Web site offers multitude of info to inform voters
Posted: 08.08.08
ORLANDO | The candidates have spoken and one Web site, sponsored by the Florida’s Catholic bishops, offers ways for voters to hear what the candidates have to say on issues of importance to Catholics.
Voters are encouraged to visit www.informedcatholicvoter.com before they fill out a primary ballot for the Aug. 26 election.
Since July, the Florida Catholic, in conjunction with the Florida Catholic Conference, the Florida Council of Catholic Women and the Florida State Knights of Columbus, have worked to gain responses to a 10–question survey from candidates for the offices of state representative and senate, and the U.S. House of Representatives. Through a letter campaign and personal phone calls, as of Aug. 8, 50 percent of the 166 candidates involved in a primary election for those three offices responded to the questionnaire.
“We are delighted with the response rate,” said Michael McCarron, executive director of the Florida Catholic Conference. “Our volunteer callers did a marvelous job encouraging our candidates to answer the questionnaire. That, along with the online accessibility for candidates, enhanced our efforts to garner responses.”
Responses to the questionnaire are printed in the Aug. 15 edition of the Florida Catholic and will be made available for parish bulletins but, the Web site — www.informedcatholicvoter.com — offers visitors additional information beyond the “support” and “oppose” responses.
This year, candidates were offered the opportunity to comment on each of the 10 questions if they responded online. These comments are available only online. For those candidates who have responded, visitors can also find contact information for the candidates, including phone numbers and Web site addresses, to learn more about their campaigns.
“The Web site is user–friendly and just offers so much more for voters,” said Chris Gunty, associate publisher of the Florida Catholic. “We realize that not everyone might have access to the Internet, which is why we still will print our responses in the newspaper and offer them for parish bulletins. But in this day and age, we have to use the Web site to our full potential. And we encourage voters who might not have online access at home to go to a friend’s house or go to their local public library to take a few minutes to use this site. We are proud of all the information it offers.”
The Web site will continue to be available through the Nov. 4 general election. Responses are available in real time, meaning once a candidate’s information is input, it is available for view immediately.
“A candidate who had not previously responded yesterday might have today, so voters are encouraged to continue to see if their candidates have responded,” McCarron said. “That’s the beauty of the online presence. Voters can continue to gather information at their convenience and up to the last minute of voting.”
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