It’s not difficult to see the impact of polarization on our politics today. Partisan political views surround us on our televisions, phones, and in our families. Over the past decade we’ve seen not just disinformation–defined as the purposeful misleading of people–but also misinformation–which is defined as ignorance and accidental misleading of others–invade and impact our politics. In this hyper-partisan political environment, it’s incredibly important to have sources that are dedicated to providing the facts as they are in the most unbiased and nonpartisan way possible.
That’s where Vote Smart comes in. We’re a nonprofit dedicated to educating voters via political research, and for three decades we’ve been hard at work sifting through fact and fiction. On our site you can see the many different ways we’re holding politicians and candidates accountable, from the things they say when they run to office to the votes they take when in office; to the groups that endorse them to the interests that fund them. We collect it all with the intention of helping voters around the country make sense of what’s going on and how they can do something about it.
Every election season we research thousands of candidates running for office, from president to Congress and governor to state legislature. We go to Secretary of State websites and collect lists of candidates who have filed to run for office and enter them into our database. That way, we can then research who they are and what they believe in. We have teams dedicated to finding out more about candidates–who they are, what they’ve done in their careers, and how you can contact them–as well as looking into where they stand on important issues.
One of our strongest tools for holding candidates accountable is through our Political Courage Test (PCT).
This test, which is our in-house candidate questionnaire, is sent out every election cycle and asks candidates where they stand on the most important issues facing voters, from abortion to the economy to immigration. We understand how muddled things can be in the heat of an election cycle, and we want to give candidates the opportunity to speak for themselves, honestly and in their own words. It benefits everyone involved–the candidates get a chance to speak their truth, and the voters get to read those truths on our website. We highly encourage everyone to ask candidates running to represent them to fill out the Political Courage Test. If they don’t, we have a research team that looks into their public records–voting records, public statements, etc.--and make determinations on where they stand on these important issues and release it to our website.
Once candidates win their elections and are sworn into office, we don’t stop shining the light on what they’re saying and doing. We look into the most salient and important legislation that they vote on, whether it’s in the state legislature or in Congress. If they’re a governor or president, we track how they act on legislation or if they veto it, and look into why. We track and log their public statements and press releases, and have a tool on our website that links to their accounts on X (formerly known as Twitter). Lastly, we collect copious amounts of data on how interest and lobbying groups rate these candidates, so voters can know how others feel about where they stand on issues of state or national importance.
These are just a few of the things we do as an organization. We also provide tools for Americans to cast a vote, from collecting information on how to register to vote to contacting your county election’s office.
Ultimately, we cannot do this important work without the help of voters themselves. We proudly take in 97% of our donations from contributions under $250. We are one of the few truly nonpartisan organizations dedicated to holding politicians accountable that also does extensive research into everything they do and say, and we would not be able to do that without your help. How many nonpartisan groups can claim to cover candidate profiles, issue positions, legislation, public statements, AND interest group research? The more people stand with us to help make this polarized political environment a little less so, the more we’re able to provide the good work that our research teams spend countless hours compiling. So, whether you’re hearing about us for the first time or the tenth time, we would greatly appreciate the support to continue promoting factual, unbiased information. We can continue to shine a spotlight on disinformation and misinformation. Together, you and I can make this democracy just a little bit better. This Voter Education Week you can depend on Vote Smart to help you navigate this world of misinformation we live in. Call our hotline anytime or visit our website at www.votesmart.org!