Vote Smart can help

Thank you for your issue celebrating freedom of the press. It was interesting and educational. For you and for your readers I would like to suggest an addition to your list of “Where can I fact check something?” That would be a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization called Vote Smart. No one can join Vote Smart’s board without a political opposite. Conservative Senator Barry Goldwater and liberal Senator George McGovern were founding members of Vote Smart’s board in 1992 at its inception, so you know it’s nonpartisan.

Vote Smart uses the efforts of volunteers, many of them students, many of them retirees, who pore through volumes of information including, but not limited to, government website voting records, public statements, and election commission data. With this research in hand Vote Smart is able to put it into easily accessible information about candidates and incumbents.

Every candidate and elected official from President to local government can be easily and instantly accessed through the Voter’s Self-Defense System. You can phone for the information or use their website VoteSmart.org. Enter the politician’s name and the web page gives you choices of anything you wanted to know about him or her: voting record, contributions to their campaign, issue positions, public comments they’ve made and more. For example, I went in and clicked on Matt Shea’s contributors. Of top contributors, Avista is named first! Isn’t that interesting?

Your article said “the truth matters.” Vote Smart’s motto is “Facts Matter.” I hope people use Vote Smart for upcoming elections.

Linda Greene

Spokane