A political advertisement makes an argument on behalf of someone. You can evaluate it by answering three questions: who paid for it, what the available records show, and whether its factual claims match the original evidence. Apply the same checks to messages you agree with and messages you doubt.
Keep the complete ad and its context
Save the original URL, the date you saw it, the platform or station, the office or ballot question involved, and the full wording of the claim you want to check. Where practical, retain a screenshot of the disclosure and enough surrounding material to identify the ad. A clipped video or repost may omit the sponsor line.
Separate checkable statements from opinion. “The council approved a 20 percent increase” can be tested against a defined measure and vote. “The worst policy in town” expresses a judgment. An ad can combine a correct number, selective context and a value judgment in one sentence.
Use the ad-claim checking worksheet to keep the sponsor lookup and the factual check separate. It includes space for unresolved questions, so uncertainty does not have to become a forced true-or-false verdict.
Read the sponsor and authorization language
For covered federal election communications, disclaimers identify the payer and, where applicable, whether a candidate authorized the communication. A candidate’s name or face in an ad does not establish that the campaign bought it. The FEC’s advertising and disclaimer guidance explains the requirements for different media, including internet communications and adapted disclaimers.
Copy the payer’s full name and any identifying address or website. Then locate the corresponding committee or filer. Names can be similar; a committee identifier helps distinguish records. A disclosure identifies responsibility for a message. It does not certify the accuracy of that message.
An independent expenditure is a defined category of spending for expressly advocating a federal candidate’s election or defeat without the specified coordination with the candidate or party. A donor’s contribution, a committee’s overall spending and an independent expenditure are different transactions. Keep those labels attached when comparing totals.
Choose records that match the election and medium
The FEC handles federal campaign-finance disclosure. State and local candidates and ballot measures can fall under different disclosure systems. Start with the relevant state or local election authority when the ad concerns those races.
| Question | Starting point | Useful limit |
|---|---|---|
| Who is the federal committee? | FEC campaign-finance data: search the full committee name and confirm its ID. | A name match needs confirmation against address, committee type and election cycle. |
| What federal spending was reported? | Use the committee’s filings and the relevant expenditure records. | Check report coverage dates, amendments, purpose and support/oppose fields where provided. |
| What was purchased on a station? | FCC public inspection files: find the station and its political file. | Orders, contracts and invoices concern that outlet; they are not a complete campaign ledger. |
| What about a state race or ballot measure? | The state or local campaign-finance authority. | Federal records alone may miss the relevant activity. |
| What about a digital ad? | The original platform’s available transparency information, plus applicable official filings. | Coverage, retention and displayed estimates vary; a missing search result is inconclusive. |
Follow a transaction back to the actual filing when a total matters. An amended report may replace an earlier one. A media reservation, an invoice and a reported disbursement can represent different points in a purchase; adding all three can count the same activity more than once. Note whether a figure covers one ad, one outlet, one reporting period or the whole committee.
Test the claim against its original source
- Write the exact factual claim. Preserve the units, dates and words such as “all,” “average” or “proposed.”
- Find the underlying record. For a vote, use the official roll call and the bill version voted on. For a budget, find the relevant adopted or proposed budget. For a quotation, locate the full speech, interview or transcript.
- Match the comparison. Check geography, time period, population and whether a dollar amount is adjusted for inflation. Distinguish a rate from a count and an annual figure from a multiyear total.
- Check what changed. A vote on an amendment or procedural motion may answer a different question from final passage. A proposal may differ from the enacted measure.
- Write a bounded conclusion. Say what the evidence establishes and which part of the ad remains interpretation or uncertainty.
Search summaries and automated explanations can point you toward a document. Check the document yourself before treating a quotation, calculation or legal claim as established.
Worked example: what “20 percent more” establishes
A useful conclusion might read: “The two cited budget totals rise by 20 percent. The ad’s separate claim about household tax bills needs tax-rate and household information.” That preserves the supported result while identifying the missing evidence.
For claims involving court decisions, use the Supreme Court reading guide. For claims about presidential vote totals, use the Electoral College explainer.
About this guide
Sources checked October 6, 2026. Follow the linked official guidance for current rules and procedures. Explore Politics and Civic Life.