Use the following information to further help your voting decisions.
How the League prepares our election information
Our online VOTE411.org guide, Video Voters’ Guides, Voter Forums, and Podcasts require months of planning. They are also based on years of experience and knowledge about how to make sure our information is nonpartisan, accurate, and unbiased.
- First, we go to the websites of the Secretary of State’s Elections Office and the Multnomah County Elections Division. There we find out which offices will be filled in the next election. We can also learn which measures have qualified to be on local election ballots.
- About four months before the next election, a group of League members who follow current issues, are surveyed to propose and draft the candidate questions for each office. They consider what the candidates in the upcoming election will have to face if they are elected. Some questions are based upon public policy issues that the League is following, questions asked in previous election cycles, or current news reports. This group then frames questions that are open-ended and as fair as possible. The questions are approved by the LWV Board. These questions are sent to all the candidates for each office the day after the filing deadline. The candidates’ answers are included in our print Voters’ Guide, if submitted by our printing deadline. Their answers are also included in VOTE411.org up through Election Day.
- For ballot measure research, we recruit League volunteers who have an interest or expertise on the subject of the measure. These volunteers contact experts or government officials who work in the agencies the measure will affect. They learn as much as possible about the current situation and how the measure would change it. The ballot measure researchers also contact both the advocates who support the measure and those who oppose it. After the researchers write their draft reports, an editing committee reviews them. The editors suggest ways to improve the reports and make them as complete, fair and balanced as possible.
- After the filing deadline for ballot measures, candidate and ballot measure questions are reviewed and refined by interested LWVPDX members for use in the Video Voters’ Guides and the Candidate and Ballot Measure Voter Forums.
- In a forum, all the candidates for each position or advocates on both sides of each ballot measure are invited to answer questions. The candidates and speakers for each position (or measure) are asked similar questions and their responses are time-limited, so that they all have the same opportunity to respond. Voters are able to compare the candidates or the reasons to support or oppose each ballot measure. MetroEast Community Media helps us produce our Video Voters’ Guides and videos and podcasts of forums.
How to Judge a Candidate
How to judge a candidate, information from our national LWV Education Fund, helps you choose the best substantive candidate who represents your values and needs.
Mail Your Completed Ballot or Drop it Off!
REMEMBER THAT WE VOTE BY MAIL. THE POSTAGE IS FREE. You don’t need a stamp, but your ballot must be postmarked before or on Election Day. Instead of mailing your ballot, you may drop it off at an official ballot dropsite by 8 PM Election Day.