Evaluating Candidates

Thanks to technology, evaluating candidates in all the races on the ballot is easier than it used to be.

Voting ballotDemocracy North Carolina advocates that you not only vote – but that you vote thoughtfully. This means planning ahead and evaluating the candidates before you cast your ballot. This can be especially important in lesser known races or in local races, when it is hard to find information on a  candidate or even on what an officeholder does. This section provides you with some suggestions on how you can evaluate candidates using the resources available to you.

 

How do you decide who to vote for when it comes to the many different offices you will be asked to consider on Election Day? Most thoughtful voters go through a process similar to this one:

 

What are the job requirements of the office?

The best way to find out what a particular officeholder does is to visit the official website of the person currently holding that position. This is especially helpful with city or other local offices. If you know someone who does not have a computer who wants to do this, they can visit their local library for assistance and/or free internet access or call the incumbent’s office to request an explanation of what they do. Every citizen has a right to do this and every public office holder an obligation to explain.

 

Is the candidate qualified for the job?

Do they have experience in the right fields? Do they possess the necessary school degrees or do they have commensurate past experience that indicates an appropriate level of expertise? Are they an incumbent and, if so, what have they done in the past? Just because a person has held office, or even that particular office, before does not make them automatically better qualified. Sometimes a challenger will have industry expertise that could benefit the office and sometimes the incumbent’s record will show they are not doing a good enough job. It’s your call!

 

What does each candidate stand for?

Some people evaluate a candidate’s platform based on their political party; other voters dig deeper by visiting the candidate’s campaign website, attending forums and asking questions of the candidates or emailing or phoning the candidates for answers. These are all good methods. Evaluating any voter guides you can find on a particular race is also a good option, especially for statewide offices when directly contacting the candidate is difficult and candidate information is widely available. To find voter guides, call your local League of Women Voters, do a search on-line and check the website of your local newspaper. Most newspapers and television stations in NC sponsor special election sections that include candidate profiles before the Primary and General Election each year. Finally, there are usually several political websites dedicated  to providing candidate information before each election (see below).

 

Who is providing financial support to that candidate?

You can tell a lot about a candidate based on their campaign finance reports! Are they being backed by a handful of wealthy donors or political action committees? If so, what field or industry are those donors in? Which candidates have they backed in the past and what did those candidates stand for? Might they want policy concessions in return for their contributions? Or is the candidate backed by a lot of people giving smaller amounts? That is often an indication of widespread community support, especially in local elections. To find out who has given to a candidate, see the “tracking campaign donations” resources listed below. And be sure to visit our Money in Politics section for more on why following the money trail is so important.

 

By the way: It’s okay to bring a sample ballot or list of candidates you want to vote for into the polling booth with you, so feel free to write down your choices beforehand.

 

What if you get to the polling place and you have no idea what the office entails or who the candidates are?

Some people vote according to their political party in those instances, but that is not possible in primaries or non-partisan races. Our advice in these situations? Just leave those races blank. You don’t have to vote in every race for your ballot to be counted and it’s better to leave it blank then to simply choose at random.

Learn more about the candidates on-line:
  • North Carolina General Assembly — visiting this site lets you research the qualifications of incumbents in the state legislature and find where they stand on the issues important to you.
  • Visit the website of the North Carolina Republican Party, the North Carolina Democratic Party, the NC Libertarian Party or the NC Green Party for more information on their candidates and positions on issues.
  • NC Politics is a nonpartisan resource that provides hundreds of local internet links to most candidates running for elected office in NC.
  • Do a Google search for each candidate by name and office — it is rare for even local candidates to lack websites these days. Just keep in mind a candidate’s website presents only the information they want to present.  You might want to do a news search for them to find out about past activities, or use nonpartisan voter guides to fill in the gaps.
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Using print media to learn about candidates:

Most large regional newspapers and some television stations maintain voter face books or on-line profiles of candidates. Google the name of the media outlet and the words “on-line” “voter” “resource” and “candidates” for a solid search. In addition, here are some links to major media outlets covering NC politics on a regular basis:

 

 

Links to use to track campaign donations to candidates:
 
Media-based blogs focusing on North Carolina politics:

 

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In This Section:

Guess Who?

Mystery Candidate

Studies show that when people do not know anything about the candidates in a race, many simply skip voting in that race — probably a wiser alternative then choosing a candidate at random. However, this drop-off rate can be significant and voters should make an effort to avoid it. Otherwise, in races where many voters leave their ballots blank, a very small percentage of citizens can end up deciding who their town's new leaders will be and set the tone for policies that affect everyone.

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If your town lacks information on local candidates, contact your local newspaper or on-line media and suggest a page of profiles where people can review your local ballot choices. The same information can be posted on an entrance wall to your local library for review by people who lack on-line access or who do not subscribe to the newspaper. These are simple and effective ways to help distribute information.

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