Dear Editor:

We are long-term summer residents and we would like to share a valuable election year resource with your readers.

My husband and I recently returned from two weeks volunteering at Project VoteSmart, based in SW Montana, where we supported staff efforts to see that data on their website is 100 percent correct. Because we think their website might be of use to any prospective voter in the upcoming election, we want to share it with you, along with a bit about VoteSmart’s origin and philosophy.

Project VoteSmart believes that democracy works best when individuals make the effort to learn what candidates actually stand for, rather than just listening to their emotional appeals for our votes. That is why we urge you, as voters, to please consider using VoteSmart.org. To guarantee unbiased, non-partisan information, this national organization was founded by politicians as diverse as Barry Goldwater and Jimmy Carter, Gerald Ford and Mike Dukakis, and continues to be guided by a balanced board of directors, each member partnering with a member of the opposite party.

If you want to know how candidates have voted, what they’ve said, who gives them money, their education and background, issue positions, even the ratings they’ve received from a broad spectrum of special interest groups, simply type in the local, state or federal election candidate you’re interested in or select the subject you’re curious about.

Don’t vote uninformed. Go smart using www.VoteSmart.org or call 888-VoteSmart and talk to a staff member who can give you the facts on any candidate of interest or any issue of interest.

Mary Ellen Turner

Boothbay Harbor