Editing Vote Smart (section)

==History==
In 1986, [[Richard Kimball]] ran unsuccessfully for one of Arizona's two U.S. Senate seats. In a candidates' debate, he described the campaign process to prospective voters:

{{blockquote|Understand what we do to you. We spend all of our time raising money, often from strangers we do not even know. Then we spend it in three specific ways: First we measure you, what it is you want to purchase in the political marketplace—just like Campbell's soup or Kellogg's cereal. Next, we hire some consultants who know how to tailor our image to fit what we sell. Lastly, we bombard you with the meaningless, issueless, emotional nonsense that is always the result. And whichever one of us does that best will win.<ref name="Stateman">{{cite news |author=Editorial Board|title=Voting time approaches; do your homework|url=http://www.statesman.com/opinion/voting-time-approaches-do-your-homework-936143.html|access-date=June 23, 2011|newspaper=Austin American Statesman|date=September 24, 2010}}</ref>}}

Kimball used this philosophy to found Vote Smart in 1992.<ref name="Stateman"/> His founding board included Presidents [[Jimmy Carter]] (D) and [[Gerald Ford]] (R), plus Republican U.S. Senator [[Barry Goldwater]] and Democratic U.S. Senators [[George McGovern]] and [[William Proxmire]] as well as other nationally known figures.<ref name=Stateman/><ref>{{cite web|title=Vote Smart Board|url=https://votesmart.org/about/board|website=Vote Smart|access-date=June 21, 2016}}</ref>

Originally based at [[Oregon State University]] in Corvallis, Oregon, PVS established its headquarters and research center in 1999 at the Great Divide Ranch near [[Philipsburg, Montana]]. In 2006, Vote Smart added a branch at The [[University of Arizona]] in Tucson, Arizona. Coincident with this move, Vote Smart gave its president Richard Kimball a pay increase that was criticized by some alumni and contributed to a reduction in its [[Charity Navigator]] score.<ref>Duganz, Patrick. [http://missoulanews.bigskypress.com/missoula/raising-richard/Content?oid=1139146 "Raising Richard: Breaking the pay scale at Vote Smart"]. [[Missoula Independent]]. August 30, 2007.</ref> In December 2010, the Tucson office was closed in preparation for two new satellite research offices. The reason for the closure of the Tucson branch was also related to the university's budget cuts, which eliminated Vote Smart's "rent-free space at a 1,500- square-foot house off the main campus."<ref>{{cite news|title=Project Vote Smart, a voter-aid group, leaving UA|url=http://azstarnet.com/news/local/govt-and-politics/elections/article_9418d2ca-907c-583d-9035-fbe8ab813d08.html|newspaper=Arizona Daily Star}}</ref>

In January 2011, Vote Smart moved its Key Votes Department and Political Courage Test Department to facilities offered by both the [[University of Texas at Austin]] and the [[University of Southern California]].<ref>{{cite news|last=Weinraub|first=Dara|url=http://dailytrojan.com/2011/01/20/project-vote-smart-comes-to-campus/|newspaper=Daily Trojan|date=January 20, 2011|title=Project Vote Smart comes to campus}}</ref> Vote Smart has since left the University of Southern California and moved its Political Courage Department to its Montana research center.

In March 2014, Vote Smart laid off six employees, citing financial difficulties. A seventh employee quit because of the sudden layoffs.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Erickson|first1=David|title=Project Vote Smart lays off 6, considers closing|url=http://missoulian.com/news/local/project-vote-smart-lays-off-considers-closing/article_0ec6e3b0-b169-11e3-95b7-001a4bcf887a.html|access-date=November 16, 2015|publisher=The Missoulian|date=March 22, 2014}}</ref>

In August 2016, Vote Smart announced that it would be selling its 150-acre ranch near Philipsburg, Montana, and relocating its headquarters after the November 2016 U.S. presidential election. Kimball said the ranch's secluded location, which housed 40 interns, had caused issues: "We have all the problems a university does with the experimental, adventurous, hormonal torrent that is the young. Only in the wilderness such things can become dangerous. Love was requited and denied, marriages were created, fights ensued, drinkers crashed, injuries of every sort, hospital trips too numerous to recall, some to sustain life, and distressingly, three deaths."<ref>{{cite news|last1=Pentilla|first1=Annie|title=Nonprofit election tracker Project Vote Smart to leave Philipsburg|url=http://billingsgazette.com/news/state-and-regional/montana/nonprofit-election-tracker-project-vote-smart-to-leave-philipsburg/article_916f5dd2-8230-5d2c-846d-c1df4cf6fa75.html|access-date=September 16, 2016|publisher=Billings Gazette|date=August 8, 2016}}</ref> [[Drake University]] in [[Des Moines, Iowa]] was later announced as the new headquarters.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://news.drake.edu/2016/12/12/vote-smart-to-relocate-to-drake-university-in-des-moines/|title=Vote Smart to relocate to Drake University in Des Moines|date=12 December 2016}}</ref>