Transparency in Government, indeed

According to Project Vote Smart, only one out of 72 Utah State Representatives completed an NPAT, which is a National Political Awareness Test. It lists where a representative stands on current issues. In addition, only four out of 28 State Congressmen completed them. This is either because they refused to provide them or their time to complete them has elapsed. Some of these people don't have websites, which is the current medium through which voters can get information on their government leaders and candidates.

How are we supposed to know what they stand for? How do we know if they will support the things that are important to us? If we vote strictly according to party affiliation, are we simply acting on good faith that they will adhere to the party's platform rather than "repay" their financers by looking after private interest rights?

This frustrates me to no end. This is why I didn't vote when I was 18: I didn't have enough information on the candidates to make an informed decision.

Project Vote Smart (www.vote-smart.org) is a great website with scores of information on local and national government officials. I recommend it to anyone interested in what's really motivating our elected representatives.