Project Vote Smart - Everyone’s Source

www.votesmart.org

Vote Smart researches 40,000 public officials and candidates and issues 365 days a year. Information at the presidential,
congressional, gubernatorial, state legislative, and judicial levels includes voting records, issue positions, speeches,
campaign finances, special interest group ratings, biographies, ballot measures, voter registration, and CongressTrack,
tracking the status of legislation.

Comprehensive

No other organization comes even close to covering the number of candidates and issues in as much depth as Vote Smart
does. In fact, hundreds of sites, from major media to universities, now depend on Vote Smart for the data they provide.

Website Usage

• Our web traffic increases every election cycle; we recorded 5.9 million sessions in 2008. Traffic also surges, up to 16
million hits a day, during major political events.
• Votesmart.org is at or near the top of almost all search engine results, including Google, because of the number of sites
linking to our information and the quality and depth of our data. In 2008, there were more than 200,000 active links to
votesmart.org.
• The Library of Congress and official state government sites link to us as the source of non-partisan information and refer
their users to us for more information.
• Over 20 foreign countries have sent political scientists and journalists to visit our research center in hopes of finding ways
to duplicate our model for civic education all over the world. The State Department has even sent our staff to burgeoning
democracies in Europe, Africa and Asia.
• Votesmart.org has a free comprehensive API allowing start-up sites, well-established organizations, and individual
researchers to use our data and post it on their sites, further disseminating the complete, accurate, and relevant information
for which we have become known. We currently have more than 600 subscribers to this one of a kind service.
• Along with the nation’s most prominent K-12 civics educators, Vote Smart is leading an effort to design systems to enable
the effective political participation of our youngest citizens through the nation’s schools.

Reputation

• We have a wide-ranging network of more than 400 organizational, media and academic supporting partners, including
representatives from 125 universities and 160 media outlets.
• We were awarded The Best Political Web Site by the American Political Science Association.
• An independent survey reported in the academic journal Political Science and Politics said that Vote Smart measured even
better than the well funded for profit political sites of the New York Times, CNN, Fox and others when users were asked
which site: 1. Has information that cannot be found elsewhere. 2. Has information that makes me want to learn more. 3.
Has information that is accurate and non-partisan.
• A typical user comment: “The amount of information Project Vote Smart collects is mind-boggling. The in-depth
knowledge and professionalism of your staff makes me proud to be a voter.” – Peggy
• Typical media reviews: After examining political content on the web during last year’s 2008 elections, the premier
computer industry magazine, PC World Magazine, reported, " The granddaddy of political action sites, Project Vote
Smart…offers one-stop shopping for researching every aspect of a politico’s public life…Don’t visit a polling booth
without checking out this site.” Or the New York Times, “Vote Smart is so good even the Federal Government
recommends them.”
• Over two-dozen universities have offered, at their own expense, to house Vote Smart’s programs. Currently we have
offices at our main research center, The Great Divide Ranch in Montana and at the University of Arizona.
• Vote Smart operates with a 40 member full-time staff but it is the over 6000 student interns and full-time volunteers, along
with almost 100,000 contributing citizens from across the nation that have built Vote Smart.
 PROJECT VOTE SMART’S WEB DIRECTORY
www.votesmart.org
Project Vote Smart provides the public with comprehensive facts on more than 40,000 public officials and candidates over the Internet
(www.votesmart.org), the Voter’s Research Hotline (1-888-VOTE SMART), and free publications (The Voter’s Self-Defense
Manual). Tools in the Voter’s Self-Defense System include:

Core Data on all Presidential, Congressional, Gubernatorial and State Legislative Officials and Candidates:
Biographical and Contact Information
Campaign Finances
Issue Positions
Special Interest Group Ratings
Voting Records/Vetoes
Public Statements and Speeches

Federal Executive Branch Officials & Agencies

President, Vice President, and Cabinet
Executive Branch Agencies: Executive Offices of the President, Executive Departments, Independent Federal Agencies and
Commissions, and Other Federal Government Resources

Federal Legislative Branch

United States Congress
CongressTrack: Week at a Glance, Status of Legislation and Appropriations
Congressional Resources: Committee Information, Congressional Officers, Congressional Leadership, Senate Classes, and
Other Congressional Resources

Judicial Branch
U.S. Supreme Court, Courts of Appeals, Federal District Courts, & State Supreme Courts
Cases & Opinions

State Government, Agencies & Resources

Governor
Statewide Officials
State Legislatures
State Government Resources: State Legislative Committee Information, State Legislative Leadership, State Statutes, State
Constitutions, & Other State Resources.

Local Government
County and City Officials
Local Election Offices

Additional Resources Project Vote Smart Publications Other Project Vote Smart Resources and Programs
Ballot Measures Voter’s Self-Defense Manual Vote Smart Classroom
Voter Registration Help Reporter’s Source Book Young Voters Program
Politics 101 Vote Smart Web Yellow Pages National Student Internship Program
Political Parties Project Vote Smart DVD Member Volunteer Program
Think Tanks Radio and TV PSA Program
News Media Sources History of Project Vote Smart
Polling Sources Membership
Political Trivia Voter’s Research Hotline (1-888-VOTE-SMART)
State Facts Vote Smart Web Site (www.votesmart.org)
Demographics, Maps, Voting RSS Feeds
and Census Data API's/Web 2.0/Widgets

PROJECT VOTE SMART

One Common Ground • Philipsburg, MT 59858-9767 • Tel: 406-859-VOTE (406-859-8683) • Fax: 406-859-8680
Tucson Office: 1133 E. Helen Street, Tucson, AZ 85719 • Tel: 520-626-8752 • Fax: 520-626-8722
Hotline: 888-VOTE-SMART (888-868-3762) • Website: www.votesmart.org