Voter Resources

The season is once again upon us when our thoughts turn to falling leaves, pumpkins, and politicians. Election Day is fast approaching - are you ready to cast your vote November 7^th?

To vote in Wisconsin, you must be registered. However, you may register at your polling place on election day, but be sure to bring proper identification with proof of residence.

For more information, see Wisconsin Vote at http://www.wisconsinvote.org/ or the City of Madison Election Information at http://www.ci.madison.wi.us/clerk/election00.html.
Voters living in the City of Madison can find out where to vote at http://www.ci.madison.wi.us/clerk/voter_query.cfm. Dane County residents living outside of Madison should visit http://www.co.dane.wi.us/coclerk/polling.htm.

If you know you will be unable to make it to the polls on November 7^th, you may apply for an absentee ballot from your municipal clerk. Information and applications are available at the City of Madison Election Information site above.

For Whom Can I Vote?

To find out which candidates will be appearing on your ballot this election day, check out the Wisconsin Vote Candidates page at http://www.wisconsinvote.org/candidates/. By entering your address, you can learn to which districts you belong and view a list of candidates for each race.

There are many web sites which contain information on the candidates. Below are several sites which claim to provide non-partisan information:

• C-SPAN Campaign 2000 at http://www.c-span.org/campaign2000/ contains a wealth of information on national and state races including video footage.
  
  
• NorthernLight Special Presidental Campaign 2000 site at http://special.northernlight.com/election/ provides a table of presidential and vice presidential candidates including a number of third parties.
  
  
• CNN Election 2000 Where They Stand site at http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2000/resources/where.they.stand/ provides a point by point comparison of the Gore / Bush viewpoints on many important campaign issues.

Just for Fun

Do you enjoy playing SimCity? Why not give Election Day a try at http://staff.washington.edu/election/. This simulation game from the University of Washington teaches players about campaign strategy in contemporary U.S. elections.

Choose to be candidate or campaign manager and play against live opponents or computer-managed candidates. A game can last from 30 minutes to 6 hours, depending on a player's preferred pace and the level of complexity chosen. The game must be downloaded from web site to a Windows 95+ hard drive.

Written by: Bonnie Shucha
Reference & Electronic Services Librarian
bjshucha@facstaff.wisc.edu