Frequently asked questions

Ballot Yard is a geo-targeted domain infrastructure platform. We maintain a portfolio of curated, rhetorically structured domain names and lease access to them by geographic slot to campaigns, PACs, Super PACs, advertising agencies, and advocacy organizations. Each lease grants exclusive access to a domain in a defined geography for a defined period.

Yes. Domain leasing is a standard commercial transaction. Ballot Yard is a technology vendor, not a political committee. Lessee payments are reportable as vendor expenditures under standard FEC reporting requirements. Content served through Ballot Yard domains must comply with all applicable campaign finance law, including required disclaimer requirements under 52 U.S.C. § 30120. Ballot Yard does not provide legal advice; lessees should consult their own legal counsel.

When a visitor accesses a Ballot Yard inventory domain, their IP address is queried against the MaxMind GeoIP2 Precision database in real time. The routing layer identifies the active lessee for that visitor’s geographic slot and serves the lessee’s configured content. The full resolution process takes under 5 milliseconds and is transparent to the visitor.

Ballot Yard lease pricing is based on: geographic tier (Tier 1 competitive markets are priced higher than Tier 3 safe markets), lease duration, and election cycle proximity (slots reserved within 60 days of a primary or general election carry a cycle premium). Specific rates are not published; contact us via the request access form for a pricing proposal.

Standard content review is completed within 24–48 business hours of submission. Expedited review (4–8 hours) is available for an additional fee for lease activations with a campaign deadline. Contact your account representative to request expedited review.

Yes. A single organization can hold leases on the same domain across multiple geographic slots simultaneously, subject to availability. This is common for campaigns or advocacy organizations targeting multiple states or markets in the same cycle.

Digital advertising targets audiences at the ad layer — the ad is shown to a specific geography, demographic, or interest group. But the destination URL is static. Ballot Yard changes the destination layer: the same domain can serve different content to visitors in different geographies, because geo-routing occurs at the infrastructure level rather than the ad-server level.

Ballot Yard lease payments are vendor expenditures. Campaigns and committees must report these disbursements in the normal course of FEC periodic reporting. The payee is Ballot Yard, Inc. Ballot Yard maintains standard vendor documentation for FEC filings, available to lessees in the compliance library.

Geographic accuracy using MaxMind GeoIP2 Precision is approximately: 99.5% at the country level, 95% at the US state level, 85% at the DMA level, and 80% at the city/ZIP cluster level. These are MaxMind-published estimates for the precision product. Ballot Yard does not warrant specific accuracy thresholds for individual leases.

Yes. Volume pricing is available for: simultaneous leasing of five or more geographic slots; full-portfolio leases (all five domains in a given geography); and agency accounts managing multiple concurrent client leases. Annual framework agreements are available for organizations with recurring annual campaign programs.

Content review checks for: presence of required legal disclaimers in the applicable jurisdiction; compliance with the Ballot Yard Acceptable Use Policy; prohibited content categories (see AUP); and technical compliance (destination URL accessible, content renders correctly). Review does not constitute legal approval or compliance certification.

No. The platform shows each slot as available or reserved. Lessee identities are never disclosed, even for expired leases. This protects competitive intelligence for all platform participants.

Access is available to: federal and state campaigns; PACs and Super PACs; 501(c)(4) advocacy organizations; advertising agencies; and consultancies acting on behalf of qualifying clients. Access is approved on a per-organization basis. We reserve the right to decline applications that do not meet our criteria under the Acceptable Use Policy.

No. Ballot Yard is a neutral technology vendor. We do not coordinate with any candidate, political party, or political committee beyond the commercial terms of the lease agreement. We do not advise on strategy, messaging, or targeting.

VPN users will appear to be in the location of their VPN’s exit node, not their physical location. If the VPN exit node is in a slot leased by a Ballot Yard lessee, that lessee’s content is served. If the exit node is in an unleased slot, configurable fallback behavior applies (neutral page, redirect, or no content). MaxMind VPN detection can be configured to identify and handle VPN traffic separately.

