July 18, 2006 > Voter Information Booklet

by Marilyn Singer

The League of Women Voters of Fremont, Newark and Union City has announced that it is preparing a Voter Information Booklet for the Fremont and Union City November elections. The League is extending an open invitation to all candidates and Fremont local initiatives that will appear on the ballot in the November 2006 election. This will be the third edition for Fremont and first for Union City for the highly successful program. In past elections, Fremont candidates have leveraged this extremely cost-effective method for getting their message out to as many as 32,000 households, composed of 55,000 most likely voters.

Many prospective candidates cannot afford the thousands of dollars required for direct mailers to get their message to the voters, and the League's nonpartisan, cooperative campaign effort is a powerful medium for each candidate to get their message to all active and likely voters. Initiatives can be explained to voters in the same booklet.

Each candidate will design two 8 1/2 x 11 facing pages using text and/or pictures. The collected pages will be assembled into a book and will appear in the same order as the offices and candidates are listed on the official ballot.  All participating candidates will share the costs of the mailer equally, and the more candidates who participate, the lower the costs per individual campaign, saving thousands of dollars in the process.

By the close of filing, all candidates will be notified of this year's program and requirements. Those candidates who are interested in participating should return the postcard included in the mailing. The program requires a certain minimum number of participants to make it cost effective so get involved early. Help Fremont and Union City voters get the information needed to make educated voting decisions by participating in the League of Women Voters' 2006 Voter Information Booklet.

To review an example of the 2004 Candidate Information Booklet, visit the Fremont Main Library 2nd floor reference desk and ask for the Temporary File, 2002 Candidate Information Book.  For additional information please contact project manager John R. Smith @ jsmith1152@aol.com.