Candidate surveys and issue positions
Surveys
Each election year Citizens Count sends an issue survey to every candidate for state and federal office in New Hampshire. We make every attempt to contact candidates by snail-mail, email, and phone. Candidate survey responses are the primary source for issue positions shown on the Citizens Count website.
The issues included in each survey are selected by Citizens Count staff based on input from our online community, consultation with experts, and a review of legislation and candidate platforms. We vet our questions to ensure unbiased, simple language. Each question invites a clear “For” or “Against” response, but candidates may also choose “Other” or “Undecided” and write a longer, nuanced answer. We also accept statements from candidates who prefer not to answer the survey but still have information they would like to share with voters.
If you have a question or feedback about our candidate surveys, email us. Citizens Count, like our state government, works best when there are many voices sharing information.
Researched issue positions
If a candidate does not respond to the Citizens Count survey, staff will search for candidate issue positions published in newspapers, posted on Facebook, etc. Citizens Count prefers a direct quote from a candidate as the best source of an issue position. When a direct quote is not available and a candidate voted on the issue in recent years, we will note that voting record with a link to the exact bill voted on. The source for every issue position – whether the Citizens Count survey, a candidate’s website, a debate video, a voting record, or another source – is noted below every position on our website.
