Follow congressional and presidential elections on the Net!
As the presidential and congressional races heat up, the
Internet is quickly becoming a valuable source of free and reliable information for
advocates and voters-providing you carefully choose which sites to use.. There is a wealth
of information available online ready to be put to good use. Here are some of the Office
of Public Policy and Advocacy's favorites.
Project Vote Smart
Project Vote Smart, www.vote-smart.org
, for example, is a nonpartisan repository for background information on elected officials
and candidates. This national nonprofit effort researches, tracks, and provides to the
public independent information on more than 13,000 candidates and elected officials.
Voting records, campaign issue positions and statements, performance evaluations by
special interests, campaign contributions, biographical information, and contact
information are available over a toll-free Voter's Research Hotline (888-VOTE-SMART
(888-868-3762)), in manuals and other publications, and on the Vote Smart Web site, www.vote-smart.org .
Center for Responsive Politics
The Center for Responsive Politics, www.crp.org
, specializes in the study of Congress, particularly the role that money plays in its
elections and actions. Extensive online databases include financial profiles of every
upcoming House and Senate race; databases of PACs, lobbyists, and individual contributors
to campaigns; and even aggregates contributions by congressional committees. The site also
includes Incumbent Personal Financial Disclosure documents.
Federal Election Commission
Also valuable for tracking contributions, the Federal Election Commission Info page, www.tray.com/fecinfo , allows searches
for contribution records by candidate, contributor, or zip code, and also find PAC
information.
Contacting the Congress
Finally, for the most basic information on the 106th Congress, Contacting the Congress, www.visi.com/juan/congress, provides
contact information for incumbents as well as basic biographical information, committee
assignments, and staff names.
Other sites
There are countless news sites to start from as a jumping-off point for election news.
Voxcap.com, http://www.voxcap.com/content/c2k,
tracks news and issues relating to the campaign, including a running "Top-10"
list of the issues most discussed by the candidates.
