Voter Forums 2020: Citations

Citation and the Voter Forums

Things to Remember

1. The steps you go through to cite a source --  finding author, location, publication date, etc, -- are all important steps in engaging in Media Literacy and are starting points to evaluate a source for bias, accuracy, currency, etc.
2. Including accurate citations in your own presentation (written or verbal) is a crucial service to your audience that helps them make informed decisions, AND helps them determine your credibility as a source.  Transparency is crucial to informed and civil discussion of issues.
3. The more accurate your citation, the more valuable it is.
   1. DON'T say "According to BallotPedia."  ...it has lots of good information that it aggregates from other original sources.
   2. DO track down the original source that BallotPedia cited (just like you would/should with Wikipedia)
   3. DON'T say "According to the Voters Guide." ... it is vague, and doesn't help your audience find the specific source you used.
   4. DO cite the specific item in the  Voters Guide that you are referring to  (see example below). And remember, you should research the person / organization making the claim, as well as the claim itself (even if you agree with it), going beyond their own website.

Sample Citations from the Voters' Pamphlet

Example 1: Print Voter's Pamphlet, County Insert.

White, Stan. Measure 26-184: Argument in Favor. Multnomah County Voter's Pamphlet, 2016, pp.M32 - M33. Voters' Pamphlet: General Election November 8, 2016, Oregon State Dept, 2016.

Broken down by color coding (see chart below).

White, Stan. Measure 26-184: Argument in Favor . Multnomah County Voter's Pamphlet, 2016, pp.M32 - M33. Voters' Pamphlet: General Election November 8, 2016, Oregon State Dept, ​2016.

Citing this in your presentation: ex.   Stan White, of Teamsters Local 206, argues that "the current system is unfair to working people," on page M33 of the Multnomah County Voter's Pamphlet.

Notes:  the "Title of Source" doesn't have quotation marks in this example because it isn't properly a "Title". In this case it's a description of what the thing is, because Stan White didn't title the argument he furnished.

Remember that the physical State Voters' Pamphlet contains different inserts depending on the county.

Example 2: Print Voter's Pamphlet, State 

Cameron, Gemey. "Measure 97 Would Hurt Fixed-Income Retirees." Voters' Pamphlet, Oregon General Election, November 8, 2016, Oregon Dept. of State, 2016, p88.

Cameron, Gemey. "Measure 97 Would Hurt Fixed-Income Retirees." Voters' Pamphlet, Oregon General Election, November 8, 2016, Oregon Dept. of State, 2016, p88.

Example 3: Online Voters' Pamphlet, Miliatry and Overseas Edition, State

Russell, Carol. "Protect Affordable Housing and Jobs for More Than 100,000 Oregon Construction Workers (Measure 104: Argument in Favor)."  Online Voters' Pamphlet, Military and Overseas ed., 2016. Oregon Secretary of State, oregonvotes.gov/voters-guide-military/votersguide.html#Arguments%20in%20Favor .

Russell, Carol. "Protect Affordable Housing and Jobs for More Than 100,000 Oregon Construction Workers  (Measure 104: Argument in Favor."  Onilne Voters' Pamphlet, Military and Overseas ed., 2016. Oregon Secretary of State, oregonvotes.gov/voters-guide-military/votersguide.html#Arguments%20in%20Favor .

NOTE:  The URL for the online Oregon Voters' Pamphlet DOES NOT link directly to the section of the page you actually used, so without the rest of the citation, you are not directing your reader as to how to find what information you used.  I supplied the Measure Number and 'argument in favor' information, because that is what you'd need to know in order to continue from the link provided.