Happy Election Day!

Happy Election Day everyone! Election Day is our favorite day here at the Voting Information Project, as it's the day when our information is used to help democracy function. Please do your part by voting, and if you live in Virginia, we've got a handy gadget for you so you can know where to vote and what's on your ballot.

Speaking of Virginia, the Washington Post wrote an editorial this weekend lambasting the State Board of Elections' lack of effort in disseminating ballot information. The editorial certainly seems as it were written a month ago and only published on Saturday, because it fails to note that 10 days ago Board prominently placed the VIP gadget on its web site. Paul Stenbjorn of the Board officially responded in a letter to the editor today.

But the Post's Editorial accuracy isn't our focus. Instead, we would like to humbly suggest that if the Washington Post wants to make official Virginia ballot information accessible to voters, then they should install the same gadget on washingtonpost.com!

Numerous candidates and non-profits have joined the Board and installed the gadget (see below), so what is the Post waiting for? Right now, the Post only has a small link to Virginia's older, polling place-only web form--the same site that they criticize for failing to reveal ballot information.

In future elections, we hope that editorials like these are unnecessary. Everyone--Board of Elections, Candidates, Newspapers, you--can share voting information on your web site or facebook page.

These partners have displayed the gadget on their website (ordered by date of adoption).

• State Board of Elections
• Shannon Campaign
• McDonnell Campaign
• Ward Armstrong
• Mark Keam
• John Bell
• Seward Anderson
• Greg Marrow
• Margaret Vanderhye
• Greg Werkheiser
• Jeanette Rishell
• Paul Nichols
• James Towey
• NARAL VA
• VA-AFLCIO
• John Amiral
• Phil Hamilton
• Working America
• Bob Marshall
• Danny Smith
• John Lesinski
• Tom Shields