Election Guide : News and Issues

Vote Smart - The Voter's Self-Defense System

Every candidate and elected official from President to local government can be  accessed through Vote Smart:

• Voting Records -- Vote Smart summarizes key legislation in Congress and all 50 states, making it easy to compare what your representatives said during the campaign with how they actually voted.
• Biographical & Contact Information -- From their previous professions, education, family life, and organizational memberships to their social media accounts and latest email addresses.
• Issue Positions (Political Courage Test) -- The Test accurately measures candidates' willingness to provide voters with their positions on the issues they will most likely face if elected.
• VoteEasy -- This interactive research tool shows which candidates are most like you.

• Public Statements -- Vote Smart collects speeches and public comments made by the president, governors, and congressional representatives. Compare what they said while campaigning a few years ago to what they are saying now.

• Campaign Finances -- How much money did your representatives raise and from whom.  Enter the name of the politician and click on the "Funding" folder
• Interest Group Ratings -- See how over 400 national and 1300 state special interest groups evaluate your representatives. Special interest group ratings can help indicate where an incumbent stands on a particular set of issues

Source: University of Louisville Library, Citizen Literacy LibGuide

Election - Open Secrets.org

The Center for Responsive Politics analyzes information from the Federal Election Commission's offerings on campaign finance. It also  has become a clearinghouse for data and analysis on multiple aspects of money in politics - including the independent interest groups, such as super PACs and political nonprofits, flooding politics with outside spending, federal lobbying, Washington's "revolving door" and the personal finances of members of Congress, the president and other officials.

Election Campaign Finance

Federal Election Commission. The FEC has jurisdiction over the financing of campaigns for the U.S. House, Senate, Presidency and the Vice Presidency.

FactCheck.org monitors the factual accuracy of what is said by major U.S. political players in the form of TV ads, debates, speeches, interviews and news releases. Their goal is to apply the best practices of both journalism and scholarship, and to increase public knowledge and understanding.

The heart of PolitiFact is fact-checking journalism. Their core principles are independence, transparency, fairness, thorough reporting and clear writing. The reason they publish is to give citizens the information they need to govern themselves in a democracy.

"The League of Women Voters, a nonpartisan political organization, encourages informed and active participation in government, works to increase understanding of major public policy issues, and influences public policy through education and advocacy."

Each election the League of Women Voters of California carefully studies the ballot measures at stake for the current election. Voter recommendations are made.  These recommendations are formed from grassroots member study and consensus.

These recommendations are available in several forms. The Easy Voter Guide is designed for the busy voter.