With runoff elections next month and elections at the end of the year, it’s now more important than ever to understand the messages and policies of your local congressmen and congresswomen in Texas, as well as national congressmen and congresswomen.
As such, using tools to view the campaign details for politicians you intend to vote for is a quick and efficient way to go about it.
Now what are these tools, and how can you use them?
Dorit Suffness is a volunteer with the League of Women Voters of Dallas who has been organizing voter registration drives at Richland since 2018.
Her goal with the League of Women Voters is to make sure as many students as possible are not just registered, but informed on how to decide who to vote for.
“I see voter education as a measure of our success. How many flyers we hand out and discuss with students. How much we teach the students about voting. I think because we have a lot of people are registered and a lot of people never go vote,” Suffness said.
As we head to future elections, Suffness meets with students across campus.
“I think that’s something we’re seeing, we’re starting to see more students that are engaged and more knowledgeable,” she said.
The League of Women Voters uses multiple resources in their flyers, ranging from election information to online registration. VoteTexas.gov is a notable resource provided by Secretary of State Jane Nelson.
The website provides comprehensive voter tools for the state, with voting locations and ballot tracking. DallasCountyVotes.org provides similar options directly from the Dallas County Elections Department, with upcoming events and information on voting changes.
While these tools are important, there are all sorts of available tools to use to see the policies of politicians.
One of these tools is called the Integrity Index, aiming to shed light on the financial policies of representatives both in office and running for election.
Nico Agosta, one of the founders of the Integrity Project, is based out of the Washington, D.C. With a bachelor’s degree in arts and political sciences and a legislative internship in the U.S. House of Representatives, he used his experience alongside co-founder Daniel Lobo Lewis to highlight financial conflicts of interest in politics.
“The goal of the Political Integrity Project is to get big money and corruption out of our politics. Return the power to the people, and so we started the Political Integrity Project,” Agosta said.
The project has multiple tools in process, with the Integrity Index regularly being updated and a recently released Trump tracker meant to keep track of President Donald Trump and his appointed cabinet members’ financial holdings. Agosta said, “We got all the assets for the Trump administration tracking their stock trades as well. I think every first and second level cabinet member.”
Agosta aims to focus on both sides of the political spectrum, keeping both parties accountable.
“Our organization is about getting money out of politics. We are going to take the path of least resistance to do that, and if that means working with both parties, neither party, a third party, whatever is the most pragmatic way to get it done, that’s what we’re going to do,” he said.
Their end goal is a higher level of scrutiny toward financial contributions to politicians, as well as ending insider trading.
“We really hope that people are able to use it as a resource for the 2026 midterms and beyond,” Agosta said.
