Library Resources: Voter Education: Candidates and Issues

What's On My Ballot?

Clean Elections Commission

Established by the Citizens Clean Elections Act in 1998, this non-partisan commission offers voter education, public financing, campaign finance enforcement, and a clean elections fund.

To find:

which candidates and issues will be on your specific ballot
where to vote
your registration and ballot status
your current elected officals
and your district info....

GO TO www.azcleanelections.gov

Once you enter your address, you will see the dashboard with the voter information options.

Political Parties & Platforms

Political party platforms guide members' positions on a variety of issues but do not necessarily hold a candidates in commitment (Gelb); they are documents identifying the party's official position(s) on issues facing the nation. Major party platforms for presidential elections debut at the parties' national (nominating) conventions, when the party "adopts" its platform.

For more information and historical highlights, see Northeastern University's U.S. Political Conventions & Campaign's website: http://conventions.cps.neu.edu/

Gelb, Joyce. "Political Party Platform." Encyclopedia of Political Science, edited by George Thomas Kurian. vol. 4. Washington, DC: CQ Press, 2011, pp. 1267-1268. Gale Virtual Reference Library.

Local Party Platforms

Party Voter Guides 2020

Fact Checks of the Issues

Election results under attack: Here are the facts
A compilation of the misinformation, disinformation, and many rejected legal challenges by Trump and his allies to try to overturn votes.
Politifact's Coverage of the 2020 Election
PolitiFact, the largest political fact-checking organization in the United States, is tracking President Donald Trump and all the 2020 Democratic candidates between now and Election Day. How are they faring on the Truth-O-Meter? What do we know about their plans to deal with health care and immigration? Our team of fact-checkers has you covered.
The Biden Presidency
Broad overview from CQ Researcher database, which provides in-depth reports on today's issues.

Statewide Ballot Measures

Arizona 2022 Statewide Ballot Measures

Propositions are able to be sent to the ballot by both the state legislature and the citizens themselves. To gain official ballot status a certain number of petition signatures must be gathered and submitted to the Secretary of State's Office. - from azcleanelections.gov

There are 10 Propositions on the ballot in November. Click on each proposition for arguments for and against each: https://www.azcleanelections.gov/en/arizona-elections/propositions

Additional Online Resources

Be Ballot Ready- Maricopa County
If you live in Maricopa County, sign in to your dashboard to find your voter registration and personalized election information. From what’s on your ballot to details about upcoming elections, everything you need to #BeBallotReady can be found here.
Ballotpedia's 2020 Election Coverage
Ballotpedia is an online encyclopedia of American politics and elections. The navigation bar includes a "sample ballot lookup tool," which allows users to enter their home address and find information about state and local candidates for their upcoming election.
What's My District? Locator
Enter your address to find your Congressional and Legislative Districts.
Find My Legislator
This tool tells you who your current legislators are and how to contact them.
Commission on Judicial Performance Review
Information on Arizona state judges that will be on the ballot. Includes a list of judges up for election for each county, as well as individual evaluations.
C-SPAN
C-SPAN is a public service created by the American Cable Television Industry. C-SPAN provides access to live proceedings of the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate, and to other forums where public policy is discussed, debated and decided.
FiveThirtyEight
FiveThirtyEight provides data journalism. Having started as Nate Silver's independent political blog, then licensed by the New York Times and now owned by ESPN, FiveThirtyEight (btw: 538=electors in the U.S. Electoral College) aggregates poll data to forecast election outcomes.
OpenSecrets.org - 2020 Election Overview
The Center for Responsive Politics, a non-profit research group, hosts this site. Dedicated to tracking federal campaign contributions and lobbying data, OpenSecrets.org provides data and analysis about the money in U.S. politics and its effect on elections and public policy.

Be a Poll Worker

Be a Poll Worker
Poll workers are essential to our democracy. They play a crucial role in ensuring our elections run smoothly. Poll workers set up voting locations, guide voters through the voting process, and help guard the integrity of our elections.

Most poll workers are in their 60s and 70s. They have tirelessly performed these duties year after year, election after election. But their age and health conditions put them at higher risk of serious illness from COVID-19. We can help protect them and honor their service by passing the torch to Arizonans who are at lower risk.

Now, more than ever, we need the next generation of Arizonans to step up for our democracy by serving as poll workers.

Voter Education

Fact Checking Sites

Fact-Checking Strategies