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See also "FAQs for Voters".
Here are answers to some Frequently Asked Questions by candidates.
(To return to this list, use your Browser's "back"
button.)
Benefits of Smart Voter
Creating your Smart Voter Web pages
Using your Smart Voter pages
Benefits of Smart Voter
I already have a Web site. Please link to it from Smart Voter.
Smart Voter offers you the opportunity to create a straightforward
Web page. We have minimal requirements making it very easy for you
to complete in a short amount of time. You need only enter one way
for voters to contact you, two biographical items, and three top
priorities you want to achieve if you are elected. When you enter
this information, you may also enter a link to your Web site.
What is Smart Voter? Will it help me in
my candidacy?
Are you running for your local School Board or Sanitation District?
Where will voters find out about your candidacy? Smart Voter may be
the only ready means voters have to find substantive information about
you. If you are running for a race that gets more newspaper coverage,
Smart Voter is a means to get the information about you directly to
the voters.
Smart Voter has received glowing feedback
from voters who have used our site in previous elections. They
find that they like getting a list of their complete ballot choices,
anytime they want to see it. By "drilling down", they can find information
on candidates and ballot measures organized in an efficient manner.
A very large percentage of our users visit on Monday before Election
Day and on that Tuesday. They don't have time to wade through information
that does not help them decide for whom to vote. That's one reason
they appreciate our Web site.
By filling out our simple web forms, you will raise your visibility
in the community. And Smart Voter costs you only a little time --
not money.
I already have a Web site. Why should I
take the time to fill in the Smart Voter form?
Why not have both? We make it easy for you to link from your Smart
Voter web page to your campaign Web site. And, if you already have
position papers on your Web site, for example, you may link directly
to them from Smart Voter without having to re-enter them.
We encourage you to link to your Smart Voter web page from your
Web site.
Several voters in the last election said they would not vote for
a candidate who did not respond to Smart Voter.
What do voters say about candidates who do not create a Smart Voter page?
Here is just a sample of real, unsolicited comments received from some of our users (bolding done for emphasis).
I'd like to echo the comment featured on the site "one of the best uses of the internet".
I hope you continue to get statements from more candidates, as the years go by. My voting will show a strong prejudice against candidates who do not supply information to your site.
--Santa Clara County
Thank you so VERY much for your website. ... I wasn't going to vote this year but because of this site... I will.
--Stark County, Ohio
...I am bewildered that so many electoral candidates declined to supply your web site with information to supplement the information that you obtained from local elections officers.
Am I correct in assuming that there is *no* charge to candidates for supplying additional information to your web site?
If you are indeed offering a freebie to all electoral candidates, they sure are passing up some mighty fine free publicity, if they do not participate...
--Sacramento County
Awesome web site... You can let candidates know that at least one voter won't vote for candidates who are too lazy to provide you info for voters to read.
--San Diego County
I love the Smart Voter web site... The one comment I have is that next election we need to get the local county candidates to participate more fully and submit information.
--San Diego County
...I have to admit, those candidates who did not submit information are a notch down in my estimation.
--Los Angeles County
Thank you for providing this site for neutral information that a voter like me can get to it at my time schedule. I just wish all the candidates would take the advantage of this site. I tend not to vote for the candidates not listed here.
--Sacramento County
Creating your Smart Voter Web pages
When can I create my Web page on Smart Voter?
Normally about a week or two after the state or local elections office prepares a list of certified candidates. We get the list, prepare our system, then send out invitations to all candidates with instructions on how to create your pages. The only exception to this order is for run-off elections.
How do I create my Smart Voter Web page?
If you are a candidate running for an office in one of the counties
fully participating in our project, you are invited by letter or email to
submit information about yourself and your candidacy.
The letter will be mailed to the address you specified when you filed about 2-3 weeks after the final filing date. This gives us time to get the official candidate list in electronic format from the elections offices so we can build Smart Voter for the election.
The letter you receive will be accompanied by a page of instructions
telling you where to go on this website to fill out the form. For
privacy reasons, we do not publish the name of the candidate form
page here. If you believe you are eligible to submit information
to Smart Voter but do not have your instruction sheet (and it is more than 3 weeks after extended filing close), please contact
the Smart Voter coordinator. The best way to do this is:
- Go to our Search page
- In "Find A Candidate", enter your full name.
