Hello champions of Democracy!  It has been some time.  We're bringing the blog back into business, so let's start with what's new.

Internship season is underway at the Vote Smart headquarters in Montana; more than 40 students from across the nation have joined our ranks to help produce the factual information on candidates and officials that you deserve.

Some of the major projects for the summer include (but are not limited to) writing summaries for state legislative key votes, updating biographical and contact information for each representative and candidate on our site, and verifying voter registration and local election office information.  Additionally, just a few weeks ago we held a civics education conference at the Ranch, which marks the beginning of our venture to bring Vote Smart into the classroom, helping to empower teachers bringing civics education to life for America's youth.  I hope you'll check back on these and other Vote Smart efforts over the next few months.

In Montana news, the commuting staff would like to send a shout out to the Granite County Road Department for scraping our 13-mile dirt road after a brutal competition in pothole dodging this winter and spring.  Today, Americans were able to enjoy an extra 15 minutes of democracy saving action from each staffer who's commute has not been adjusted to the new, more flat, and thereby faster, road.  No one said bringing non-partisan information on candidates and officials to the people was going to be easy (especially on our cars).

One last thing for today's post - if you have a few minutes to spare we could really use your help in improving the usability of our site.  We just posted a survey to collect your brilliant suggestions, so please, lend a hand if you can!