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INTERNET RESOURCES
The electoral college, political parties, and elections: Sites to help you through the voting process
C&RL News, July/August 2004
Vol. 65, No. 7
by Beth Jane Toren
The December 2003 Pew Internet Report found that 63 percent of Americans 18 and older are online.1 These Internet users have unprecedented access to information on the electoral college, elections, political parties, and candidates. They can read up-to-the-minute news stories on political issues or visit Web sites that check the facts from political advertisements and candidates’ statements and speeches. They can access historical election statistics and stay informed about elections around the world.
Americans watched their presidential election process thrown into sharp relief during the protracted 2000 election, causing public awareness of the electoral college to increase. Electoral college Web sites most frequently contain lengthy explanations of processes and contingencies, providing examples from history at the critical points. The next most pervasive theme is the calls for reform throughout history, which have had a renewed urgency following the 2000 presidential election. For example, the League of Women Voters “believes strongly that the Electoral College should be abolished” and outlines on the league site the history of their efforts beginning in 1970.2
Internet users can become politically active in many ways: telling their stories, chatting about politics, making donations to their party, even beginning the process of registering to vote online. Most political party sites have two main categories: information and action. They provide information about the party platform, history, and news, and they offer opportunities to get involved in the action by volunteering, contributing, joining, and telling friends.
The U.S. government publishes the most current and reliable election statistics on the Web, including all historical statistics available. Voting procedures for all states, such as absentee voting regulations, are also available from U.S. government sites.
While the international community watches the 2004 U.S. presidential election, the United States fosters democracy throughout the world by assisting in the often-challenging establishment of self-rule through democratic elections. Internet users can keep up with the progress of elections worldwide through sites maintained by organizations that support international election monitoring.
This article contains annotations to selected free sites and Internet resources that provide information about the electoral college, political parties, U.S. presidential elections, procedures and statistics, and international election monitoring.
Newsgroups
• Alt.Politics.Elections. This usenet group provides an e-mail discussion forum about the process of electing leaders in the United States. Topics of discussion are focused on current events. Users can subscribe to receive about 50 messages per day or receive the compiled news of the day as one large HTML file, zipped or unzipped. Access: http://www.news2mail.com/alt/politics/elections.html.
• U.S.Politics.Elections. This unmoderated newsgroup, created in 1999, is dedicated to the discussion of federal, state, and local elections in the United States and their impact on U.S. national affairs. Access: http://www.news2mail.com/us/politics/elections.html (requires a newsreader).
The electoral college
• Center for Voting and Democracy: The Electoral College. A center for election reform, the center’s site begins with an analysis of “How the Electoral College Works  Today.” It emphasizes how the system is set up to handle events when it doesn’t work smoothly. The site provides a detailed description of the history of controversial presidential elections and “Faithless Electors.” It continues with “Concerns,” “Reform Options,” and an “FAQ.” The site also includes two provocative articles calling for reform from Alan Morrison and John B. Anderson. Access: http://www.fairvote.org/e_college/index.html.
• Federal Election Commission of the United States of America: About Elections and Voting. This site includes “How the Electoral College Works,” “Distribution of Electoral College Votes among the States,” and “A Brief History of the Electoral College” (a 20-page PDF document). These are among many informative and educational links to topics that include election results, 2000 presidential primary election results by state, voter registration and turnout statistics, historical demographic statistics, questions and answers about state voting procedures, absentee voting (including state-by-state cutoff dates, notarization and witnessing, when absentee ballots are counted and by whom), registering to vote, and more. Access: http://www.fec.gov/elections.html.
• HarpWeek: Hayes vs. Tilden: The Electoral College Controversy of 1876–1877. This is a free feature provided by Harper’s Weekly. The site lets users become familiar with the historic events surrounding the 1876 election. Users can follow events day by day, acquire a more in-depth understanding by reading the overview, or gain insight into the press’s coverage by looking at the numerous period cartoons (most by Thomas Nast), along with corresponding explanations of their historical meaning. Access: http://www.elections.harpweek.com/9Controversy/overview-controversy-1.htm.
