Originally Published: September 3, 2013
Election resource empowers voters, holds candidates accountable
Citizens Union today announces the publication of its 2013 Primary Election Voters Directory, an online resource containing comprehensive nonpartisan information regarding each of the 33 races evaluated by Citizens Union.
“With the Primary Election one week from today, we’re making the results of Citizens Union’s thorough candidate evaluation process publicly available to help our members who are party voters make the most informed decisions possible,” said Dick Dadey, Executive Director of Citizens Union. “Additionally, we have posted online candidates’ responses to our questionnaire, making available the candidates’ stances on reform issues and issues of citywide importance, which will allow our members to know where the candidates stand so they can assist CU in holding them accountable if they’re elected to public office.”
Citizens Union’s candidate questionnaire contains candidates’ positions on important government reform issues such as City Council rules reform and discretionary funding reform, election reforms such as instant runoff voting and nonpartisan, top-two elections, as well as other important government reforms. For citywide candidates, candidates were asked detailed questions about their plans and vision for the office, in addition to questions about CU’s issues.
The 2013 Primary Election Voters Directory provides access to the following:
- Citizens Union’s rationale for its support of candidates through individual pages for each of the 33 election contests CU evaluated;
- Candidates’ responses to CU’s questionnaire – an important accountability tool which gets candidates on the record on CU’s issues;
- Links to candidates’ campaign finance filings; and
- Resources to learn more about where to vote, as well as and candidates’ voting records.
This summer, CU Local Candidates Committee members and staff met with over 100 candidates in 4 citywide races, 3 borough-wide races, 24 City Council races, and 2 State Assembly vacancies. This important bottom-up approach allows CU to use our members’ local knowledge and political insight to evaluate candidates not only on CU’s issues, but also which candidates will be the most effective representatives for their communities.