Montana-based nonprofit profiles political candidates
Hey savvy news reader! Thanks for choosing local.
You are now reading
3 of 3 free articles.
Election Day is less than two weeks away, but if you’re like many Americans, you may still be unsure who’ll get your vote on Nov. 2. While there are many ways to research candidates, the Internet is probably the most widely used method of gathering information, and for one nonprofit organization based near Philipsburg, it’s crucial to educating voters.
Project Vote Smart is a “completely nonpartisan, nonprofit organization” whose mission is to be a “self-defense system for voters,” spokeswoman Carly Griffin said.
Project Vote Smart volunteers — mostly unpaid summer college interns — research the backgrounds and records of political candidates for state legislature, gubernatorial and congressional races, investigating voting records, campaign contributions, public statements, biographical data including work history, and evaluations of candidates from more than 100 competing special interest groups. All the information is then compiled in simple forms accessible at votesmart.org, where voters can also see how candidates scored on a Political Courage Test.
The test measures how willing candidates are to state their positions on issues they’ll most likely face if elected, from abortion to gun rights and budget issues. Project Vote Smart was inaugurated in 1992, Griffin said, and the Political Courage Test was its flagship program. But in recent years, candidates’ response rates have steadily decreased.
“It’s gone down so much that we actually decided to play defense this year,” Griffin said, explaining that for candidates who didn’t respond in the six-week window they were given, volunteers with Vote Smart used candidate’s public statements to infer their answers on the Political Courage Test.
“They basically left us no choice this year,” she said.
The group also introduced an online application called VoteEasy this year, which allows users to answer 12 questions on hot-button issues and shows on a percent scale which congressional candidates are most compatible with their views.
“So they basically get instant confirmation of what congressional candidates in their district agree with them on certain issues,” Griffin explained.
Vote Smart is also unique in that every board member must have a political opposite on the board “to ensure that we’re completely nonpartisan,” Griffin said.
Former Presidents Jimmy Carter and Gerald Ford, former Governor Michael Dukakis and former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich have all served on the board. While it’s a national organization, Project Vote Smart is headquartered on a 150-acre ranch outside of Philipsburg. Interns and volunteers who work with the organization get free room and board “in a beautiful place … that’s the way we pay back our interns,” Griffin said.
To see how Montana congressional candidates Denny Rehberg, Mike Fellows and Dennis McDonald scored on the Political Courage Test, visit the project’s website or call 888-VOTE-SMART (888-868-3762) — a real person will always answer, Griffin said.
