Go-Team 2014 may be winding down, but our adventures in voting & elections are just getting started. We all need accurate, detailed info to be informed citizens, so here are a few of our favorite election-related web resources. They cover just about everything you’ll need to know about the issues, candidates, procedures, and background on upcoming elections. Thank you so much to Jasen, Kate, and the other students who contributed to this list!
Top 5 Voting and Election Web Resources
1.) Start with the Missouri Secretary of State’s Office for the most up-to-date, accurate, objective Missouri-focused data.
There’s also an interactive district map that will give you a full view of all the relevant political districts in Missouri. The Missouri “Blue Book” has incredibly detailed information about state/local/federal government, including hierarchy breakdowns of each branch of government, all the departments of state government, and other really valuable information
Missouri Secretary of State Office: Elections and Voting: https://www.sos.mo.gov/elections/
Interactive District Maps: https://ogi.oa.mo.gov/LEGIS/LegislativeDistrict/index.html
“Blue Book”: http://www.sos.mo.gov/bluebook/2013-2014/
2.) If you want a more interactive guide/election info customized based on your address, check out Project Vote Smart (@VoteSmart).
Enter your zip code/address on the front page to see the important elections specific to where you live.
“Project Vote Smart…hopes to help United States citizens to investigate and track political candidates and government officials, as well as legislative bills and key votes. Project Vote Smart’s primary tool is VoteEasy which helps users find candidates who best align with their position on certain issues.” – https://www.djangosites.org/s/votesmart-org/
3.) The iSideWith.com quiz lets you see what candidates and political parties are most in alignment with your values and views.
Political personality quiz!
4.) 270 to Win is a great data visualization tool, offering an interactive map of the electoral college votes per state for each presidential elections.
5.) The New Organizing Institute maintains a 50-state elections rules map, where you can search and compare rules about voter registration deadline, absentee voting, available ballot languages, and other vital voting rules across the country.
Select the state you want to learn more about…
…and find out what you need to know
These resources should be good for getting you started. Once you have worked through these, here’s a comprehensive voting and election resource guide from Drexel University.
Drexel University’s Guide to Election and Voting Resources
The full version of this detailed resource guide can be found here. And remember that your local library can be helpful, too!
Election Resources
Elections – Brookings Institution
http://www.brookings.edu/topics/elections.aspx
“The Brookings Institution is the nation’s oldest think tank. A private, independent, nonprofit research organization, Brookings seeks to improve the performance of American institutions, the effectiveness of government programs, and the quality of U.S. public policies. It addresses current and emerging policy challenges and offers practical recommendations for dealing with them, expressed in language that is accessible to policy makers and the general public alike.” This site has information about current affairs that are being researched. It has information about current research programs in Economics, Foreign Policy and Governmental. This also has selected articles from The Brookings Review and information about fellowships and Internships.
CNN Politics
http://www.cnn.com/POLITICS/
The politics page from the popular cable news channel. Provides latest news and video related to U.S. politics and upcoming elections.
Videos on events and programs related to upcoming elections covered by C-SPAN, “a private, non-profit company, created in 1979 by the cable television industry as a public service…to provide public access to the political proces.”
Politics – FoxNews.com
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/
The politics page from the popular cable news channel. Provides latest news and video related to U.S. politics and upcoming elections.
NBC Politics on NBCNEWS.com
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3032553/ns/politics
The politics page from NBCNEWS.com. Provides latest news and video related to U.S. politics and upcoming elections as well as “First Read” (“news and analysis from the NBC News Political Unit”).
New York Times – Politics
http://www.nytimes.com/politics/
The Politics page of the New York Times newspaper provides nationwide coverage and information on upcoming elections.
NPR: Politics
http://www.npr.org/sections/politics/
This is the politics page for National Public Radio (NPR).
The Ticket from Yahoo! News
http://news.yahoo.com/ticket/
Yahoo! News offers this page on upcoming elections.
Local and State Election Resources
C-SPAN — ElectionGuide
http://www3.capwiz.com/c-span/e4/
Scroll down this webpage from CSPAN to find a clickable map that will take you to links and information on your federal, state, and local candidates and issues, as well as general voter information. Enter your zip code for even faster results.
Can I Vote?
http://www.canivote.org/
Run by the National Association of Secretaries of State, Can I Vote contains state-by-state voting and voter registration information including polling places, and absentee voting.
Follow the Money: The Institute on Money in State Politicis
http://www.followthemoney.org/
“Money in state politics plays a pivotal role in shaping public policy in individual states and across the nation. The nonpartisan Institute on Money in State Politics tracks contributions in all 50 states and makes this data easily searchable online.”
