TTP article index>> Will the Internet Change the Way We Vote? In the past two years, the Internet has changed the way millions of Americans communicate with one another, conduct research and shop for every imaginable product. So it is reasonable to ask: Will the Internet change the way we vote? Politicians seem to think so. Few candidates had Web pages in 1996, but this year most do. Still, candidates' Web pages are one-sided affairs. They tell you what they think you want to hear--not what the candidates have actually done in office, or intend to do if elected. As a result, citizen groups that believe in accountable government have also flocked to the Internet to provide specific information on candidates. Although the methods vary, the common goal of these groups is to go beyond campaign rhetoric to let voters know where candidates really stand on the issues. A secondary goal of these groups is to enable underfunded and third-party candidates to campaign on a level playing field with incumbents and well-funded challengers. The most comprehensive site is Project Vote Smart (www.vote-smart.org). Vote Smart was started in 1988 by a few citizens of Tucson, Arizona, who were disenchanted with campaigns that avoided serious issues. They began collecting information on candidates nationwide and made it available through booklets and a toll-free number, (800) 622-7627, which is still available to voters who are not online. Vote Smart went online in 1995 and now publishes information on more than 13,000 candidates for state offices, Congress and the White House. A key element of Vote Smart is its National Political Awareness Test, a thorough questionnaire posted on its Web site. Vote Smart also provides detailed information on campaign finances from the Center for Responsive Politics, as well as interest group ratings from dozens of advocacy groups of all ideological persuasions. Another ambitious site is the Democracy Network (www.dnet.org). DNet began in Santa Monica, California, in 1996 as a way to use the Internet to make political campaigns more interactive, both for voters and candidates. Candidates at all levels of government are encouraged to post in-depth statements explaining their positions, while voters are encouraged to express their views in bulletin-board type discussions. DNet is now expanding into ten of the largest states, including California, Texas, New York, Florida and Illinois. A new entry for the 2000 elections is the Women's Voting Guide (www.womenvote.org), a project of the Women Leaders Online Fund. This is an interactive site that allows voters to compare their positions on nearly 300 votes with those of Senate and House incumbents and challengers. The issues were chosen from votes cast in Congress since 1995. The end result is a personalized voting guide that gives a percentage score to each candidate relative to the voter's priorities. The site was designed for busy women who want to review issues that concern them without spending hours online. One strength of these sites is that they put third-party candidates on an equal footing in presenting their positions to voters. Naturally, there is also a site dedicated to third parties themselves, called I Want a Real Choice (home.earthlink.net/~realchoice), which links to every party active at the national and state levels. In addition to these efforts, news media outlets are beefing up their online campaign coverage. Major newspapers like the Washington Post (www.washingtonpost.com/politics) are posting their political feature articles online, along with extensive district-by-district analysis available only online. Some have formed partnerships with local chapters of the League of Women Voters to publish their familiar in-depth questionnaires online. Others have created their own bulletin boards to encourage discussions among citizens. In early October, a unified list of the best political Web sites was unveiled at a new site, www.webwhiteblue.org, called Web White & Blue. This project, sponsored by the Markle Foundation and the Shorenstein Center at Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government, seeks to help Internet users find high-quality political information. The Internet in 1998 offers an unprecedented wealth of resources on candidates and campaigns. If you feel candidates are avoiding the issues you really care about with their thirty-second TV and radio ads, and you have access to the Internet, you now have the tools to get the facts you need to cast an informed vote. TTP article index>> News I Health I Wellness I Exercise I Profiles I Business I Links I Women ROCK! Product Review I To the Point I Contact I Home Created by: Art Street Design Studio. © Concerning Women Communications, Inc. all rights reserved.