#project vote smart

[realsocialskills]

where to go for information about voting

tilia-cordata replied to your post“Upcoming elections on Tuesday”

Often, state Secretary of State websites have information on where polling places are and what will be on the ballot. Public libraries usually also have a booklet of ballot information as well.

realsocialskills said:

You can also google "[your state] voting". That will usually get the official board of elections site, which will usually tell you exactly what will be on the ballot.

If you want to find out more about candidates, one good resource is Project Vote Smart. They are a nonpartisan organization that tells you things like what a politician's expressed views on various issues are, as well as how they have voted on bills if they have been in office before.

[carnitadepavo]

Project Vote Smart Review

Okay here goes!

As a warning I will preface by stating that my internship was during the Summer of 2010, I started my internship at the same time as a friend, with whom I drove to Montana from California, I worked the 10 consecutive weeks.

The Setting:

I completed my internship in the Montana HQ. The setting was one of the most beautiful places I've ever been to in my life. I saw animals near the ranch that I would only be able to see in a zoo or if I drove to certain mountains around my county. The air and scenery is pristine. Two lakes, stables, mountains to climb, rivers to cross, it's a little piece of heaven. 

The nearest town is like an hour or so away, with a population of what I thnk was at the time 900. . . There's a bank, a couple of bars, restaurants, stores, y'know.

The office at the time was in much need of some TLC. To be fair PVS doesn't advertise in coopperation with other companies and doesn't have any partisan political affiliations. Funding comes from members. The hardware was pretty outdate as well, but that might have been taken care of from what I last heard.

The People:

The ranch staff was friendly and went out of their way to make those at the ranch comfortable. The first night I got to the ranch there was a snow storm (I'm from Southern California, but still, our windshield wipers were frozen in place) the road to the ranch is a dirt road on a mountain side. We managed to make it there safe but by the time my friend Steph and I got to the ranch it was late into the night. We called the ranch to say we had trouble finding the road (it didn't show up on GPS) they had the entire ranch lit up like a Christmas tree for us! They even offered my family a room to stay in for night so that they wouldn't have to drive in the horrible conditions.

The office staff was deeply committed to their work however swamped they were. No task was ever neglected. Everyone was expected to help out.

The interns I met were amazing. A true mix of people ranging from China, France, New York, Georgia, all the way to California! From ages 18-30's. I made some friends for life, whom I would have never had the chance to meet if I hadn't taken part in this experience.

The Work:

The work wasn't the most stimulating or demanding but the fact of the matter is that it was, IS essential for the goals of PVS, a database for voters across the country on federal and state levels.

Data entry, mass mailing, making phone calls, answering phone calls, writing summaries, (it's on their website) etc.

I know fellow interns that had the same reactions to the work, in all honesty I was like that too for a bit, but the fact of the matter is that when you sign up for an internship like this or at least in my view you're doing it to gain valuable work experience in a politically inclined organization. I feel like I benefited for the work very much, I was allowed the privilege of speaking to candidates from across the nation, but at the same time I was humbled by the menial tasks of going to hundrerds of candidate pages to copy and paste contact, education, etc info. If you're going into this with the purpose of coming in as a big shot whose work will decide the outcome of an election you're going to be dissapointed as this is a non-profit, your work's sole purpose is to help create an informed populace out of American voters.

Downsides?

I'm honest when I tell you I have no cons to report with my experience. I know you read some reviews where people complain about office politics and all that but to be honest that's not something I was faced with. My direct supervisor, who at the time was head of the Political Courage Test dept. was insanely helpful and understanding. There were no egos, as far as office politics goes, it's my experience that you can remain untouched by that if you don't involve yourself. 

You live with the people you work with. For ten weeks. The staff and interns all come from varied backgrounds so if you don't take kindly to new places, new cultures, new experiences, this is NOT the place for you.

The organization is a civics one and it's purpose is to serve the American voter by a means of education.

If you have any other questions or topics you want me to cover just let me know.

ONCE AGAIN: My internship was during the Summer of 2010, indubitably certain things will have changed.

[en-nouncements-blog-blog]

TechCrunch: Election Day Resources for Voters

"Election Day is creeping up. Fortunately, Google has made it easy to find your nearest polling place and the candidates representing your registered address. The newly launched Voter Info tool pinpoints Election Day essentials and elegantly displays them on top of Google maps.

For those voters who still need to figure out how they’re voting on local candidates and ballot propositions. Here are a few resources."