• Howstuffworks “How the Electoral College Works.” This encyclopedic entry provides a clear and objective introduction to how the electoral college works. Section topics include “The Founding Fathers’ Idea” and “The Present View” and links are provided to election sites. “When the Electoral College Counted” outlines the circumstances of the six presidential elections where either the candidate who led the popular vote did not win the office or neither candidate won enough electoral votes to win and the House of Representatives decided who would be president. Access: http://www.howstuffworks.com/electoral-college.htm.
• National Archives and Records Administration (NARA): Federal Register: U. S. Electoral  College. NARA’s Electoral College site assembles a variety of information and statistics on presidential elections, past and present, and includes an excellent FAQ section and a Procedural Guide to the Electoral College. Access: http://www.archives.gov/federal_register/electoral_college/.
• Presidential Elections and the Electoral College. This sub-site is a special presentation from the Library of Congress’ American Memory Historical Collections for the National Digital Library. It includes the digitized “Proceedings of the Electoral Commission of 1877,” found in the Congressional Record - Volume 5, Part 4. One shortcoming is that pages have been scanned and are hard to read on the screen. Links to useful searches for related key terms are provided, along with links to “Today in History” pages from the memory project pertaining to presidential elections and the electoral college. Access: http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/amlaw/lwec.html.
Political parties
Major parties
• Democratic National Committee (DNC). Founded by Thomas Jefferson in 1792, the DNC is the national party organization for the Democratic Party of the United States. Its site includes opportunities for users to make secure contributions online; become “e-patriots” by creating Web pages and rallying friends to donate to the party; subscribe to e-mail updates and action alerts; tell stories or read those from others about how the Bush presidency has “failed Americans from all walks of life”; read a calendar of special events; contrast Democrat and Republican stances on important political issues; register to vote; read about the party platform, the history of the party, the charters and bylaws, biographical information of the DNC leadership; and frequently asked questions. The site also includes a Spanish-language version, photo gallery, store, and job board. Access: http://www.democrats.org/index.html.
• Republican National Committee. The Republican Party was born in the early 1850s by anti-slavery activists, and Abraham Lincoln was the first Republican to win the White House. The GOP site outlines the party’s agenda; provides a nicely centralized news, press, and speech section; offers information about the history of the party and the current leadership; and, in this election year, devotes almost half its content to campaign issues. The site also includes a store, a Spanish-language section, the opportunity to begin voter registration online, a photo album, political cartoons, ways to make donations or get active in the party, and information about the 2004 convention. Access: http://www.gop.com/.
Third parties
The two largest “major” parties divide the vote between themselves in American national elections. This is due to both the election system and the restrictive ballot access laws imposed on third parties. Many third parties have achieved regional prominence in the history of U.S. politics. Some significant parts of their platforms become part of the major parties’ platforms; for example, the Prohibition Party and the Socialist Party of America. Their candidates never won over those of the major parties, but they played a part in changing American politics. In the 2000 election, these five parties had ballot status for their presidential candidates in states with enough electoral votes to have had a chance, theoretically, of winning the presidency.
• Constitution Party (formerly the U.S. Taxpayers’ Party). The ultra-conservative Constitution Party began in 1992 and, in 1995, became the fifth political party to be formally recognized by the Federal Election Commission as a national political party. Its Web site offers ways to become informed and get involved. Users can read the party’s platform, press releases, history of the party, and more. They can also request information, make a contribution, volunteer, send a friend a form e-mail about the party and the site, or register to attend the national convention. Access: http://www.constitutionparty.org/.
• Greens. Beneath the tabs on the Greens site, keywords read “ecology, social justice, grassroots democracy, nonviolence.” The Greens site provides links to its program and platform, and users can also sign up for e-mailed updates on issues and activities. The site provides links to publications, articles, and issues, and gives users information about contacting, joining, organizing, and donating. This site may have the lowest production values of the political party sites reviewed here, but it also offers merchandise. Access: http://www.greenparty.org/.
Editor's note: The site described above for Greens/Green Party USA is not an official political party Web site. The official Web site of the Green Party, which is recognized by the Federal Election Committee as a national political committee, is http://www.gp.org.
