Featured Online Resource: Presidential Election Information Resources

With the Iowa caucuses and the New Hampshire primaries completed, and South Carolina Primaries and Washington Republican Caucuses coming up in the next few weeks (see calendar here), the Presidential race is really heating up!  Would you like to understand the presidential election process a little better?  You will find some resources below to help you become a presidential election expert in no time!

 

Fuller, Jena. Campaign-buttons.(CC BY-SA 2.0)

The Election Process

• Presidential Election Process (USA.gov) - Includes the steps involved in becoming President of the United States.  This site also provides links about the Electoral College, the schedule for primaries and caucuses for each state, 
• What is the difference between a caucus and a primary?  FactCheck .org provides an answer to this question!  Factcheck.org looks for documentation that backs up or disproves statements from politicians and 
• The US Electoral College - FAQ and additional information provided by the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA)
•  Federal Voting Assistance Program - Information for service members, their families, and overseas citizens

Being an informed voter:

• A note on unbiased sources: There is no guarantee that any resource can be completely unbiased, including the resources listed below.  Even if you are seeing facts, there may be other important facts that have been omitted.  Be sure that you can find out where the information is coming from. (Are the sources documented?) Never rely on only one resource for gathering your information!
• FactCheck.org - FactCheck.org is run by the University of Pennsylvania's Annenberg Public Policy Center.  Part of their mission is to "monitor the factual accuracy of what is said by major U.S. political players in the form of TV ads, debates, speeches, interviews and news releases." 
• Project Vote Smart -  VoteSmart provides information on candidates' voting records, positions on various issues, ratings by various organizations, speech transcripts, and funding information.. Their mission is "to provide free, factual, unbiased information on candidates and elected officials to ALL Americans." For every member who joins the Board of VoteSmart, there is a political opposite as well.
  

Local Information

Maryland & Allegany County

• Maryland Primary Election - Tuesday, April 26, 2016 (Maryland election calendar)
• Maryland - Find your Polling Place - Tool provided by the MD Board of Elections 
• Register to vote in Maryland - (MD Board of Elections)
• Allegany County Election Office -  Information and services available from Allegany County government.

Other areas 

• Find your local election office - USA.gov
• Register to vote (any state) - USA.gov
• State Election Dates and Deadlines - US Vote Foundation
• State Caucus and Primary Election  Dates - Federal Election Commission

Documentation

• Campaign Reporting - You can find financial disclosures,  statements of candidacy and more for each campaign in a presidential election.
• Maryland Board of Elections - Information about voting procedures, elections,campaign finance for the State of Maryland.