5 Non-Partisan Web Tools For Election 2008

The US Presidential election is only 19 days away. With these websites you can keep informed about the election, know where the candidates stand on issues that matter to you, find out where to vote in your area, and be a well informed voter.

Vote 411

(1) Vote411 was launched by the League of Women Voters in October of 2006. This is a “one-stop-shop” for election-related information. It provides both general and state-specific information on how to find out where to vote in your state, where to grab an absentee ballot, and provides links to the local voting websites in your state.

“An important component of VOTE411.org is the polling place locator, which enables users to type in their address and retrieve the poll location for the voting precinct in which that address is located. The League has found that this is among the most sought after information in the immediate days leading up to, and on, Election Day.”

On The Issues

(2) OnTheIssues lets you pick your state from a map, then pick the candidate and a full-page of statistics will appear telling you how that person stands on issues broken down by category. They get daily information from newspapers, speeches, press releases, and the internet and it is run by a group of volunteers.

You Tube

(3) YouTube – You Choose ’08 – is a section on the popular video site that hosts videos from citizens like you and shows you what you might have missed on TV from commercials to scandals – with an occasional informative video thrown in.

Factcheck.org

(4) FactCheck is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization that helps shed light on the confusion in U.S. politics. They monitor the accuracy of what is said by major U.S. political players in the form of TV ads, debates, speeches, interviews and news releases. Their goal is to increase public knowledge and understanding.

Google Election 2008

(5) Google Election 2008 offers a site that helps you get prepared to vote on election day. You can:

  • Find registration information
  • Learn where to vote
  • Get an absentee ballot

With Google Maps you can type in your address and it gives you direct links to your state’s voting page, where to vote, how to get an absentee ballot, and it even gives you a toll-free number to call in your state for help.

There is even a Google site that lets you get election information on your mobile phone. Furthermore, if you have iGoogle startpage then you can embed a gadget into your site.

iGoogle Election Gadget

There were also a couple of other websites profiled on MakeUseof Directory that may come in handy during the election period.

What online election tools have you been using to help you decide who to vote for on November 4th?

Wendy Limauge

I have been involved with technology since 1993 when we bought our first Commodore computer and got online with a 300 baud modem (those were the days). I have been a software trainer, computer consultant, in-home troubleshooter, web designer and was known as The Computer Lady (http://www.thecomputerladyonline.com) to many. I love learning about the latest software, web app, or gadget that comes out. I am usually the first one in my area to try out new technology and love sharing my knowledge with others. If a person feels intimidated they won't learn and my job has always been to create an atmosphere where people feel at ease and in turn, they will learn. My husband, Greg, and I own an online lavender business. We only sell online and have a retail and wholesale site. We also have our own product line that I developed - Limauge Boutique (http://www.limaugeboutique.com). The inspiration for that business came after an exciting trip to France valued at $25,000 that I won from Forbes.com back in 2001. Sweepstakes has been a fun hobby for me since 1993 and I average between 200 and 300 prizes a year. You can learn how to enter and win at my site, http://www.sweetiessweeps.com If you ever have questions please feel free to email me or leave me a comment and I will try to answer your questions to the best of my knowledge.

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  • Craig

    I have been using In Quotes. I found about it from your directory fed about a month ago, maybe less. Great website.

  • http://www.ktechdesign.com Jeff

    On The Issues has an incorrect URL.
    Currently: ontheissue.org
    Should be: ontheissues.org

    • http://makeuseof.com Aibek

      Thanks, it’s fine now.

  • http://www.betterthantherapy.net Mark O’Neill

    I’ve been using the CNN election center. Even though I am not a US voter, I am finding CNN an invaluable tool to understand the US election and to keep up to date with the US election news – http://edition.cnn.com/ELECTION/2008/

    They even have an interactive map which shows you which states are swinging Obama’s way and which ones are swinging McCain’s way, and how that translates into electoral votes – http://edition.cnn.com/ELECTION/2008/calculator/

    • ryan

      oh no, not CNN. Terribly pro-democratic. For getting Non-Partisan facts, that is not the place.

      • http://www.betterthantherapy.net Mark O’Neill

        All I am looking for is who’s ahead in the latest poll and which states are leaning towards which candidate. I think I can rely on CNN to tell me that as the information is easily verifiable by the people who do the polls themselves such as Gallup.

        I mean, come on, let’s be honest, EVERY news network is biased towards a particular political party these days. Big money and big business has infilitrated EVERY news network. There’s no such thing as independent media anymore. So you take everything you read and hear with an enormous pinch of salt.

  • http://www.avaguide.net Jarek

    Hello,

    I have been looking for interesting services on US Election and I came across this site.

    We have been working on an innovative tool for candidates’ promotion.

    We have created interactive video characters that know all candidates’ program details.

    Please visit: http://www.avaguide.net/us_election

    It let’s you support and vote for your candidate. You can choose one of 4 interactive video characters and use it for your candidates promotion. All you need to do is choose a character and copy and paste it into your site completely for free.

    We would like to know what you think about it – please leave a comment. Thank you!

    I look forward to hearing from you.

    Kind regards,