The following is posted from a press release, not edited here, but shared as a public service for those interested:

 

 

 

"Vote Smart (VoteSmart.org), the leading non-partisan national research organization focused on politicians and elections, announced a series of massive additions to its factual database on over 150,000 current and former elected officials and candidates. Through Vote Smart’s Great Divide Research Center:

• The records of 25,000 current politicians have been refreshed with their most up-to-date biographical information (professional experience, educational background, organization memberships, family information), contact information (websites, emails, mailing addresses, phone numbers, LinkedIn accounts, Facebook pages, and Twitter accounts).
• 80,000 speeches and public comments have been added to the 900,000 public statements already in Vote Smart’s key word-searchable databases. They are from the president, cabinet, governors, and all members of the US House and US Senate, as well as candidates seeking federal office in 2014.
• 500 new ratings by special interest groups and over 1000 new endorsements of state and federal candidates have been added to the existing data from the 1,500 special interest groups Vote Smart tracks.
• 1,325 Key Votes have been added, cast by legislators in all fifty state legislatures and Congress.
• Political contributions to 15,000 politicians have been updated.
• 13,000 candidates are currently being interviewed on their issue positions. The results will be made public in October.

Originally founded as Project Vote Smart by national leaders such as former Presidents Jimmy Carter and Gerald Ford, today Vote Smart is the premier non-partisan nonprofit providing free interactive web-based tools to help citizens instantaneously learn about the voting records, backgrounds, issue positions, campaign contributions, interest group ratings, and public statements of incumbents and candidates for local, state and national office.  Vote Smart’s comprehensive research data is used by major media and search platforms including  Bing, USA Today and National Journal, as well as hundreds of universities throughout the United States.

Vote Smart is funded entirely by foundation grants and individual contributions.  No funding is accepted from special interests, corporations or the government, and 75% of the research is undertaken by a diverse pool of unpaid volunteers and interns of all ages and walks of life. "

For more information: VoteSmart.org