Full list here.

[veritas-aequitas-zeke]

Here's a cool link for those who are unsure who to vote for this coming Election Day. Project Vote Smart is an interactive website that helps you choose which candidate best represents your views by asking you a series of questions based on all of the major issues of the campaign.

Pretty ingenious and helpful with understanding the issues and each side of the issue thoroughly. Check it out!

[prettygenuine]

A Healthy Political Process Is REALLY FUCKING PRETTY

(I Mean Like WAY PRETTIER Than Some Skank On The Cover Of Teen Vogue ...)

Ladies. Gentlemen. Anyone with an ounce of brain matter ...

Project Vote Smart is as humanistically beautiful as it gets.

The volunteers at Project Vote Smart have been doing all the work for you - the least you could do is go visit their website and take a look at how they've fairly and objectively (rarities, I know) parsed political information out for you to easily consume in the fashion you will enjoy. I promise. 

Project Vote Smart actually made getting to know our political process fun! My two favorite politician mining tools they've created are:

1. The Political Courage Test: Where ALL candidates are asked to answer some tough questions about every issue of which your heart desires to know.

(I use this in deciding who to vote for during Primaries / Presidential Elections. I'll even go as far as writing candidates who blatantly refuse to take the test to tell them they've  red flagged themselves as cowards and if they want my vote, then they better start answering for themselves. I've had some pretty snot ass replies come back from all wings based on my questioning of their refusal to answer questions on issues. Just with PVS's Political Courage Test you learn who the arrogant bastards are real quick just from their responses to the test.)

2. Vote Easy : Where Project Vote Smart volunteers have compiled all the information you need to know about candidates that match your political interests. All you have to do is answer a handful of general interest questions. It's a VERY POWERFUL tool made just for you.

Project Vote Smart have given you hundreds of option and reasons now as to why you should not throw your vote away. But don't take my word for it ...

"To the whole world, it was an astounding leap of faith when our founding fathers cast political power out to the people. They created a form of government based on truth, transparency, on the people's ability to know the facts and govern for themselves. The took a historic gamble: that every generation of Americans would do what was necessary to defend those basic principles of freedom. They would be sickened to see how their dream as been corrupted.

I have struggled to think of the right words to say here. It is as if the words have lost their meaning. Politicians have stripped them of truth and drained them of any value. The crass selfishness of modern day politicians has made us all dangerously mistrusting of each other and almost anything said or written. 

Ugliness has become contagious. 

Somewhere politicians decided it was more efficient to move us emotionally rather than to persuade us intellectually. They push fear because it sells. Our government has become inept, elected officials irresponsible. and the candidates behavior - reprehensible. The candidates deceive us and disparage each other. They degrade the nation. 

Campaigns have always been bitterly fought but when truth can no longer catch up with the lies and the selfish interest will not be set aside for the common good. They cripple our nation. 

This is our time. This is our generation's challenge. We have the means to reign these people in. End this cancer eating at the very heart of our society. And the founders wagered that we would fight. 

Out of the ugliness a bright light is being lit. A voter's self defense system that enables any citizen to instantly access abundant, accurate, and relevant information about our representatives or those who wish to replace them. Tolerance of these people is no longer our only option."

- Richard Kimball

[newsmatt]

Visit Original Link

With the 2012 election now less than a year away, there's a new website to help Americans decide which candidates to vote for. AP correspondent Matt Small reports.

[carnitadepavo]

Day 7: A picture of someone/something that has had an influence on you.

My first internship, longest time away from home, one of the best experiences of my life. 

http://votesmart.org/

Here at Project Vote Smart, Americans young and old volunteer their time, take no money from special interest groups, and have committed themselves to an extraordinary effort that, if successful, will provide their fellow citizens with the tools for a reemergence of political power not known for half a century. Their idea is one you may have thought of yourself. It is a deceptively simple concept but enormously difficult to achieve and would not be possible without the collaboration of citizens willing to lay their partisan differences aside for this one crucial task.

Picture this: thousands of citizens (conservative and liberal alike) working together, spending endless hours researching the backgrounds and records of thousands of political candidates and elected officials to discover their voting records, campaign contributions, public statements, biographical data (including their work history) and evaluations of them generated by over 100 competing special interest groups. Every election these volunteers test each candidate's willingness to provide citizens with their positions on the issues they will most likely face if elected through the Political Courage Test.