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For immediate release.
September 19, 2001
Contact: Jesse Rutledge, N.C. Center for Voter Education,
(919) 839-1200

Center for Voter Education Announces Website Contest

RALEIGH – As part of its 2001 Go Vote project, The N.C. Center for Voter Education announces the launch of a new contest designed to highlight the role of the Internet in the upcoming local election campaigns. Called Surf Your Way to the Ballot Box, the contest aims to encourage all candidates with websites to strive for superiority in the design and use of their Internet site.

Three winning websites, as designated by a panel of academic judges, will be linked to the Center for Voter Education’s homepage for one week. The candidates’ local media outlets will also be informed of the winners. The deadline for entries is 4 pm on September 28th. Winners will be announced on October 3rd. Nominations must be made online at the Center’s website, www.ncvotered.com.

“Since we can’t give away a cash prize for this contest, we figured the next best thing was some free publicity for the winners,” said Jesse Rutledge, the Center’s spokesman.

The Center hopes to use this contest to highlight what makes a good political candidate website. Among the criteria on which websites will be judged are: the quantity and quality of biographical information, issue positions, campaign finance information, access to old (archived) materials, and the level of citizen engagement. Complete contest guidelines, as well as a full list of the criteria, can be found at www.ncvotered.com.

“More people than ever turn to the Internet to learn about politics and elections. By offering a contest like this, we hope candidates will aim to produce the best possible websites so we’ll have the most informed voters,” said Rutledge.

The judges for the contest are all North Carolina political science professors: Ted Arrington of UNC-Charlotte; Thad Beyle of UNC-Chapel Hill; and Walt DeVries, of UNC-Wilmington.

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