The League of Women Voters – Smart Voter
http://www.smartvoter.org/
Comprehensive, non-partisan election information provided by the League of Women Voters. Search tool allows user to locate their local polling place, ballot measures, candidate profiles and election results. Browse local and statewide upcoming elections and voter registration information.
The League of Women Voters – VOTE411.org
http://www.vote411.org
Search state by state to locate links to city, county, and state government election information webpages.
National Association of Secretaries of State (NASS)
http://www.nass.org/
NASS is a “non-partisan organization for public officials.” The site contains information about voting registration, new legislation, and state-by-state news.
Project Vote Smart – My State Link
http://www.votesmart.org/mystate_government_resources.php
Choose your state and then click “Election Resources” to find state-specific voting information. Click “Local Election Offices” to get a listing of county-specific voting information.
The Voternetwork
http://www.voternetwork.com/
“The Voternetwork is a non-partisan national platform that connects American citizens with key election information and alerts.” The site focuses on increasing political awareness among 18 to 24-year-olds.
Official State Government Election Websites
Missouri – http://www.sos.mo.gov/elections/
Illinois – http://www.elections.il.gov/
See other state websites here
Official Party Websites
- Democratic Party >> http://www.democrats.org
- Democratic Socialists of America >> http://www.dsausa.org
- Green Party >> http://www.gp.org
- Libertarian Party >> http://www.lp.org
- Reform Party >> http://www.reformparty.org
- Republican Party >> http://www.gop.com
- Tea Party >> http://www.teapartypatriots.org/
Candidates and Issues
Congress.org (This is not the homepage of the U.S. Congress.)
http://www.congress.org/congressorg/home/
This is NOT the homepage of the U.S. congress, but it is a great guide to the United States Congress with information on issues and representatives.
FactCheck.org
http://factcheck.org
Annenberg Public Policy Center of the University of Pennsylvania puts out this website to monitor the factual accuracy of statements made by and advertisements on behalf of major U.S. political figures.
Opensecrets.org
http://www.opensecrets.org/
Sponsored by The Center for Responsive Politics and dedicated to educating the public about campaign finances. Visitors can learn about campaign finance law, or look up contributors to political campaigns.
MAPLight.org
http://maplight.org/
“MAPLight.org, a nonprofit, nonpartisan research organization, provides citizens and journalists the transparency tools to shine a light on the influence of money on politics.” Find out how much one or more legislators’ voting records on bills corresponds to how much money they received from campaign contributors who supported or opposed those bills.
PolitiFact.com
http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/
Reporters and researchers from the St. Petersburg Times and Congressional Quarterly “analyze the candidates’ speeches, TV ads and interviews and determine whether the claims are accurate.”
PollingReport.com
http://www.pollingreport.com/
An excellent collection of major poll results. Lets visitors search for various issues and gives information on the public opinion polls taken regarding the issue.
Project Vote Smart
http://www.votesmart.org/
Information for voters on political leaders, their positions on issues, and campaign finance, and encourages active participation in democratic processes through voting.
Voter Information Resources
Center for Information & Research on Civic Learning & Engagement (CIRCLE)
http://www.civicyouth.org/?page_id=132/
A nonpartisan research center promoting civic and political engagement of American youth between the ages of 15-25.
Center for Voting and Democracy
http://www.fairvote.org/
This site encourages “education, research, analysis, and organization” to get people to the polls. They advocate for inclusiveness and the democratic process and provide information on fair voting and representation.
Declare Yourself
http://www.declareyourself.com/?page_id=132/
Provides voter registration information searchable by state. Answers common voting questions such as voting in primaries when you are registered as an Independent, how to register, who is eligible and more! Political news, public opinion polls, primary results & ways to set up a campus voter registration drive.
LULAC
http://lulac.org/programs/civic/
This link is to the League of United Latin American Citizens. The LULAC Voter site has information on organizing for civic participation for the Hispanic community, voter registration and voting FAQs, and information on Latino demographics.
Rock The Vote
http://www.rockthevote.com/
Rock the Vote has combines efforts from those in the entertainment community with youth activities to encourage young people to be involved in the political process.
The U.S. Election Assistance Commission (EAC)
http://www.eac.gov/default.aspx
Website for this “independent, bipartisan commission created by the Help America Vote Act (HAVA) of 2002… It issues guidance about HAVA, adopts voluntary voting system guidelines, audits the use of HAVA funds, and provides best practices and resources to election officials throughout the nation.” Find background material, information for election officials and voters, documents on voting system certification, reports, and related resources. Background documents also available in Spanish.