Candidates tell us lots of things when they are running. They want to distinguish themselves from their competition. They talk about things that they believe or want to do, and sometimes they stretch the truth. Sometimes they attack their opponent’s voting record without being completely precise.
During election season, candidates toss out a lot of numbers to make their arguments sound convincing: dollars, percentages, ratios, or even dates. Numbers are often misused or just plain wrong. You can follow links from confusing data points to their sources (government agencies, scientific studies, opinion polls) to find out just how accurate they are.
How can you get the most realistic picture of what the candidates really have done and plan to do? For candidates who have never served, it’s an act of faith. Review their websites, which often speak to their priorities. VoteSmart helps you track voting records of incumbents at all levels of government so that you can see how closely their talk matches their “walk.”
The League of Women Voters also provides tools to help you make informed decisions. Closer to election dates you can visit Vote411, that will indicate the candidates running for each position in your district. The site asks each one to respond to a set of questions so you can easily compare what each responding candidate has to say about those issues. The League of Women Voters also brings you Candidate Forums, in which candidates meet with a moderator to answer a set of questions proposed by the community. Each candidate has their turn to reply and the forum rules require civility.
In addition to what candidates themselves say, there is also a lot of information that around election times that simply misrepresent the true picture. You’ll see ads on television, some from the candidate’s campaign, some from PACs that are not directly part of the candidate’s campaign. You’ll also receive posts on social media that may be more or less accurate. You might find altered videos and fake news websites that look very realistic, all intended to sow doubt, confusion, and general dissatisfaction with our system of representation.
Start by ignoring most social media news about the candidates and turning to objective journalism sources that attempt to represent two sides of stories based on facts that editors verify. Look for an author’s byline that specifies where and hopefully when a story originated. Check the date. It may already be old news and no longer significant. Be sure to read past headlines since they are there to catch your attention, but may lead to unrelated content. And cross check information. You’ll want to check outrageous claims on sites like FactCheck.org or Politifact. Download the League’s brochure Fact or Fiction? For some guidelines on sorting through information.
Check multiple news sites as well to see if the same story is covered on more than one site. AllSides can show how media with different biases cover the same news so you can compare. Or, visit Real Clear Politics for a nonpartisan look at key issues, with a wide variety of vetted sources.
Finding credible information during election periods can be challenging, but we hope that these perspectives and tools cited above give you a leg up to assist in smart voting.