For Citizens Facts Matter

This is a letter to the editor the League of Women Voters Las Vegas Valley submitted to the Las Vegas Sun:

To the Editor


Regardless of how you voted, we can all agree that none of us enjoyed being inundated by wall-to-wall campaign ads.  In fact, due to the high volume of ads, most voters tuned out long before election-day and millions of dollars were wasted.

 The vast majority of ads came from outside groups and were negative in tone and substance.  According to the Annenberg School of Communications, as much as one-quarter of the ads outside groups ran were outright false or blatantly misleading. 

We at the League of Women Voter Las Vegas Valley worked hard to ensure our neighbors had the information needed to be informed and engaged voters.  Our Voter Guide and sources such as Vote411.org provided accessible, factual, nonpartisan information about the choices facing Nevadans.  

But we remain concerned about the deluge of money in this election that financed misleading ads.  Some television stations rejected or requested changes to some ads containing false information.  We applaud this new trend of stations fact-checking campaign ads and hope it will continue.

While many pundits are questioning whether the $6 billion spent on the 2012 elections was wasted, what we know for sure is that this deluge of money and flood of campaign ads will not be going away soon.  The League will continue to look for partners who are committed to ensuring that voters have the information they need to make their own best decisions come election time.

             Respectfully,
            Sondra Cosgrove
            Voter Services Committee Chair, League of Women Voters LV Valley