The minimum lease term is 30 days. Maximum standard term is 180 days. Longer terms are available for advocacy organizations on multi-year campaigns; contact us to discuss.

Yes. Content updates are permitted during an active lease subject to a new compliance review. Standard update review takes 24 hours. Significant content changes (new attack claims, changed subject matter) may require full re-review. Minor updates (phone numbers, event dates, broken links) are typically reviewed within 4 hours.

Yes, for select international markets. Non-US geographic slots are available for country-level leasing in major democracies. Contact us for current international availability. Non-US lessees are responsible for compliance with applicable election law in their target jurisdictions.

Submit a request via the Request Access form. We review all applications and respond within one business day. Approved organizations receive platform credentials and can begin browsing inventory and available geo-slots.

Ballot Yard does not knowingly provide services to foreign governments or foreign political parties operating in a political capacity in the United States as defined under FARA (22 U.S.C. § 611 et seq.). Non-US organizations leasing slots for non-US geographies are not subject to FARA on that basis, but are responsible for compliance with applicable election law in their target jurisdictions. International organizations with US activity should consult FARA counsel.

Ballot Yard supports leasing at the following granularities: country (all supported countries), US state (all 50 states + DC), Nielsen DMA (~210 markets), and ZIP cluster (selected grouped areas). Not all granularities are available for all inventory domains; slot availability by granularity is shown in the platform after access approval.

Yes. Slots reserved within 60 days of a primary or general election carry a cycle premium above the standard rate. Slots reserved more than 90 days before an election are billed at standard rates regardless of when the election occurs. Rate locks at time of lease execution.

If content is rejected, you receive written notification of the rejection reason within the review period. You may resubmit revised content at no additional charge within 7 days of the rejection. If content is rejected a second time for the same violation, a manual review fee may apply for subsequent submissions.

The current portfolio consists of five domains: heisoneofus.com, heisoneofthem.com, iamoneofyou.com, sheisoneofus.com, and sheisoneofthem.com. Each domain represents a different rhetorical structure — inclusive frame, exclusive frame, or first-person identity claim — available in masculine and feminine forms where applicable.

Content submitted for delivery through Ballot Yard infrastructure is reviewed for compliance with our Acceptable Use Policy, which prohibits content that constitutes defamation under applicable law. However, Ballot Yard’s content review is not a legal clearance. Lessees are responsible for ensuring their content does not constitute defamation or other tortious content. Ballot Yard maintains standard vendor safe harbor positions under applicable law.

Ballot Yard infrastructure targets 99.9% monthly uptime for geo-routing availability. Platform status is published at the status page linked in the footer. Scheduled maintenance windows are announced 72 hours in advance.

Cancellation and refund terms are governed by the Master Lease Agreement. Standard leases are non-refundable after content activation. Leases cancelled before content activation may be eligible for a partial refund less a processing fee. Leases terminated for AUP violations are non-refundable. See the Master Lease Agreement in the compliance library for full terms.

Yes. Geographic slots are independent. If an organization has leased heisoneofus.com in Texas, the same domain remains available for leasing in every other geographic slot. Your lease in California does not interact with their lease in Texas.

Lease termination procedures are governed by the Master Lease Agreement. In cases of AUP violation, Ballot Yard may terminate a lease immediately without refund. In other cases, standard termination notice periods apply as specified in the agreement. Lessees are notified of termination reasons except in cases where disclosure is legally precluded.

Yes. The platform is available for 501(c)(4) issue advocacy organizations, ballot measure campaigns, and cause-based organizations, in addition to candidate campaigns. Lessees are responsible for ensuring their content meets applicable disclosure requirements for their specific organizational type and activity.

The Ballot Yard Acceptable Use Policy (AUP) defines prohibited content categories and content requirements for all content served through our infrastructure. Key prohibitions include: vote suppression content, materially false election administration claims, content impersonating election officials, and content violating applicable campaign finance law. The full AUP is available in the compliance library.