Voters Want More Information About Candidates

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

November 9, 1999

CONTACT:
Cindi Canary, ICPR
312-335-1767

Voters Want More Information About Candidates
Vast Majority Say Campaign Contributions Shape Policy

CHICAGO -- A new public opinion poll shows strong support for a state-funded voters' guide that would give Illinoisans straightforward information about candidates running for political office.

By a margin of two-to-one, voters said Illinois should publish and mail guides to every registered voter. The voters' guides would include statements from candidates and an explanation of how to register to vote.

"Although we're living in the 'Information Age,' it is clear that our citizens don't know enough about the men and women running for public office," said former U.S. Senator Paul Simon, who chairs the Illinois Campaign for Political Reform (ICPR). "Too many voters learn about candidates through television commercials that often are filled with half-truths or outright lies, and voters want other sources of information."

"Negative and misleading commercials and mass mailings are the dominant information sources in elections today," Simon said. "At a minimum, we need to provide some balance by giving all voters an unbiased account of the candidates running for office."

The exact wording of the question follows: "Several states, including Oregon, Utah and California, mail voter guides to registered voters. These guides include candidate statements as well as information on where and how to vote. Would you support or oppose a state-funded voter guide in Illinois?"

Here are the results:

State-funded Voter Guides

Support 62%
Oppose 31%
Don't know 7%

Support for voter guides easily exceeded 50 percent or better when respondents were divided by income levels, race, sex, party affiliation and geographic regions.

During recent hearings of the Illinois House Elections and Campaign Reform Committee, representatives of ICPR testified in favor of legislation to create a voters' guide in Illinois. ICPR, a non-partisan organization, is a campaign watchdog and reform advocate created in 1997 with help from the League of Women Voters of Illinois and the Joyce Foundation.

"We're about a year away from Election Day 2000 when voters will elect not only a President but also will be asked to choose among hundreds of candidates for legislative, judicial and local offices," Simon said. "Confusion about who is running and where they stand can inflict great damage on democracy. Voters have an obligation to learn about candidates before they head to the polls, and the state can get them started by putting a voters' guide in their hands."

Cindi Canary, Director of the ICPR, predicted an uphill battle to pass voters' guide legislation. "Many incumbent legislators in the past have been reluctant to vote for anything that resembles a level playing field for their opponents," Canary said. "However, we hope strong public support will lead to passage of the legislation next spring. In this case, voter guide legislation isn't just the right thing to do from a good government perspective. It also happens to be the popular thing to do."

The ICPR-commissioned poll also showed an overwhelming belief among the electorate that campaign contributions affect how policy is made in Illinois.

According to the poll results, 88 percent of Illinois voters agreed that "campaign contributors representing special interests have more influence with Illinois politicians than the average voter." Only 7 percent disagreed with that statement.

The intensity of that feeling is demonstrated by the following table:

Campaign givers have more influence than average voters.

Strongly agree 70%
Somewhat agree 18%
Somewhat disagree 3%
Strongly disagree 4%
Don't know 5%

"Sadly, these poll results are not surprising," Simon said. "As election campaigns become more and more expensive, the people and organizations donating campaign funds become more and more important. Because the candidate with the most money almost always has the greatest chance of winning an election, some candidates spend more time and energy collecting contributions than they spend talking to voters and explaining their positions.

"We need to lessen the influence of money in campaigns, and we can start by giving voters more information about all candidates - information that is balanced and fairly represents the views of all of the candidates," Simon said.

The ICPR poll questions were included in the annual survey of Illinois voters conducted by the Coalition for Consumer Rights, a center for public interest research and education. The poll was conducted by telephone between September 7 and 23, and 803 registered voters were interviewed by the poll. The poll has a 3.5 margin of error.