NORMAL - You have the power to save democracy. A nonpartisan watchdog group, whose leader will visit Normal on Monday, says Americans should see voting that way.

Richard Kimball, leader of Project Vote Smart, has spent the last 16 years building his group on the premise that a responsible voter is an informed voter. He will be the keynote speaker for ISU's Constitution Day observance.

Project Vote Smart tracks candidates' and elected officials' records, providing information without political spin, said Jan Shane Murphy, ISU associate provost.

With the 2008 presidential election around the corner, ISU leaders decided this would be a timely topic for Constitution Day, a legally mandated event at schools receiving federal funding.

"This group aims to bring unbiased, accurate information to voters. … It's a public access project; and we see it as a way to help our students make a more informed vote," she said.

The organization, which counts about 45,000 members, carries the motto: "You hold the power to save democracy."

Among those members is Bob Bradley, an ISU politics and government professor. He regularly teaches a campaign politics course, and he has found the group's voter self-defense manual and its Web site are great sources for himself and students.

The manual gives detailed information on candidates in five categories: biography, issue positions, voting records, campaign finance and interest group ratings.

"It's 10 different interest groups, and those range from liberal to moderate and conservative - across the spectrum," he said.

Bradley finds that because the project is nonprofit and nonpartisan, it's a good, neutral source.

For more information visit the group's Web site at www.vote-smart.org.

The group has compiled information on 40,000 candidates, including about 200 interested in the U.S. presidency.

All schools receiving public funding are federally mandated to hold a Constitution Day event, Murphy said.

Kimball's talk also is tied to ISU's participation in the Carnegie Foundation's American Democracy Project, and its spin-off, the Political Engagement Project.

More than 100 colleges and universities, including ISU, have taken part in the democracy project, which aims to make college students more civically active. ISU was one of eight campuses selected to take that idea a step further, with a pilot project on political engagement.

Earlier this month, the Carnegie Foundation named Bradley and fellow ISU professor Stephen Hunt as Carnegie Fellows, recognizing their leadership in the national effort.

For more information on the American Democracy Project at ISU, visit the Web site www.americandemocracy.ilstu.edu.

Go!

Who: Richard Kimball, president of Project Vote Smart, a nonpartisan political watchdog group

What: keynote speech for Constitution Day observance

When: Noon to 1 p.m., Monday

Where: Old Main Room, Bone Student Center, Illinois State University

Cost: None; open to the public.