Election Day (Nov. 3) is just over a month away, but what I’ve been calling “Election Month” is just days away, with Monday, October 5, marking the first day of early voting in Nebraska. While a majority of voters are going to vote in-person on Election Day, around 30-40% of voters are going to vote early between October 5 and November 2. In short, it’s definitely time to start studying hard and praying more about the moral choices we will be making when we vote in the weeks ahead.
To that end, here are a handful of tips—certainly not an exhaustive list—for evaluating candidates for public office on your upcoming ballot.
Find Out Who Is on Your Ballot. If you’re unsure which candidates you are going to see on your ballot this election cycle, visit the Nebraska Voter Information Lookup website. At this website, you can plug in your name and county, and it’ll provide you with information about your voter registration, polling place and your sample ballot listing all the candidates and ballot issues.
Review Candidate Websites. Most candidates have a campaign website where they list their positions on issues. Especially on major issues, candidates will typically indicate where they stand. However, sometimes candidate websites can be unhelpful because they don’t provide specific information and stay at the level of generic talking points.
Whether the candidate website is helpful or not, most of them contain a contact form where you can get in touch with the candidate. Don’t hesitate to use this tool to ask follow-up questions or request a phone call or meeting with the candidate.
Check Out Candidate Social Media. Many candidates have social media pages, like Facebook, Instagram, or X accounts. Sometimes these are personal accounts or accounts associated with an official office they hold. Reviewing these social media accounts can help you better understand who they are, how they communicate, how they conduct themselves and what they view as important.
Review Voting Records. Some candidates are incumbents for the office they are seeking or have served in other public offices. If that’s the case, they’ll have a voting record on any number of policy issues. Ask candidates what positions they have taken on certain legislative bills or policy proposals. There are also websites that contain voting records. For example, for members of Congress, Voteview contains voting record information. For members of the Nebraska Legislature, you can look up specific bills and find out how candidates voted on issues or you can research the types of legislative bills they’ve introduced and co-sponsored.
Read Voter Guides. Any number of organizations interview candidates and produce voter guides. These organizations typically ask candidates about issues that matter most to their organization’s membership. For example, Nebraska Family Alliance produces a voter guide covering an array of social issues.
Sometimes these voter guides endorse candidates according to certain criteria. While the Nebraska Catholic Conference does not endorse candidates or political parties, endorsement-based voter guides can provide useful information because they give you insight into how certain organizations view a particular candidate.
In reviewing voter guides, it can be helpful to look up organizations that share your values. But it can be equally helpful to look up organizations you disagree with. All these voter guides can provide important data points on candidates, which can contribute to your fuller evaluation of them and your moral decision-making as a voter.
Read News Sources. Sometimes, local news outlets will run profiles on candidates as part of their campaign coverage. They may sometimes also do questionnaires asking candidates about a variety of issues. For example, the Nebraska Examiner produced a voter guide “inviting all 92 federal and state-level candidates on the ballot” to provide their responses. Sometimes these outlets and their editorial boards may endorse candidates.
Again, whether you agree or disagree with a certain publication, these resources can provide you with more information in your moral decision-making as a voter.
Examine Campaign Finance Records. Where a candidate for office receives funding and support can provide helpful information about their political and policy interests. The Nebraska Accountability and Disclosure Commission has a website where you can research information about campaign contributions and expenditures. For candidates running for Congress, the Federal Election Commission has a similar tool.
Conclusion. When you use one or more of these tips and tricks for evaluating candidates, you are gaining a better snapshot and fuller picture about the candidates you are being asked to vote for. With this information in hand, you can review candidates against the backdrop of your well-formed conscience and Catholic social teaching as you make important moral decisions while voting.
Tom Venzor is the executive director of the Nebraska Catholic Conference, headquartered in Lincoln. Contact him at tvenzor@necatholic.org.
Commentary
Evaluating Political Candidates on the Ballot
September 30, 2026
Election Day (Nov. 3) is just over a month away, but what I’ve been calling “Election Month” is just days away, with Monday, October 5, marking the first day of early voting in Nebraska. While a majority of voters are going to vote in-person on Election Day, around 30-40% of voters are going to vote early between October 5 and November 2. In short, it’s definitely time to start studying hard and praying more about the moral choices we will be making when we vote in the weeks ahead.
To that end, here are a handful of tips—certainly not an exhaustive list—for evaluating candidates for public office on your upcoming ballot.
Find Out Who Is on Your Ballot. If you’re unsure which candidates you are going to see on your ballot this election cycle, visit the Nebraska Voter Information Lookup website. At this website, you can plug in your name and county, and it’ll provide you with information about your voter registration, polling place and your sample ballot listing all the candidates and ballot issues.
Review Candidate Websites. Most candidates have a campaign website where they list their positions on issues. Especially on major issues, candidates will typically indicate where they stand. However, sometimes candidate websites can be unhelpful because they don’t provide specific information and stay at the level of generic talking points.
Whether the candidate website is helpful or not, most of them contain a contact form where you can get in touch with the candidate. Don’t hesitate to use this tool to ask follow-up questions or request a phone call or meeting with the candidate.
Check Out Candidate Social Media. Many candidates have social media pages, like Facebook, Instagram, or X accounts. Sometimes these are personal accounts or accounts associated with an official office they hold. Reviewing these social media accounts can help you better understand who they are, how they communicate, how they conduct themselves and what they view as important.
Review Voting Records. Some candidates are incumbents for the office they are seeking or have served in other public offices. If that’s the case, they’ll have a voting record on any number of policy issues. Ask candidates what positions they have taken on certain legislative bills or policy proposals. There are also websites that contain voting records. For example, for members of Congress, Voteview contains voting record information. For members of the Nebraska Legislature, you can look up specific bills and find out how candidates voted on issues or you can research the types of legislative bills they’ve introduced and co-sponsored.
Read Voter Guides. Any number of organizations interview candidates and produce voter guides. These organizations typically ask candidates about issues that matter most to their organization’s membership. For example, Nebraska Family Alliance produces a voter guide covering an array of social issues.
Sometimes these voter guides endorse candidates according to certain criteria. While the Nebraska Catholic Conference does not endorse candidates or political parties, endorsement-based voter guides can provide useful information because they give you insight into how certain organizations view a particular candidate.
In reviewing voter guides, it can be helpful to look up organizations that share your values. But it can be equally helpful to look up organizations you disagree with. All these voter guides can provide important data points on candidates, which can contribute to your fuller evaluation of them and your moral decision-making as a voter.
Read News Sources. Sometimes, local news outlets will run profiles on candidates as part of their campaign coverage. They may sometimes also do questionnaires asking candidates about a variety of issues. For example, the Nebraska Examiner produced a voter guide “inviting all 92 federal and state-level candidates on the ballot” to provide their responses. Sometimes these outlets and their editorial boards may endorse candidates.
Again, whether you agree or disagree with a certain publication, these resources can provide you with more information in your moral decision-making as a voter.
Examine Campaign Finance Records. Where a candidate for office receives funding and support can provide helpful information about their political and policy interests. The Nebraska Accountability and Disclosure Commission has a website where you can research information about campaign contributions and expenditures. For candidates running for Congress, the Federal Election Commission has a similar tool.
Conclusion. When you use one or more of these tips and tricks for evaluating candidates, you are gaining a better snapshot and fuller picture about the candidates you are being asked to vote for. With this information in hand, you can review candidates against the backdrop of your well-formed conscience and Catholic social teaching as you make important moral decisions while voting.
Tom Venzor is the executive director of the Nebraska Catholic Conference, headquartered in Lincoln. Contact him at tvenzor@necatholic.org.