• Libertarian Party. The Libertarian Party was formed in December 1971 and is America’s third-largest and fastest-growing political party. Libertarians seek to reduce the size and intrusiveness of government and cut all taxes. The Web site is especially clean and professionally designed. Information provided on the site includes news and events, positions, and platform. At the “action center” users can request information, join the party, contribute, volunteer, tell a friend, or follow links to take action on several hot issues like ballot access and gun rights. Access: http://www.lp.org/.
• Natural Law Party. The Natural Law Party was founded in 1992 to “bring the light of science into politics.” Along with contact information for users who want to get involved  at the state level, the site provides an e-mail subscription service for news and updates and a place to get information on becoming a candidate. Users can also make a contribution, find out more about candidates, and link to “Mothers for Natural Law” to become informed about the lack of mandatory labeling for genetically engineered foods. Access: http://www.natural-law.org/.
• Reform Party. The National Reform Party was officially formed in 1997, on the strength of Ross Perot’s showing (9%) in the 1996 election. The party’s history, as read on the site, is a rocky one, but the party’s call for reform, especially fiscal responsibility, in government is clear. The Reform Party’s site aims at justifying its existence by attacking “politics as usual.” It provides the principles, mission, history, etc. of the party, along with opportunities to get involved by contributing, signing up to meet other reformers in your area, or hanging its printable flyers. The site design could be made easier to use and more professional, and the content is somewhat dated. Access: http://www.reformparty.org/.
Political party metasites
 • Politics1 Directory of U.S. Political Parties. Ron Gunzburger’s Politics1.com site calls itself the “most comprehensive online guide to American politics.” One thing the site provides is less-than-objective (part of the fun of politics), yet useful and interesting, information about and detailed descriptions of more than 35 alternatives to the two major parties in the United States. An entertaining as well as informative take on political parties, the site also provides links to related sites and many interior links to a broad range of political topics, such as ideologies, issues, and the presidency. Access: http://www.politics1.com/parties.htm.
• Political Resources on the Net. This site provides listings of political sites available on the Internet (sorted by country) with links to parties, organizations, governments, and media from all around the world. It has an excellent and up-to-date list of links to American political parties, including some state and city sites listed under broader headings such as “Communist/Marxist” and “Nationalist.” In addition, it provides political information links to oft-neglected (on other election sites) U.S.-associated places, such as Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Access: http://www.politicalresources.net/.
U.S. elections
U.S. 2004 Presidential Election
• CNN.com: AMERICA VOTES 2004. This site’s primary offering is a concise overview of the 2004 Presidential candidates’ views on issues; their campaign finances; position in the polls; and educational, employment, military, and political backgrounds. Users will also find the latest election-related headlines under the “Campaign Buzz” section and university-related political news under the “Campus Vibe” section. Other options for users include choosing among political topics for e-mail alerts, viewing an election calendar, or reviewing the 2004 primary elections. This site serves well as an introductory survey of candidates and the race for president. Access: http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2004/.
• FactCheck.org: Annenberg Political Fact Check. If a user has a question about the accuracy of something they heard in a political television ad, debate, speech, interview, or news release, they can check the facts here. This site describes itself as “a nonpartisan, nonprofit, ‘consumer advocate’ for voters that aims to reduce the level of deception and confusion in U.S. politics.” The site provides original articles, with summaries and sources, analyzing factual accuracy in political speech. FactCheck is “holding politicians accountable,” for “Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but not their own facts.” The site is searchable and comes from the Annenberg Public Policy Center of the University of Pennsylvania. Access: http://www.factcheck.org/.
• Project Vote Smart. Formed in 1992, Project Vote Smart is a “voter’s self-defense system” that provides detailed factual information about candidates and elected officials in five areas: biographical information, issue positions, voting records, campaign finances, and interest group ratings. Covering local to presidential elections, users will find this a comprehensive campaign information site. Access: http://www.vote-smart.org/.
• U.S. Elections 2004. This government publication is for audiences unfamiliar with the American political system. On the site, “primaries, political party conventions, polling techniques, media issues, campaign finance, and other aspects of the American elections process are discussed and elucidated by experts.” The site includes a glossary, calendar of events, bibliography, and a list of Web sites. Access: http://usinfo.state.gov/products/pubs/election04/.
