Underneath California

Online Resource Expands Election Information

By Mark Lemmerman

Surfing the California Voter Foundation website, a person can register to vote, learn who has contributed to Proposition 1A or find out who the American Independent candidate for Congress is.

Now in its sixth edition, the California Voter Foundation website has helped inform voters of the issues in every statewide election since 1994.

"The Internet is making it easier for people to get informed," says Kim Alexander, president of the CVF. "We collect the information and publish it on the website."

According to Alexander, this year there is more information and more links on their website than ever before. In 1996 there were 140 campaign websites, and now almost every major candidate has some sort of a website. The CVF site is devoted to helping voters follow maps and get to campaign websites.

"All kinds of people use the web guide from all over the state," says Alexander, who was elected president by the board of directors of the non-profit, non-partisan organization in 1998. "It is for the pro-active voter," she says. "It distinguishes voters who use the Internet to go out of their way to get informed."

According to statistics compiled by the CVF, there were over 80,000 visits to the website during the last two general elections. The traffic this year is even fiercer. This year the website has tried to appeal to Internet users of all ages. For example, the site displays a song that voters can download called the "Proposition Song." "It's school house rock on the web," Alexander says.

"If people want to be informed and get informed," says Alexander, "then they can tell the people around around them."