Conceived, managed and launched as a newsroom-wide, digital-first project that also incorporated a wide array of radio interviews and reporting, the voter guide took six months to plan and execute, and generated more audience engagement on the website and social media channels than any other newsroom project to date.
It was divided into three main parts:
Congressional Races: Comparisons of where all of Colorado’s members of Congress and their challengers stood on key issues. We found that information by asking the incumbents and challengers directly through online forms. When they didn’t respond, we went digging through our archives and the public record to tease out the information for voters.
Ballot Measures: We identified nine key statewide questions being put to voters, and deciphered the sometimes dense and confusing language that ballot questions are known for. As well, we answered the basic question everyone asks about ballot measures: What does a “yes” or “no” vote actually mean?
Local Issues and Voter Profiles: Breakout stories on the General Assembly balance of power, various marijuana legalization votes in towns and cities around the state, education funding in key districts, voting process and ballot security, and profiles of voters with specific concerns as well as those who said they were breaking away from their traditional party allegiances.
