Get to know your legislators and officials:

Who are they? Be knowledgeable about each and every level of government: municipal government, country officials, state legislators and officials, and national elected officials.

What is their background? Again, pay attention to the resources available on the elected official or candidates' webpage, official government websites and also those of organizations like Project Vote Smart.

What do they stand for? Look at issues that have come up in recent ye3ars and how they stood verbally and in their voting record. See what issues your elected official ran on. Find out what they have made a specific stand on in the past through legislation they wrote or issues they pushed. Make sure you know exactly where you stand and what you are looking for in order to determine how the candidates represent you.

During election season, you can use election boards to find out who is running. During the legislative session, take advantage of legislators' websites and information they provide. Oftentimes, this is a great way to learn more about them and contact them effectively.

There are numerous online resources for accessing voting records, including:

• Information on who your elected official is: www.kslegislature.org/legsrv-legisportal
• You can search for information about legislators, bills or topics at www.kansasvotes.org
• Information on national, state and local elections is available at www.votesmart.org
• Information about Kansas governmental financial activity is available at www.kansas.gov/kanview
• A resource for bills, statutes and general information is www.kslegislature.org
• National House and Senate information is available at www.house.gov and www.senate.gov
• A great source for statewide information on national politicians is www.opensecrets.org

Information found on this page is provided by www.americanmajority.org