Over the years, Voter Information Project has morphed in name and activity, but not in purpose. In short, we strive to enable voters to make informed decisions. If it's on the ballot, we cover it: Candidates, ballot issues, and judges.
What began in 1992 as a printed “voters’ guide” serving parts of Sarpy and Douglas Counties, gradually grew as more volunteers joined in. 1998 saw our first web appearance. We never intended to “guide,” only “inform,” so the name was changed to Voters Information Packet, reflecting the large packets of papers required for the extensive information we collected. In 2012, it was time to change the name again, to “Voter Information Project,” as we were now primarily web-based rather than print-based.
Our project is non-partisan, totally volunteer, and non-profit. Our 501(c)(3) tax-exempt status was awarded under the old name, Voters Information Packet, in November 2013, retroactively to November 2011 when we officially incorporated as a non-profit entity in the state of Nebraska.
Candidates:
Our questions for the candidates have also morphed over the years. We seek to learn from candidates, not just their political views, but who they are as individuals. Why they hold a particular view provides information about how they may approach issues not currently in public discussion.
We have always wanted “free response” so the candidate is not tied to the “oppose – support” style of question. In recent years, we added a “multiple choice” feature while still leaving a space for “free response.” We record the responses received with no editing. [We do fix typos and will connect with the candidate to ask for rewrites if the candidate speaks against an opponent.]
Job Descriptions of the candidate’s desired office help the voters determine if they think the candidate is qualified to run for that position.
Ballot Issues:
Ballot Issues can come from a variety of sources: successful petition drives, the Legislature, school districts, or any level of local government.
See Secretary of State explanation.
Initiative proposals are required to be written in a certain format and can sometimes be difficult to interpret. From a neutral viewpoint, we restate the issue through commonly used English terms, provide its history, and present the major arguments others have given for and against the issue.
Judges:
Our third area of focus is on judges. We provide voters with a variety of informed perspectives including anonymous interviews with lawyers, law enforcement personnel, and other professionals who observe the judges at work.
Bulleted History:
1992 - parts of eastern Sarpy and Douglas Counties.
1994 - added Plattsmouth, Papillion, LaVista while continuing Bellevue and a few more races in Douglas
1996 - started covering ballot issues and a few judges
1998 - Sarpy, east Douglas, Cass Counties - first website
2000 - added parts of Washington and Lancaster Counties, statewide judges
2002 - added Seward County when a volunteer called and said her group would do the races in their county, more judges, covered statewide races
2004-2010 - included Omaha and Lincoln city races, every race in the 6 counties (Douglas, Sarpy, Cass, Lancaster, Washington, Seward)
2011 - "Civics Recognition Award" given to our executive director by the Nebraska Secretary of State
2012 - introduction of NEW website - beginning of personalized list of races for voters
2014 - volunteers able to enter candidate responses and contact attempts online
2016 – totally personalized for voters, candidates able to answer directly online, added Dodge County
2018 – candidates able to print a copy of what they answered
2020 – created new homepage – much easier for voters to enter personal information to access just the races/issues/judges appearing on their ballots
2021 – modified questionnaires to include multiple choice instead of all essay answers.
2022 – added job descriptions for many races.
2023 – initiated monthly blog posting providing detailed information on varieties of voting issues