Election Day is November 5th in the United States, and Americans have the opportunity to decide who serves in their government, at the federal, state, and local level.  In preparing to exercise this power – and responsibility – there are many useful tools that registered voters can avail themselves of to inform their vote.

An all-purpose voting website is available from the state government of Indiana, letting residents check their voting status if they don’t know it, register to vote (October 7th is the deadline), and find their polling place.  Information about election security measures is presented, and results can be checked (after the election).  Online, the website Vote 411 lets users view their ballots ahead of time, and see what their state and national options will be (although not local races or public questions like judicial retention). 

Citizens may also wish to communicate with current office holders.  Their contact information is publicly available online – at the federal level, the listing can be found here.  At the state level, if you live in Indiana, you can find your state senator or representative here; and for Ohio, their names and contact information can be found here.

Any truly free election requires an informed electorate.  The library is an excellent repository for information that can be used in making your voting decisions.  A major resource in this regard is the local newspaper, the Palladium-Item, which frequently runs articles about local candidates and their views, who may be less well known than candidates seeking higher offices.  While the positions and backgrounds of state and national politicians are easy to find, local news sources are indispensable for learning about and making an informed decision among less well-known candidates running for a county, city, or municipal office, a judge, or a position on a school board.

The library also offers a number of databases which help to learn about governmental issues. Large databases like ProQuest Political Science and EBSCO Military and Government Collection are great places to start.  One of the best of these databases is CQ Researcher, which offers comprehensive reports and analysis of major political hot topics and social issues.  Each topic also includes a chronology briefly describing major events affecting that issue.  Note that, despite being named ‘Congressional Quarterly’, it is produced by journalists, and not by the US government.  Official government websites can be identified by the ‘.gov’ ending.

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