Feel Good Friday - Voter's Edge California

The U.S. midterm elections are only four days away and today’s Feel Good Friday is here to prepare you for the polls with a little help from Voter’s Edge California.

As you’ve likely gathered from the name, Voter’s Edge California (VEC), is “a comprehensive, nonpartisan online guide to elections covering federal, state, and local races in the state of California.” It’s a joint project of MapLight and the League of Women Voters of California Education Fund that began in 1996 as the election information site, smartvoter.org.

The purpose of Voter’s Edge California is to help you “get the facts before you vote.” Start by entering your street address and zip code on the VEC homepage. You’ll get a personalized ballot that includes in-depth information on candidates and measures for the state, your county, your city, and your district. 

You can read candidate biographies, top priorities, and answers to questions, as well as see photos, policy videos, endorsements, and detailed information about who funds their campaigns. I found this useful because, while at a state level I only have to decide between a Democratic and Republic candidate for each position, there are ten people running for Mayor of Oakland and this site helped me learn more about all of them.

With the ballot measures, you can read unbiased explanations and find out who supports, opposes, and funds them. The site lists the top 10 donors for both the “yes on” and “no on” campaigns and also shows a breakdown of how much money is coming from inside and outside of California. Fascinating when you dig in to the funding of the gambling measures on the ballot. There are also explainer videos from CalMatters that give one-minute overviews on the state measures.

While researching everyone and everything on your ballot, you can use VEC to keep track of your choices and make filling out your ballot much easier. There’s also information on how to mail back your ballot, drop it off, or vote in person and then track it once you’ve voted.

If you like what Voter’s Edge is doing to help people in California make more informed choices you can support them with a donation. You can also help your fellow voters get educated by sharing this information on social media. Like the Voter’s Edge California Facebook page and follow them on Twitter @VotersEdge (if you’re still on Twitter) and Instagram @votersedgeca.