Voting Information

Your vote makes a difference!

 “It’s not the hand that signs the laws that holds the destiny of America. It’s the hand that casts the ballot.”

–President Harry S. Truman

Your vote does make a difference--whether in a national, state, or local election. Many races have been decided by very few votes.

·        In 2000 George W. Bush won Florida’s electoral votes to give him the victory in the presidential election by 537 votes out of 5,861,785 votes cast.

·        In 1996 Ron Wyden won election to the U.S. Senate from Oregon by one percent of the vote.

·        Patty Cafferata defeated Bob Kerns in the 1980 primary election for a Nevada Assembly seat by one vote. Her margin of victory may have been larger if at least three of her family members hadn’t forgotten to vote!

·        A tie vote in a 1978 race for the Pennsylvania Legislature resulted in neither party having a majority. A recount broke the tie and gave control of the House to the Democrats.

·        In 1977 the mayor of Ann Arbor, Michigan was elected by one vote.

·        In the 1974 New Hampshire Senatorial race, Louis Wyman appeared to be the winner by 542 votes. But after a recount, John Durkin was certified the winner by 10 votes. Still later, the decision was reversed and Wyman was declared the winner by two votes. After a year of court battles and controversy, a special election was held; Durkin won.

·        Woodrow Wilson was elected President in 1916 by winning California with a margin of three-tenths of one percent of the vote.

·        Marcus Morton was elected Governor of Massachusetts in 1839 by one vote out of 102,066 cast.

Important decisions that affect us all have been made because of one vote.

·        In 1997, just one vote in the Texas legislature passed the Texas Ten Percent Plan that created a more egalitarian admission criteria for the University of Texas system.

·        Women won the right to vote in 1920 by the passage of the 19^th Amendment to the Constitution. Tennessee, the last state needed to pass the amendment, ratified the amendment by one vote.

·        One vote in the Electoral College elected Rutherford B. Hayes to the presidency in 1876.

·        One vote in the Senate saved President Andrew Johnson from impeachment conviction in 1868.

·        One vote in an important Congress gave statehood to Texas in 1845.

Voter turnout makes a difference.

·        In the presidential election of 2000, only one out of every three eligible 18-24 year olds voted.

·        The turnout in Election 2000 was one of the four lowest in the last 20 presidential elections.

·        Massachusetts ranked 14^th in voter turnout in the nation in Election 2000.

·        The highest voter turnout in a presidential election between 1924 and 2000 was in 1960.

·        In 1960, 75% of the voting-age population in Massachusetts voted. In 2000, that number had dropped to 58%.

Your vote affects your future and the future of your family, your community, your state and your country.

National security. Taxes. Education. Health care. Jobs. All of these issues, as well as many others, profoundly impact our lives and play a major role in elections. When voting, you’re not only helping to elect a candidate; you’re also making a statement about what issues are most important to you. You’re voting for your own choices and your own future.

Elections have consequences far beyond simply who gets into office. Voting not only selects leaders, but it holds them accountable. The more we express our values and concerns through voting, the better our elected leaders will be able to represent us. Our leaders cannot know what’s important to us if we don’t vote.

When a large percentage of Americans do not participate in elections, the future of our democracy is threatened. The decisions made by those holding elected office affect us all. Their decisions will have an impact on our finding good jobs, whether we can afford adequate health care for ourselves and our families, how good our schools will be, how fairly taxes are distributed, and the methods to be used to ensure our own and our country’s security. All Americans should have a say in making those decisions, and we have our say by voting.

Voting equals power. To use that power well, we must understand the issues that are important to us and the nation.

Here’s how to become an active and informed voter who understands the issues at stake in an election.

Find out about voter registration, absentee voting, procedures at the polls and where your polling place is located.

This information is easily available on the Internet. The League of Women Voters, a nonpartisan organization, has an extensive, detailed and easy-to-use voting website at www.votinginfo.info. The Secretary of the Commonwealth’s election website is at www.sec.state.ma.us/ele/eleidx.htm.

For information by phone, call the League of Women Voters’ Voter Information Phone at 800-882-1649 or call the Secretary of the Commonwealth’s Citizen Information Line at 800-462-VOTE. You can also call your town clerk or city elections office. Their phone numbers are in the white pages of your phone book under the name of your town or city. Look for “Town/City Hall,” “Clerk,” or “Elections Department.” The phone numbers and addresses for all town and city halls in Massachusetts are on the Internet at www.sec.state.ma.us/ele/eleclk/clkidx.htm

You can also email your questions about voting to the League at lwvma@lwvma.org.

Find out who’s on the ballot & where they stand on the issues.

To find information about candidates on the ballot in Massachusetts, go to the DemocracyNet website, www.dnet.org/ma, run by the League of Women Voters, a trusted name in nonpartisan candidate information. The League also compiles a Voters Guide for federal and state elections that is published in The Boston Globe in October before the gubernatorial and presidential elections. The Voters Guide has information about candidates and ballot questions as well as helpful information about voting procedures.

Learn about campaign contributions.

The Federal Election Commission (FEC) has a website that offers information about campaign financing at www.fec.gov/finance_reports.html. You can call the commission at 800-424-9530 or write to 999 E Street, NW, Washington, DC 20463.

The FEC was created in 1975 to administer and enforce the Federal Election Campaign Act (FECA) – the statute that governs the financing of federal elections. The duties of the FEC, which is an independent regulatory agency, are to disclose campaign finance information, to enforce the provisions of the law such as the limits and prohibitions on contributions, and to oversee the public funding of Presidential elections.

The Center for Responsive Politics, a nonpartisan, non-profit research group based in Washington, D.C., tracks money in politics and its effect on elections and public policy. Its website is www.opensecrets.org; its phone number is 202-857-0044, and its mailing address is 1101 14th St., NW, Suite 1030, Washington, DC 20005-5635.

In Massachusetts the Office of Campaign and Political Finance, an independent state agency, administers the Massachusetts campaign finance law. Its website, www.mass.gov/ocpf, provides information on finance reports, guides, forms and legal guidance. You can also contact the Office of Campaign and Political Finance at 800-462-OCPF (6373). Its address is John W. McCormack Building, One Ashburton Place, Room 411, Boston, MA 02108.

Get involved in a campaign.

You can get contact information for candidates on the DemocracyNet website www.dnet.org/ma. You can call the state headquarters of the political parties to get contact information for candidates for state office. To get contact information for candidates and political parties in Massachusetts, go to the League’s election website at www.votinginfo.info or call 800-882-1649, or go to the Secretary of the Commonwealth’s website www.sec.state.ma.us/ele/elepar/paridx.htm.

Many candidates have websites, which give information about how to donate money or volunteer in the campaign. Volunteers hold signs, call potential voters, process mailings, raise money, help with logistical arrangements and more.

Watch candidates debates.

Presidential and Vice Presidential debates are conducted by the Commission on Presidential Debates. The organization, a nonprofit, nonpartisan corporation, was established in 1987. The dates and locations of these debates are online at www.debates.org.

To find out when there are debates in your area for other races, watch your local newspapers and cable television stations for listings or call the political parties and candidates to find out when and where they will be debating in your area.