Fall 1996
Helping Voters Make Informed Choices
By Kim Alexander
A few years ago, a voter asked a candidate for Secretary of State in California: “So what’s your position on Bosnia?”
What’s worse, the question came from a delegate to a state party convention.
Patiently, the candidate explained that the California Secretary of State wasn’t involved in the Bosnia conflict — that was the job of the U.S. Secretary of State.
The exchange was an important reminder that many voters — even the engaged ones — are confused by the numerous decisions and offices that crowd electoral politics.
One of the main reasons people don’t vote, they say, is because they are “too busy.” Some political insiders sneer at this response, but government has grown more complex, ballots have grown longer, and peoples’ lives are busier than ever.
News organizations can make the task of voting easier by considering voters’ needs. The first and foremost question journalists should ask themselves when considering an election story is, “Will this story help the voters in my area make a more informed choice on Election Day?” If the answer is yes, then write the story. If it’s no, think before writing the story.
News stories that paint a picture of who the candidate is and what he or she is really about are great resources for voters. For example, I’d like to know what a candidate’s vision of the future is — where do they hope this country, or their community will be in 10, 20 or 100 years? What do they hope to be remembered for? What do they consider their greatest accomplishment? What do their children think of them? Their spouses? Their college roommates? What kind of a community were they raised in?
I’m less interested in a candidate’s position on a specific issue than I am in how the candidate arrived at that position. I want to know something about what informs that person’s decision-making process. Who influences them the most? What kinds of people surround the candidate? Who are a candidate’s best friends? Their closest advisors? Who does the candidate most admire? What is their favorite book? Who do they find inspiring? Who are their role models?
I’d also like to get a sense of how a candidate will perform in office. What makes them qualified for the job they seek? What is their track record of success? Have they met their goals in the past?
Here are a few other ideas to consider:
- Provide voters with job descriptions of elected offices. Voters have a hard time deciding who’s qualified to represent them when they don’t know the nature of the job.
- Let your audience know ahead of time when you are planning election coverage. Many people don’t have time to read the whole paper or watch the news every day. Put aside some space or time each week so voters know when and where to look for election stories.
- Create election packages on the Web. Whether your medium is print, TV or radio, the Internet can give life to your story beyond the day it runs. Many news organizations are using their Web sites to archive election stories. The San Jose Mercury News’ Voter Link, for example, not only republishes election stories on its Web site, but also organizes them by county to make it easier for voters to locate relevant stories.
- Assume nothing. Don’t assume the voters remember your last story. Don’t assume they know who their current representatives are, or which congressional district they live in. Start at the beginning.
- Tell voters what the candidates aren’t saying. Voters have a hard time seeing what’s not there, and they rely on journalists to tell them what’s being left out of the debate. In 1988 presidential election, for instance, neither presidential candidate wanted to talk about the savings and loan debacle.
- Explain how and why election issues are relevant to voters. Explaining the connections between government and their personal lives may help voters gain a deeper understanding of their electoral choices.
- Look at the less noticed local races. For instance, if there had been more coverage of the Orange County Treasurer’s race, the county may have avoided bankruptcy. Maybe they’re not as sexy as other contests, but local elections are also important to voters. If the polls are showing a high number of undecided voters in certain contests, perhaps that’s a signal to boost coverage of those races.
- Coordinate with other news organizations. Elections provide a great opportunity for news organizations to team up and work together to inform their community.
- Keep the voters’ learning curve high year round. If voters are kept informed of their representatives’ activities and voting records between elections, they won’t have such a hard time getting up to speed when election time comes.
Your job is to help us citizens do our job. Tell us what we need to know to make informed choices.I guarantee your audience will appreciate the effort.
Kim Alexander is executive director of the California Voter Foundation (http://www.calvoter.org), and served as the project director for “Your Voices Count,” a San Jose-based civic journalism project.