- The next page you will probably see is the one listing all people including yourself running for the office. Scroll down to almost the bottom of that page and click on "Feedback". Then send us a message.
It is possible that other candidates have the same name as you. If so, instead of seeing the page for the office you are seeking, you will see a list of names and offices. Click on yours, then look for the "Feedback" at the bottom.
I tried to get to your Smart Voter form
to enter my candidate data but my search program didn't find it.
You cannot get to the candidate forms by using a search capability
(Google, Yahoo, Alta Vista, etc.). You must enter the URL given to you directly
into your browser in the field identified as "Location" or "Page"
or "URL" or the like.
If you are using WebTV, the "Find" feature has the ability for
you to select "http://".
Your system said it sent me an email message, but I didn't get it. What happened?
We sent the email, but it either:
- went to an email address other than the one you read. Check the email address in the area "How Can We Contact You".
- was considered to be spam and placed in your "spam" or "bulk" email folder. Please be sure that your email provider will accept email sent from "webforms@smartvoter.org".
What information may I enter on my Web
page?
Every candidate, regardless of office sought, is asked to fill
out the same form. We ask for:
- campaign contact information (required)
- biographical highlights (minimum of 2 required)
- top three priorities (required)
- endorsements (optional)
- political philosophy (optional)
- position papers (optional, maximum of three)
- photograph (optional)
Only information about you, the candidate, should be entered.
Do not enter information referring to an opponent either positively or negatively. Do not make any false, slanderous, or libelous statements.
May I include information about endorsements from news sources?
Because of possible copyright infringement issues, we ask that you not copy and reprint any published article directly onto your Smart Voter page. Attributed quotations are acceptable, of course. Or simply link to the article published elsewhere on the Web.
May I enter as much as I'd like?
Word limits apply and vary for each section. Limits only apply
for those fields that are seen directly on your main Smart Voter
page. With the limits, you can be assured that you are producing
a page that can be quickly read by voters to pick out the major
points of your philosophy, background, and priorities.
We allow virtually unlimited space on the extended sections. You
may give a full biography, expound on your political philosophy,
and list your endorsers. And you have the opportunity to enter three
position papers, each of virtually unlimited content.
We urge you to utilize your free Smart Voter page in a way that
serves both the surge of voters who come to our site on Election
Day and the day before and those who want to read every word you
write.
What are the limits?
For those boxes beginning with a bullet: 120 characters
are generally permitted. If you attempt to enter more than 120 characters
(about 2 lines) into the box on the form, you simply won't be able
to type another character. Just back up in the form and edit.
Position Paper Summary: 200 characters are allowed for
the short summary of each unlimited length position paper on a subject
of your choice. If you enter more than this, you will be told, after
you press the "go" button below this area, that you have exceeded
the limit. Just press your browser's "back" button and edit the
summary area.
May I write about my campaign and candidacy in a language other than English?
If you wish to post information in another language, we ask that you do so on your own campaign web site, not on your Smart Voter pages.
After I create my page, how long will it take before it is available to the public?
In general, the page should be available overnight. Three things must
happen before your page is made public:
- Your page is checked by one of our volunteers to see that the
required elements are present and that the rules above were followed. When OK, the Smart Voter system
is told that the page should be activated during the next automatic
cycle. This process could happen very quickly or take a few days.
In the midst of the heavy election season, the volunteers try
to check their queues at least once a day.
- The page must be generated by our automatic program. This runs
at least overnight, but during a heavy election season about four
times a day.
- If this is a new page and not an update to a public page, you
must wait overnight for our programs to run to make your name
"clickable" on linking pages. Until this last step, you may find your candidate page, but when you look at the page for your contest, your name may not be blue and underlined. Check the next day.
Will the volunteer who approves my page(s) ever make any changes?
No. In special circumstances, if you have authorized a League volunteer to enter your information, it will be entered as you submitted it to the League. We don't edit or correct spelling errors, for example.
How do I get my photo to you to publish
on my Smart Voter page?
