Hey Policy Circle world, we’re all making each other smarter these days. Shannon, a policy circle leader in Texas, shared this great voter guide with us to share with you: www.ivoterguide.com
Shannon explained that iVoterGuide is a useful guide for voters across the country. They don’t recommend a candidate but instead post information about candidates on a person’s individual ballot (if you enter your zip code). It has voting records, contributions, groups that support, and an overall panel assessment of the candidates’ leaning. It helps you cut through the hype as you work to learn about the candidates.
I agree with Shannon that this is a great resource to have in your election-prep tool belt! Check it out.
In addition, before going to the voting booth get a sample ballot for your county that includes the measures that you will be asked to vote on. Here’s the trend noticed by Ballotpedia:
The last pending statewide measures have been certified; voters in 37 states will decide 155 statewide ballot measures in November. A total of 167 statewide ballot measures were certified for 2018 ballots in 38, but 12 were decided at pre-November elections. Of the 155 measures on the ballot in November, 64 are citizen-initiated measures.
- There were 158 measures certified for the 2014 ballot. In 2016, 162 measures were ultimately on the ballot.
- Notable trends for 2018 include redistricting and election policy, marijuana, Medicaid expansion and healthcare, Marsy’s Law, energy, restrictions on taxes, abortion, and minimum wage.
Several circles have been meeting to review the ballot measures and discuss their impact on personal responsibility, entrepreneurial values, fiscal responsibility, bureaucratic overreach, and the general well being of a community. It is also not too late to meet and support your candidates. Here’s The Policy Circle guide on assessing candidates, and the brief on Campaign Finance.
Also, we’ve had a request for the best places to track election results. Many different organizations, particularly news organizations, will provide live updates on poll closings and election results as they come in. Currently the news outlets are highlighting 2018 midterm results or recent news about the election, but each of these will track the November 6th general election results.
Here are a couple options to check out, as the election nears you can see which structure of reporting is most appealing to you!