Additional Election Resources


Now that you've set your own priorities with our First Choice 2004 election guides, here are some good, nonpartisan Web resources to find out more about voting procedures, the candidates and election statistics.

THE BASICS

League of Women Voters
A good resource for answers to questions about registering and voting, the League of Woman Voters provides a basic fact sheet on avoiding problems at the polls: Five Things You Need to Know on Election Day.
http://www.lwv.org/

U.S. Department of State
Although it's designed for people overseas, the U.S. Department of State primer provides a good overview about voting procedures in the U.S. and broad look at the positions of the two national political parties.
http://usinfo.state.gov/journals/itdhr/1004/ijde/ijde1004.htm

My Polling Place
An easy-to-use site that locates your polling place, the type of machine it uses and instructions on how to use that machine. We found that although not every street address returns an exact polling place, you will at least get a phone number to contact your local elections board.
http://www.mypollingplace.com/find.php

Project Vote Smart
Project Vote Smart provides a comprehensive state-by-state database of detailed biographical information about the candidates, their voting records and which issues they support. Less detailed information is available at the county and local level for each state.
http://www.vote-smart.org/index.htm

Democracy Net
This state-by-state interactive map of the U.S. provides detailed contact information on the candidates running for federal and state office and where they stand on hot-button issues like economy, education, and health care. Using your address and zip code, you can also get information on ballot initiatives in your state and how to contact your county board of elections.
http://www.dnet.org/

The U.S. Election Assistance Commission
Created to assist in the administration of federal elections, the EAC also provides official statistics on voter registration and turnout in the presidential and general elections as far back as 1960.
http://www.eac.gov/eac_pub.asp?format=none

Federal Election Commission
The official source for campaign finance data, the FEC also provides answers to frequently asked questions about contributing to candidates and parties, public funding of campaigns, 527 Committees, and Political Action Committees.
http://www.fec.gov/

The Annenberg Political Fact Check
This "consumer advocate" group 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.
http://www.factcheck.org

The Center for Responsive Politics
For a detailed look at who's paying for the 2004 campaigns and how previous elections were financed, The Center for Responsive Politics provides comprehensive charts and graphs on who gives and who gets.
http://www.opensecrets.org