As the 2023 general election approaches for several regional municipalities, Weber County residents now have a localized and nonpartisan way to learn about the candidates they’ll be choosing from.

Terri McCulloch, president of the League of Women Voters of Weber County, told the Standard-Examiner that Weber County now has its own VOTE411 site for the first time.

“The league started it on a national level and this is the first time we’ve used it in Weber County,” she said.

Users can put in their address and it will bring up candidates running for the race or races that impact the voter at that address.

“We will have given them questions,” McCulloch said. “They all have the same questions, it’s nonpartisan, we don’t edit any answers and they answer the questions if they want to. So far, everybody that was in the primary answered the questions.”

For example, Ogden’s mayoral candidates were asked about plans for having the City Council and mayor’s office work together, air and water issues, improving public safety and support for economic development. Meanwhile, Hooper City Council candidates were asked about keeping citizens involved in the political process and combatting homelessness in addition to questions on economic development and having the mayor and City Council work together. Additionally, candidates are also asked for information about their occupations and campaign websites.

The site also has information on voter registration and important dates for the upcoming election.

“This gives you an opportunity to learn about the candidates without actually meeting them,” McCulloch said. “And it’s an answer to everybody who asked, ‘How can we get nonpartisan information about who’s running?”

She said that the service has been available elsewhere in the past, including nationally and in the state of Utah. However, this year was a new situation.

“This year, the whole state has done it — Davis (County), Salt Lake (City), down south, Washington County, Logan,” she said. “It will take us a year or two for candidates to realize it’s a good thing to answer. And I have hounded them and hounded them to answer.”

McCulloch said manpower was one of the main reasons the League hadn’t done a VOTE411 website in Weber County in the past, but she decided it was time to go for it.

“I just bucked up and said, ‘Look, I’m just going to learn how to do this and stick those candidates in there,'” she said.

McCulloch said having a site like VOTE411 available for a local election is especially critical.

“The local elections, in my brain, are really the most important,” she said. “Your vote technically counts the most there than anywhere else. Your vote actually goes toward that person, it’s not going to a delegate or any of that. It’s just going right to the actual office. A lot of people say, ‘I don’t know who to vote for.’ With mail-in ballots, you can sit down, you can go to VOTE411, you can read what it says. … You can look at everything in there and it’s not any party — especially in this one with local elections — and you’re able to vote intelligently.”

For more information, visit vote411.org.

Hear from the candidates

The League of Women Voters  of Weber County is set to host several forums in the coming weeks, including:

Tuesday — Hooper City Council and mayoral candidates

Hooper City Building, 5580 W. 4600 South

City Council — 6-7 p.m.

Mayoral — 7:15-8:15 p.m.

Oct. 25 — Ogden City Council and mayoral candidates

First Presbyterian Church, 880 28th St., in the multipurpose room

City Council — 6-7:15 p.m.

Mayoral — 7:30-8:45 p.m

Oct. 30 — North Ogden City Council candidates

North Branch Library, 475 E. 2600 North

6:30-8:00 p.m.

Nov. 1 — Roy City Council candidates

Roy Library, 2039 W. 4000 South

6:30-8 p.m.

Nov. 2 — West Haven City Council candidates

West Haven City Building, 4150 S. 3900 West

6:30-8 p.m.

Nov. 6 — Washington Terrace City Council candidates

Pleasant Valley Branch Library, 5568 S. Adams Ave.

6:30-8 p.m.

Nov. 7 — Pleasant View City Council candidates

Pleasant View City Hall, 520 W. Elberta Drive

6:30-8 p.m.

The forums will be livestreamed on the Weber County League of Women Voters Facebook page. They are all open to the public. A forum planned for Harrisville candidates was ultimately canceled and a Plain City forum not scheduled due to lack of candidate interest.

Other forums not affiliated with the League of Women Voters of Weber County are planned for next week, including:

• An Ogden mayoral debate featuring Ben Nadolski and Taylor Knuth hosted by the Better Utah Institute and the John R. Park Debate Society is set for 6 p.m. Wednesday in the Wildcat Theater in the Shepherd Union Building on the Weber State University campus. For more information and to reserve a spot, visit https://bit.ly/3PYJY8q.
• A second Ogden mayoral debate is set for Thursday. Hosted by KUER, PBS Utah and WSU’s Walker Institute of Politics and Public Service, the debate will be held at 6:30 p.m. at the Lindquist Hall Building on the WSU campus. The event is open to the public and there are several options for streaming the debate. Learn more at https://bit.ly/3rwk43W.

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