Archive of Campaign Promises Now Available Online

Nonpartisan resource provides new accountability tool for voters

Sacramento -- Do politicians keep their campaign promises? Now California voters have a way to find out. Today the California Voter Foundation launched a new "Archive of Campaign Promises" on its web site, at:

http://www.calvoter.org/2000/promises

The archive features campaign promises -- also called campaign statements, agendas, issue positions, and platforms -- from state and federal politicians who sought and won election to the most competitive legislative and congressional seats in California's 2000 general election. Promises were collected from the candidates' web sites before election day, and are now archived on the calvoter.org web site.

"The Archive of Campaign Promises will help voters better track the performance of their elected representatives," said Kim Alexander, President of the California Voter Foundation (CVF). "While most serious candidates for public office now produce and maintain campaign web sites, these sites are often taken down or altered immediately after an election. The California Voter Foundation is using the Internet to preserve campaign promises so voters can do a better job when judging their representatives' performance and deciding who they should vote for in the next election."

The archive includes promises made on seven"quality of life" issues identified as issues of key concern to Californians though polls and surveys conducted by the California 2000 Project, sponsored by The James Irvine Foundation and the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation. These seven issues include: affordable housing; clean air and water; jobs and the economy; neighborhoods; parks and open space; schools and education; and traffic and transportation.

The archive features promises on these seven issues from 31 elected officials who ran in contested races in 2000, including 16 state legislators and 15 congressional representatives. CVF plans to expand the archive in future elections to include more candidates, contests and issues.

CVF's Archive of Campaign Promises is made possible by a grant from The James Irvine Foundation. The California Voter Foundation is a nonprofit, nonpartisan 501(c)(3) organization dedicated to advancing new technology to improve democracy. More information about CVF and its archive project is available online at http://www.calvoter.org.

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This page was first published on June 25, 2001 | Last updated on June 25, 2001
copyright 1994 - 2000, California Voter Foundation. All rights reserved.