Candidate Investigator applications were due on July 3rd. Please contact the Municipal League offices if you are interested in volunteering for the 2012 election cycle, or if you have any questions about the program.

As a Candidate Investigator you will:

• Receive training by leading experts about important issues facing King County

• Have opportunities to meet, interview and rate candidates for legislative, judicial offices in King County.
• Meet and work with other involved citizens who care about the future of King County.
• Make a difference by having work published in a format that helps voters make informed decisions.

Who Is Eligible to Become a Candidate Investigator?

If you are a registered voter in King County we invite you to apply! Our Candidate Investigators come from many diverse backgrounds, ages, and political beliefs. We recruit from as wide a range of the county as possible, and we deliberately balance the membership of every committee.

Because the Municipal League's rates candidates according to their fitness for public office, not according to their political platforms, Candidate Investigators are screened based on their willingness and ability to be unbiased in their evaluation assessments. 

As a Candidate Investigator you must be able to:

• Examine candidates fairly and without prejudice.

• Refrain from actively supporting any candidate rated by the Municipal League during the election cycle.
• Refrain from endorsing, making monetary contributions or attending campaign events of any candidate the League rates during the year.
• Maintain complete confidentiality of all committee matters during and after the ratings process.
• Overt statements of political opinion are barred from committee discussions.
• Ask fair, unbiased questions and refrain from overt statements of political opinion during committee discussions.
  

Candidate Investigators with prior close contact to a candidate will be excluded from rating that candidate and that candidates' opponents; and those with close ties to their district political party are excluded from rating any races in their district.

What Is the Time Commitment?

• 2 Evening Training sessions to learn about the ratings process and conduct a practice interview with a mock candidate.
• Independent Candidate Investigation: In addition to the evening meetings, each evaluator independently investigates 2 candidates; checks references, collects information on campaign donors and other background and presents to the committee.
• 2 Weeks of Candidate Evaluation Interview meetings: Committees meet Monday through Thursday during the last two weeks in June, usually from 6-9:00 p.m. Evaluators are expected to attend at least 50% of candidate interviews and must attend the evenings their assigned candidates are interviewed.
• 1 Ratings Final Review Night: Each committee will schedule its own final review during July in order to finalize recommendations to the Municipal League board. Final review meetings generally last two to three hours, depending on the number of candidates evaluated.
• 1 Ratings Review Night with the Municipal League Board: Each committee has approximately 90 minutes to present their recommendations for final approval by the Municipal League board.
• Ratings Release Party: he Candidate Evaluation Committees and the Municipal League celebrate the hard work of our Candidate Investigators when the final ratings are published to the community at large. 
  

 Still not sure? Want to know more? Want to meet someone who has already been a Candidate Investigator to find out what it's really like?  Contact us at cec@munileague.org or 206-622-8333.