2008 Voters' Guide Methodology

The 2008 Candidate Questionnaire contains 23 statements for which the candidates are requested to answer with their level of agreement or disagreement. The questions appear on the 2008 Voters Guide questions page.

The Atheist Community of Austin mailed candidates questionnaires to 482 candidates for federal and state offices who will appear on the November 4, 2008 ballots in Texas. All candidates for the following races were included:

• President/Vice President (10 candidate pairs)
• U. S. Senator (3 candidates)
• U. S. Representative (87 candidates)
• Railroad Commissioner (3 candidates)
• Chief Justice, Supreme Court (3 candidates)
• Justice, Supreme Court (6 candidates)
• Judge, Court of Criminal Appeals (8 candidates)
• Member, State Board of Education (17 candidates)
• State Senator (39 candidates)
• State Representative (306 candidates)

Candiate information was gathered from the Texas Secretary of State's candidate lists.

Questionnaires were mailed first-class from post offices in Austin, Texas with postmarks of September 17, 2008 and September 18, 2008. For the convenience of the candidates, stamped return envelopes wer included in the mailing.

All questionnaires returned to the ACA by October 11, 2008, have been included in the October 13, 2008 posting. The posting indicates a lack of response, if the candidate did not return the questionnaire. Early voting begins October 20, 2008.

For all questionnaires not included in the initial posting, a second (final) posting may be made after the November 4, 2008 election. This protocol inhibits late-responding candidates from gaining an advantage over their early-responding competitors.