U.S 2000 Presidential Election
CNN in-depth coverage
• CNN.com: allpolitics.com: TIME: Democratic Convention 2000. CNN does an exceptional job of organizing voluminous amounts of information regarding the 2000 Democratic Convention, adding historical information for each of the Democratic Conventions, video clips of highlights from recent conventions, and the entire platforms of the party since 1998. Video and transcripts of convention events are available along with links to archived news stories. This is a valuable resource for users researching the historic presidential election of 2000. Access: http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2000/conventions/democratic/.
• CNN.com: allpolitics.com: TIME: Election 2000. CNN provides election results along with access to its complete archive of election 2000 stories on this site. Videos and photos are available along with a large selection of information on major events and developments in its election 2000 features archive. Users will find this opens a deep web of news and educational election links, like the detailed presidential debate history. Access: http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2000/.
• CNN.com: allpolitics.com: TIME: Republican Convention 2000. Although the 2000 conventions and elections are long over, CNN’s coverage remains a valuable resource for users researching that historical election. This site includes more than 60 audio and video clips of reports, interviews, and speeches; transcripts of speeches; the 2000 platform with historical platforms back to 1984; interactive highlights of past Republican Conventions; a history of the GOP; and fundraising reports. Access: http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2000/conventions/republican/.
• CNN.com: Law Center: Reviewing the Vote. The U.S. Supreme Court reviews the Florida election case. Although suffering from link rot, there is still enough useful information here to make it a worthwhile stop for users researching the pivotal 2000 Florida election case. Background information includes links to briefs, court opinions, and how justices voted. Analysis is provided in stories by seven CNN political correspondents and there are chat transcripts with many prominent political analysts. Transcripts also include hearings and oral arguments in Bush v. Gore. Access: http://www.cnn.com/LAW/trials.and.cases/case.files/0011/reviewing.the.vote/.
Noteworthy miscellaneous 2000 presidential election sites
• C-SPAN.ORG: Campaign 2000. This site contains C-Span's links to resources related to the 2000 Presidential Campaign. Access: http://www.c-span.org/campaign2000.
• Florida Election Cases: U.S. Supreme Court. The U.S. Supreme Court offers all the major documents relating to the Florida Election Cases pertaining to the 2000 Presidential election. Access: http://supremecourtus.gov/florida.html.
• United States Elections 2000. This government site provides quality articles on the electoral college, political parties, the media, campaign finance, and more. Access: http://usinfo.state.gov/products/pubs/archive/elect00/.
• United States General Accounting Office: GAO Reports. GAO reports such as these can be retrieved by searching the GAO database. Access: http://www.gao.gov/.
- Elections: A Framework for Evaluating Reform Proposal. Access: http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d0290.pdf.
- Elections: Perspectives on Activities and Challenges Across the Nation. Access: http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d023.pdf.
- Elections: Statistical Analysis of Factors that Affected Uncounted Votes in the 2000 Presidential Election. Access: http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d02122.pdf.
- Elections: Status and Use of Federal Voting Equipment Standards. Access:
http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d0252.pdf.
Election procedures and statistics
• Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections. The Atlas provides results of U.S. presidential elections to the world community. Data is collected from many official sources and presented here in one convenient location. Users will find detailed information on national results for the major and minor candidates for U.S. President in the elections from 1789 through 2000. Individual year pages include candidates, parties, popular and electoral vote totals, maps, charts, and voter turnout (1932-2000). Also, there are state results pages for the elections from 1896 through 2000 with county level maps and data for the elections from 1960 through 2000. Most of the information from the Atlas is free, but during peak times, some data with a greater level of detail is available only to members. Members are charged a small fee for this privilege instead of viewing advertisements. Access: http://www.uselectionatlas.org.
• electionline.org. “Brought to you by the Election Reform Information Project.” Objective and thorough, this site is non-partisan, non-advocacy, and provides news and analysis on all election reform issues. Users will find daily news updates, research publications in PDF, a clickable map for reports by geographic area (such as each states’ voter registration deadlines, voting age population by race, and absentee voting information), valuable links in the resource library, and places to sign up for a weekly newsletter or e-mail alerts. In addition to this site, electionline.org sponsors conferences. Access: http://www.electionline.org/.
