by Beatrice Crane, LWVWA Vote411 Project Manager and LWV Seattle/King County member.

For those who are vague about what the Vote411 Committee does, here is a brief explanation:

Vote411 is an online voters’ guide managed by LWVUS, which provides the basic structure of and information on the voting system in each state, as well as for national elections. Each state or local League, which chooses to participate, is responsible for setting up the part of the guide which applies to its own jurisdiction. As the state League, LWVWA covers all the races in the state and thus we have a Vote411 committee that manages our portion of this online voter's guide. For each election, this committee gathers information about all the races and candidates in Washington and puts that information on Vote411.org. We also establish district boundaries on the website to ensure voters will only see the races on their own ballot.

To accomplish the above, the Vote411 Committee uses resources at the state level to set up the online guide, but it also reaches out to local Leagues for information on local issues, as well as for help urging candidates to provide information for Vote411and encouraging voters to consult that information.

The Vote411 Committee has been in existence since 2011, and our membership has changed as some people move on from this committee and others move in. At present, we have shrunk to a core of four members, so we are urgently recruiting! We need:

• A volunteer to handle candidate questions. This person has a cache of generic questions available for each office, but would also work with local Leagues on crafting questions for candidates about local issues.
  
  
• A publicity person to work on ways to increase our visibility, especially in areas of Washington with no local League. We also want to make sure local Leagues are aware of available marketing tools and explore new publicity strategies (such as partnering with media or other nonprofits).
  
  
• An increased level of redundancy through the committee. This is to make sure that there are members who are familiar enough with the current system—and willing—to take over whenever the current leader steps down.

The LWVWA volunteer pool is simply the aggregate of all of the local League volunteers, so it's up to the same volunteers to fill the state's Vote411 Committee. Any League member from within Washington State can join this committee.

If you, or someone you know, may have some time to spare for this work, please consider joining us! Reach out to the Vote411 Committee, and we will be happy to answer any questions, discuss possibilities, and provide further information. Thank you, and I hope to hear from some of you soon!

The future of Vote411 in the state of Washington depends on the continued support of volunteers like you.