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For immediate release.
Oct. 25, 2006
Contact: Bryan Warner, N.C. Center for Voter Education, 877-258-6837 (toll free)

N.C. Center for Voter Education Launches Online Election Guide

RALEIGH - As early voting gets under way across North Carolina, the nonpartisan N.C. Center for Voter Education has created a free online voter guide.

Available at www.ncvoterguide.org, the guide features candidates for U.S. Congress and the N.C. General Assembly, along with contenders for the N.C. Supreme Court and N.C. Court of Appeals. The guide includes information on the candidates’ qualifications and experience, straight from the candidates themselves.

The online guide is an especially strong source for information on the candidates for the N.C. Supreme Court and N.C. Court of Appeals -- the only statewide races on the ballot this year. In addition to a candidate profile, the guide offers two-minute video clips of the court candidates making their case directly to voters.

“Our research shows that people are troubled by the lack of information on candidates, especially judicial candidates, and this drought is the top reason why voters don’t go to the polls on Election Day,” says Chris Heagarty, executive director of the N.C. Center for Voter Education. “This guide empowers voters with the facts they need to cast a confident ballot.”

Visitors to www.ncvoterguide.org can also access the Nonpartisan Judicial Voter Guide, published by the State Board of Elections, featuring all 12 candidates vying for the N.C. Supreme Court and N.C. Court of Appeals.

A link is also included for the online radio show “Judge for Yourself,” a series of one-on-one interviews with these judicial candidates, produced by the N.C. Center for Voter Education and State Government Radio. Voters can listen to “Judge for Yourself” online, or download podcasts of the program.

The online voter guide and podcast episodes are supplemented by “Judge for Yourself: Election 2006,” an upcoming series of televised judicial forums presented by the N.C. Center for Voter Education and UNC-TV.

“Judge for Yourself: Election 2006” airs statewide on UNC-TV on Thursday Oct. 26 at 8 p.m. and Thursday Nov. 2 at 8 p.m.

Heagarty notes that North Carolina faces a “blue-moon election” this year, with no race for the White House, governor’s mansion or U.S. Senate to propel voter turnout. The last so-called “blue-moon election” was in 1994, when voter turnout was at a dismal 42 percent.

“While there isn’t as much buzz around this election as there was in 2004, there are some key races on the ballot, including a majority of the seats on the state Supreme Court,” says Heagarty. “It’s vital that voters be informed, and that they get to the polls.”

The N.C. Center for Voter Education is a Raleigh, N.C.-based nonprofit and nonpartisan organization dedicated to improving elections in North Carolina.

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