2010 Voters' Guide Methodology

The 2010 Candidate Questionnaire contains 24 statements for which the candidates are requested to answer with their level of agreement or disagreement. The questions appear on the 2010 Voters Guide Questions page.

The Atheist Community of Austin mailed candidates questionnaires to 455 candidates for federal and state offices who will appear on the November 2, 2010 ballots in Texas. All candidates for the following races were included:

• U. S. Representative (99 candidates)
• Texas Governor (5 candidates)
• Texas Lieutenant Governor (4 candidates)
• Texas Attorney General (3 candidates)
• Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts (3 candidates)
• Texas Commissioner of the General Land Office (3 candidates)
• Texas Commissioner of Agriculture (3 candidates)
• Texas Railroad Commissioner (4 candidates)
• Texas Justice, Supreme Court (9 candidates)
• Texas Judge, Court of Criminal Appeals (7 candidates)
• Member, State Board of Education (20 candidates)
• State Senator (33 candidates)
• State Representative (262 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 7, 2010. For the convenience of the candidates, stamped return envelopes wer included in the mailing.

All questionnaires returned to the ACA by September 28, 2010 will be included in the voters' guide. The guide will indicate a lack of response, if the candidate did not return the questionnaire. Early voting begins October 18, 2010.

For all questionnaires not included in the initial posting, a second (final) posting may be made after the November 2, 2010 election. This protocol inhibits late-responding candidates from gaining an advantage over their early-responding competitors.