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.
(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.”
(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.
(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.
(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.
(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.
There were also a couple of other websites profiled on MakeUseof Directory that may come in handy during the election period.
- GlassBooth Matches Your Views to Closest Presidential Candidate
- In Quotes - Compare Politicians’ Quotes By Keywords
What online election tools have you been using to help you decide who to vote for on November 4th?
(By) Wendy Limauge authors several blogs including the The Computer Lady Online and Sweeties Online Sweepstakes.
I have been using In Quotes. I found about it from your directory fed about a month ago, maybe less. Great website.
On The Issues has an incorrect URL.
Currently: ontheissue.org
Should be: ontheissues.org
Thanks, it’s fine now.
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/
oh no, not CNN. Terribly pro-democratic. For getting Non-Partisan facts, that is not the place.
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.
(Comments wont nest below this level)Hello,
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