New resource for voting records in Kent County, Grand Rapids and the GRPS Board of Education

When it comes to election cycles there are things that thinking people should always consider. First, it is important to think about campaign finances, who is funding what candidate(s) and how much. Campaign finances are important for numerous reasons, but largely they tell us something about who candidates will give more of the attention to, along with whom their allegiances will be given to. 

Another important piece of election related information is knowing the voting record of someone who is an incumbent in any given electoral race or for candidates that are running for a different office other than the one(s) they held previously. Voting record help to cut through all the rhetoric of candidates during an election season, since voting records will more honestly tell us something about where candidates really stand on issues. 

At the federal level there is the website votesmart.org. For voting records at the state level in Michigan, there is michiganvotes.org. Ironically, michiganvotes.org is a project of the Mackinac Center for Public Policy, which is a far right think tank, but this resource is legitimate.

Historically, if you are looking to find the voting records of local elected officials, those in Kent County, the City of Grand Rapids or the Grand Rapids School Board, then you would have to look that information up based on meeting minutes. However, there is a new project that began this year, the Local Democracy, Transparency and Accountability Project, which not only allows you to view the voting records of elected officials in the Kent County Commission, the Grand Rapids City Commission and the Grand Rapids Public School Board of Education, this site provides you with information on campaign financing data for current candidates and ballot initiatives.

Now, the Local Democracy, Transparency and Accountability Project only began this year, so the information so far will be just for 2024, but this project will continue for years to come. It is somewhat surprising that such a project didn’t exist before, but now people have an opportunity to look at both the voting records of elected officials and political incumbents, along with campaign finance data for all local races and for ballot initiatives. 

GRIID encourages you to utilize the resources included in this post, to be a more informed voter, to hold local elected officials accountable and to demand more all year round and not just during elections. We all need to practice participatory democracy and expand it, especially since the word democracy means – the people rule or the people govern.