If your state League volunteers accept photos, we prefer that you send
a photo image file attached to an email or we can try to take one from your web
site. See "Candidate Photo" for detailed instructions for California, Massachusetts, Missouri, New York,
Pennsylvania, or Ohio.
I sent you a photo -- how long before I
should see it published?
If you mailed a "hardcopy" photo, estimate the number of days it should
take the Post Office to mail to the address, then add about 2 or 3
days to cover the time to scan the photo, move it to the Smart Voter
Web site, then wait for the next overnight automatic page regeneration
to detect its presence.
If you emailed a message with the digital photo or instructions
on how to find it online, it should take about 2 days.
I'd like to change some information on
my page. Can I do that?
Yes, the data you enter for your page is your responsibility and
may be changed at any time until 24 hours before
the polls close on election day (eg. Monday, 8:00 pm).
I forgot my password. What do I do?
Go to the URL for candidates. After you enter your name and county and go to the next page, in the area where you are asked for your password, please check the box "I don't know the password, send it". We will send your password to the email address that we have on record. Please note the hints about what to do if you do not automatically receive the email message.
If you don't know the URL for candidates, please see "How do I create my Smart Voter page?".
How secure is my candidate information? Can someone else get my password and change my data?
Smart Voter protects your pages in several ways:
- We keep a log of all data entered along with a timestamp and what internet connection and software was used to access our system.
- If someone changes an email address and asks to have the password sent to the new address, the old email address is also copied on the message. If you get such an email and you don't recognize the new email address, please notify us immediately by sending us a feedback.
- Your web page is never released to the public until a trained League volunteer approves the changes. This volunteer also received the notice of changed email address so is alerted to check changes very carefully.
- At any time, you may send us a feedback and ask for your password to be changed if you feel that it was compromised.
In what order do you list the candidates
for a race?
Rather than display a static list of candidates in either alphabetical
or sample ballot order, Smart Voter randomly orders the candidates
each time the page is regenerated. Pages are regenerated at least
once a day.
What is a Campaign Calendar and how do I create or update it?
We offer a feature to easily create a calendar page to inform voters or
campaign volunteers of your campaign events. This feature may not be available in all counties.
You can include any event you wish-- receptions, endorsement events, candidate forums, etc. See an
example of a calendar.
Events are added by filling in forms with the date, location, and event
title and description. Our service keeps events ordered and will provide
automatic links to a map when complete addresses are used.
This feature is currently in test mode. We invite candidates to create a calendar
in this election without charge. Let us know your opinion of the calendar by sending us a feedback.
In future elections, we plan to charge a modest amount to help cover our
costs of providing the Smart Voter service. The League is a nonprofit organization. Income from the calendar will support teams of volunteers who donate their time to enter information, work with candidates, and raise funds to cover expenses for each election.
To create a calendar, click on the "Create Calendar" button in the Contact Information section of your candidate preview page. To update that calendar, click on the calendar icon in the same section. It may be updated as often as you wish
until 24 hours before the polls close. After an election, we will archive the calendar.
Using your Smart Voter pages
What is the URL for my page? I want to
tell others about it or link from my website.
Read your choices for a URL and considerations
on its use. Some things to consider: Does any other candidate on Smart
Voter have the same (last) name as you do? Do you want the URL to
work even after the election is archived?
How long will my candidate pages be available
on your Web site? May I change them after the election?
After the election, we archive all pages created by candidates and
by our League volunteers. We mark most pages with a yellow notice
in the upper left corner of a page to denote that the information
on the page is dated. Several pages have links to pages on other Web
sites. We have no control over how long those sites will keep the
pages and have no plans to remove or update links. Candidates will
not be able to change their Smart Voter pages after an election. If
you have a specific concern, please send us a feedback.
I won my primary election or am in a run-off election. What will happen?
First, we will archive the recently past election -- after the results are officially finalized. Then we will copy the Smart Voter pages of all primary winners to an area on Smart Voter for the upcoming General election. Run-off candidates will also be copied if we are supporting that run-off election (ask your county's Smart Voter coordinator). We will notify all candidates that we are now open to receive any changes they may wish to make on their Smart Voter pages. If no changes are made, the version used in the general election will be the same as in the primary.
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