CENTRAL SPRINGS, Colo. (KOAA) — Campaign ads are blanketing screens and mailboxes across Colorado, and some voters say they're overwhelmed — but many aren't giving up on doing their homework before Election Day.
Sarah Hagedorn, a professor of political science at the University of Colorado Colorado Springs, answered questions about what candidates and outside groups can legally say in their ads — and what voters can do to separate fact from spin.
Hagedorn said when it comes to policing campaign ads, the courts have largely stepped back — leaving voters to sort through the claims on their own.
"That elected official has to prove that these direct mail piece, these ads that whoever was paying for them, whoever put them out was misleading, was intentionally trying to inflict malice upon them, that they knew it was false and they still ran it. So courts for the most part have thrown these cases out so it really is upon us as voters to kind of look at these and see them," Hagedorn said.
She said even the most aggressive attacks in campaign ads are typically rooted in some element of fact.
"When we're seeing attacks on candidates, at the base of that has got to be something that some campaign worker found that is based in fact. It may be overblown, it may be extra, but it is going to be based in some sort of fact. There's nothing that says you cannot make those bold claims against your opponent," Hagedorn said.
Not every ad is created by a candidate. Some are produced by outside groups supporting or opposing a candidate or a ballot initiative — and those groups are not always easy to identify.
"What comes out though is sometimes those committees are just a bunch of words together that we have no idea what they stand for and that unfortunately falls upon us as voters and then the media to help us kind of sift through that and find out who is paying for these ads," Hagedorn said.
Hagedorn pointed to several websites that can help Colorado voters track campaign finances, including TRACER, OpenSecrets.org and Ballotpedia.
"They do a really good job of kind of breaking down those ballot initiatives and showing who's supporting it and who's opposing it, which is a really good clue for voters," Hagedorn said.
At a Vote Early Rally, voters said the flood of messaging from both parties can feel exhausting — but they're pushing through it.
"I have voted Republican and Democrat in the 48 years I've lived here. I get information on my phone, my email, television. I am bombarded by so much hate mail from both parties that I'm just absolutely disgusted," Jeanie McIntyre said.
McIntyre said it's up to each voter to go beyond the noise.
"I think there's been propaganda on both sides. You have to do your education. You have got to go out and do your own research to find out does this agree and align with what I think. There's a lot of issues out there right now that are very confusing, so it's important," McIntyre said.
Nancy Briley said she took a more direct approach.
"I have met with my local state representatives. I have a pretty good idea of what I'm voting for," Briley said.
Carrie O'Hara said she believes voters are rising to meet the challenge.
"I think voters are more sophisticated than a lot of campaigns give them credit for. I think there's a deliberate effort to try to deceive voters on some of these props, but I do believe that people are more interested in getting educated this time around," O'Hara said.
Watch KOAA's story about the No Kings Vote Early Rally:
