CSU-Pueblo speaker from Project Vote Smart seeks to create informed voters 
       
Pueblo- Nurturing a better, more informed American voter is the goal of Richard Kimball, founder and director of Project Vote Smart (PVS), who will present, “Voter Self Defense: Will You Govern or be Governed” at 7 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 7 in the Hasan School of Business Auditorium. The event is sponsored by the CSU-Pueblo Office of Student Activities.

A former two-term state senator from Arizona, Kimball lost his bid for a U.S. Senate seat in 1988 against long-time Arizona senator and former presidential candidate, John McCain. Kimball’s presentation will focus on the role that the media plays in politics, how to interpret and guard against the barrage of negative political advertising, and how to become the most informed voter possible. According to a PVS release, Kimball’s one-hour multimedia lecture will “focus on ways voters can protect themselves from the media manipulation and negative campaigning surrounding major elections.” He also will discuss the “organized process and tactics used to manipulate voters and their votes.” The presentation will be followed by a question and answer session.

Kimball joined with former senator and fellow Arizonan, Barry Goldwater in seeking ways to cut through political rhetoric and hype and supply voters with unvarnished information on the candidates and the issues. Together, along with former president Jimmy Carter and Gerald Ford, they formed the Center for National Independence in Politics, which in recent years, has changed its name to the simpler and more easily remembered Project Vote Smart (PVS).

At the core of PVS is a database of political information, which gives citizens free, direct access to factual information on all elected officials and candidates for federal (congress and presidential), gubernatorial and state legislative offices. The information may be accessed by calling the toll-free Voter’s Research Hotline (1-888VOTE-SMART) or visiting www.vote-smart.org.
 
 
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