stated positions on these three principles:
Protect Our
Right to Vote
End voter purges, pass automatic voter registration, expand early voting, same-day registration & vote at home options, and restore the vote for returning citizens with past felony convictions.
Make Elections
Secure & Competitive
Stop foreign meddling in our elections, end gerrymandering, and pass Ranked Choice Voting.
End
Political Corruption
End secret donations, close the revolving door between government and the lobbying industry, and create democracy vouchers or small donor matching programs that make politicians dependent on voters instead of big-money interests.
You can mouse overtap each grade to see how the candidates earned their marks.
Candidate
Protect Our
Right to Vote
Secure & Competitive Elections
End Political
Corruption
Pledged to #FixDemocracyFirst
Take Action
Candidate
Joe Biden
Supports automatic voter registration, same day voting registration, expanded early voting, expansive vote at home options, and restoring the vote for returning citizens with past felony convictions. Has not shown clear support for ending voter purges, though he does support the Voting Rights Advancement Act.
Protect Our
Right to Vote
Opposes accepting information about political opponents from foreign governments and supports ending gerrymandering, but has not supported ranked choice voting.
Secure & Competitive Elections
Supports ending secret donations and implementing small-donor public financing but has not shown definitive support for closing the revolving door.
End Political
Corruption
Pledged to #FixDemocracyFirst
Take Action
Candidate
Donald Trump
Has not expressed support for automatic voter registration or expanded early voting. Opposes ending voter purges, expansive vote at home options, restoring the vote for returning citizens with past felony convictions, and same day voter registration.
Protect Our
Right to Vote
Said he would accept information about political opponents from foreign governments, is against ending gerrymandering, and has not taken a clear position on ranked choice voting.
Secure & Competitive Elections
Has supported stronger revolving door restrictions in the past, but his administration’s record on the issue has been mixed. Opposes implementing small-donor public financing or ending secret donations.
End Political
Corruption
Pledged to #FixDemocracyFirst
Take Action
The following individuals have all pledged to #FixDemocracyFirst, but have since dropped out of the race:
- Michael Bennet
- Michael Bloomberg
- Steve Bullock
- Pete Buttigieg
- Tulsi Gabbard
- Kirsten Gillibrand
- Ben Gleib
- Amy Klobuchar
- Beto O'Rourke
- Deval Patrick
- Bernie Sanders
- Joe Sestak
- Tom Steyer
- Elizabeth Warren
- Marianne Williamson
- Bill Weld
- Andrew Yang
Add Your Name: Urge Presidential Candidates to Pledge to #FixDemocracyFirst
To Presidential Candidates,
I’m writing to urge you to #FixDemocracyFirst, and commit to passing comprehensive democracy reform in the first 90 days of your administration. Taking the pledge means that you will:
- Protect Our Right to Vote by ending voter purges, passing automatic voter registration, expanding early voting, same-day registration & vote at home options, and restoring the vote for returning citizens with past felony convictions.
- Make Elections Secure & Competitive by stopping foreign meddling in our elections, ending gerrymandering, & passing Ranked Choice Voting.
- End Political Corruption by ending secret donations, closing the revolving door between government and the lobbying industry, and creating democracy vouchers or small donor matching programs that make politicians dependent on voters instead of big-money interests.
Take the pledge to #FixDemocracyFirst and stand with the 77% of voters who believe that corruption in government is a top issue facing our country. Silence and inaction on this critical problem cannot continue.
Thank you for adding your name to urge presidential candidates to address comprehensive democracy reform in the first 90 days of their administration!
Methodology
How it works: Candidates are graded on their support for the reforms listed in the #FixDemocracyFirst pledge, as divided into three overarching principles. We believe all of these changes are crucial to unrigging our broken system. For the sake of consistency, we treat individual reforms equally: supporting more of these policies gets candidates a higher score—and only when they support the whole package do they get an A.
We compiled candidate stances from their campaign websites, what they’ve said on social media, on the campaign trail, in interviews, or from their support of recent legislation. Our friends at Equal Citizens and End Citizens United have created their own scorecards measuring these candidates on similar issue areas.
Campaigns are dynamic. We welcome your feedback—if you see a candidate’s position has changed, send us an email at [email protected] with the new information.