Civic Education
How to evaluate a candidate
D · Draft — not verified Not line-checked against the Navajo Nation Code. How we verify →
No one can tell you who deserves your vote. But there are better and worse ways to decide. These tools help you judge on substance.
Use this on the 2026 ballot
Two checks you can run on any candidate: the findable-record test and the pocket questions below — then weigh what you find through the site’s five lenses, in one glance further down and taught in full in The Five Lenses. Ready to apply it to your actual ballot? The Guided Candidate Comparison walks you through it in three steps.
Look for what's findable
Four tools, four jobs: the Lenses weigh ideas · Did They Answer? weighs an answer · The Threads compares everyone on a topic · the yardsticks below check what’s findable about a person — and every verdict stays yours.
Good yardsticks are things you can actually check: government experience, business or work experience, education, grounding in Diné values, record on accountability, and evidence that they listen. Slogans can't be checked. Records can.
Questions worth asking any candidate
- What have you already done — not promised — on the problems you talk about?
- Where will the money come from, and who will watch how it's spent?
- What would you measure after one year so we know whether it's working?
- When you and the Council (or the President) disagree, how do you work through it?
- Who did you consult before taking your positions — and who disagrees with you?
The Five Lenses — in one glance
Transparency — do they welcome questions and publish records? · Root cause — do they name the deeper cause, not just the symptom? · Prevention — would they fix it before it breaks? · K’é & Hózhó — do they treat people as relatives and restore balance? · Collaboration — can they work with those who disagree?
Ready to apply this? Take the pocket list of questions, weigh single answers with Did They Answer the Question?, see what everyone said with The Threads, or go to the candidate directory — and if there's a question you think every candidate should answer, send it in.