Research and Course Guides: Voting and civic engagement: Research issues

Find out what issues will be voted on in an election

Your first step is to find out which candidates are running in the election and which questions will be on the ballot.

Minnesota - My Ballot
Wisconsin - My Vote
South Dakota - Voter Information Portal
North Dakota - My voting information
Ballotpedia - Sample Ballot Lookup
Ballotpedia is a non-profit sponsored by the Lucy Burns Institute. It provides information about elections across the country.

Find information on issues

Newspapers

Use our newspaper databases to search for articles and editorials about specific questions. Local newspapers are likely to publish articles and editorials about local election issues. Remember that editorials and opinion pieces are different from investigative journalism and reporting. This does not mean that they aren't helpful, just know that they will be biased for or against a question.

Access World News This link opens in a new window
Local, national, and international newspapers, including the St. Paul Pioneer Press and the Star Tribune. To find other local papers, click "USA Source Locator Map" under QuickLinks.
ProQuest US Newsstream, including Star Tribune This link opens in a new window
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US Newsstream enables users to search current U.S. news content, as well as archives that stretch back into the 1980s. It features top newspapers, wires, broadcast transcripts, along with national and regional news sources including The New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, Star Tribune, Los Angeles Times, Boston Globe, and Chicago Tribune.
Ethnic NewsWatch This link opens in a new window
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Comprehensive collection of newspapers, magazines, and journals of the ethnic, minority, and native press. All articles are full-text. Updated quarterly. 1990- .

Finding background information

Use these links to research background information on topics. The information you find will is likely to be general, and may not have all the details specific to local ballot questions, but it can help you understand the basics of an issue.

CQ Researcher This link opens in a new window
in-depth, unbiased reports on current issues of interest to congress. Includes tables, maps, pro/con statements, chronologies, and key sources.
Issues & Controversies This link opens in a new window
Issues & Controversies explore more than 800 timely, in-depth, and objective articles on topics such as politics, government, business, education, and popular culture. It is updated weekly and provides links to a 13-year backfile. Also included are links to news coverage, pros and cons statements, timelines, statistics, etc.
Gale In Context: Opposing Viewpoints This link opens in a new window
A one-stop source for information on a variety of social issues. Access viewpoint articles, topic overviews, statistics, primary documents, links to websites, as well as full-text magazine and newspaper articles.
Points of View Reference Source This link opens in a new window
A full-text database providing essays that present multiple sides of a current issue. The database provides 250 topics, each with an overview, point,counterpoint,and a Critical Thinking Guide. It contains materials from all viewpoints, including main essays, leading political magazines from both sides of the aisle, newspapers, radio & TV news transcripts, primary source documents and reference books.