What goes on a scorecard

Issue selection, weighting, sourcing, and a summary grade. The card is short enough to read in 90 seconds and rigorous enough to survive a challenge.

A useful scorecard has five components. Skipping any of them produces a card that is either too long, too vague, or too easy to attack.

1. Legislator identity block. Name, current office, district number, term dates, party. Include the official photo from the legislative website. This is non-negotiable — a card without a clear identity block can be confused with a different official.

2. Issue rows (5 to 8). Each row is one issue. Pick issues that are both important to your community and have a documentable record — votes, public statements, or attendance. Mixing forward-looking opinion questions with backward-looking votes weakens the card.

3. Weighting. Each issue carries a weight (1 to 3 stars). A redistricting roll-call vote is a 3. A general public-statement signature is a 1. The weight goes in the same column on every card so cards remain comparable.

4. Sourcing column. Every row has at least one link to the public record — the legislative roll-call URL, the official's published statement, a video timestamp. This is what makes the card defensible. If you cannot source a row, drop it.

5. Summary grade. A simple visual at the top: number of rows in alignment with the community's stated position vs. number in opposition. Use the same scale across all scorecards in the cycle so cards can be compared at a glance.

Datos Lab scorecards are exactly one page. Two-page scorecards are read by no one. The Legislator Accountability Scorecard template (Module 4.5) gives you the layout that fits.