• Election Statistics from the Office of the Clerk for Congressional Offices. This site simply provides official vote counts for federal elections from the official sources among the various states and territories, 1920-2000. All are in PDF, but 1992-2002 are also available as HTML. Access: http://clerk.house.gov/members/election_information/index.php.
• Federal Election Commission of the United States of America: Campaign Finance Reports and Data. This site provides recent financial reports from campaigns, parties, and political action committees. This includes House, Senate, and presidential campaigns. Users can search by parties, PACs, candidates, or individuals. Under “Electioneering Communications,” spending on broadcast, cable, or satellite for clearly identified federal candidates is reported. Access: http://www.fec.gov/finance_reports.html.
• University of Virginia Library: Geospacial and Statistical Data Center: US Presidential Election Maps: 1860-1996. This site provides users with year-by-year maps for both the percentage of the popular vote and the electoral vote distribution and totals. U.S. maps have individual states color coded according to winning candidate with corresponding numbers clearly labeled. This creates an excellent visual presentation of the data. Access: http://fisher.lib.virginia.edu/collections/stats/elections/maps/.
• Voting and Registration Statistics from the U.S. Bureau of the Census. This site covers voting and registration by various demographic and socioeconomic characteristics; historical trends; and projections of the voting-age population by age, race, Hispanic origin, and gender. Users can compare stats throughout time with historical time series tables or follow links to more .gov election sites. Access: http://www.census.gov/population/www/socdemo/voting.html.
International election monitoring
• Carter Center Peace Programs: Democracy Program. Observing elections around the world is one aspect of the Carter Center’s work. The center has observed more than 47 elections in 24 countries on four continents. The site gives a brief history of the political backdrop for the center’s activities in these elections, and outlines its current activities by geographic area for users via a clickable map interface. Access: http://www.cartercenter.org/peaceprograms/showdoc.asp?programID=10&submenu=peaceprograms.
• Democracy Watch (International). This is a relatively new organization, formed in May 2003. With clear goals and a simple layout, they are nonprofit, non-aligned, and purely informational. They put forth a working definition of functional democracy and plan to set up a consistent and accountable worldwide election monitoring system. Most interesting is the “scorecard for democracy,” where users can analyze any country based on a set of criteria established by DW (International) to arrive at a maximum possible score of 100 or minimum score of negative 1,500. Access: http://www.democracywatch.org.
• Electionworld.org. This site includes links to more than 2,000 political parties listed by country, with more than 100 links to parties in the United States. Users can look at dates to see where and what elections are taking place around the world. They can also look up a geographic location to see recent election results, political information from the World Factbook, and information about political parties for each country. While many of the site’s links are to outside sources, they are arranged well, appropriate, and useful. Access: http://www.electionworld.org/.
• IFES: International Foundation for Election Systems. Founded in 1987, the IFES provides election monitoring along with all the accompanying support needed for elections to take place in emerging democracies. The site primarily describes all the IFES services. These include expertise in all areas of election administration and management. Users can learn about IFES’s international initiatives to promote the electoral and political enfranchisement of people with disabilities, activities supporting U.S. election reform, and many other projects. The site also includes an international election guide. Access: http://www.ifes.org/.
• NDI: National Democratic Institute for International Affairs. NDI is a nongovernmental organization that began sending international election observer delegations in 1986. They support democratic reform in transitional countries and provide election-related programming. The NDI site provides a wealth of information about NDI activities and about politics and elections all over the world. They provide a searchable NDI research database, “Access Democracy” containing PDF documents. Information is available by group, such as “women’s participation,” and by geographic location. Other sections include news, global programs, support, and employment. Access: http://www.ndi.org.
Notes
1. America’s Online Pursuits: The changing picture of who’s online and what they do. December 22, 2003. http://www.pewinternet.org/reports/toc.asp?Report=106.
2. The League of Women Voters, www.lwv.org/.
About the Author
Beth Jane Toren is Web services and reference librarian at West Virginia University Libraries, e-mail: Beth.Toren@mail.wvu.edu
© 2004 Beth Jane Toren
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