Since The Indy launched in January 2017, we have tried to make politics and government less opaque and more accessible to people.

We have produced fact-checks, in-depth policy pieces, explainers and “On the Record” rundowns of the positions of candidates for public office — plus daily reporting. We have created “tooltips” (aka Indy Fast Facts) to give more information about elected officials, prominent members of our community and a variety of groups, just by hovering your mouse over a name. Transparency is not just a word to us; it’s a way of life.

Today we are taking yet another step as the campaigns speed toward election day, one we hope will be of help to the cause — and a lasting model. It is called Poli Lit, and it not only will provide voters a window into campaign literature in races and on issues they care about, it will also allow them to be part of this transparency effort.

By uploading and archiving — with your help! — mail pieces in races and issues campaigns across the state, we will provide a library of information about candidates and organizations and how they are trying to influence electoral outcomes. We hope to post mailers of all kinds produced by all manner of organizations and PACs.

Indy Managing Editor Elizabeth Thompson and I are partnering in the development of this site via an LLC with Omar de la Rosa, a young entrepreneur whose vision and hard work made it possible. Omar is a political advisor for various Republican organizations in Nevada. He currently works for the Growth & Opportunity PAC and was the Political Director for the Assembly Republican Caucus during the 2017 legislative session — but the Poli Lit site will not be partisan. It is simply an organized, searchable collection of campaign mailers and door hangers.

The LLC is set up such that 50 percent of any future ad revenue — as traffic increases, the site will offer ad space — will be donated to The Nevada Independent. Elizabeth and I will draw no income from the project. Our involvement is based solely on our commitment to the mission of the site and the hope that it may one day become a revenue stream for The Indy.

Because the missions of the two sites — nonpartisan information and transparency — are so similar, we will place a link to Poli Lit in the Indy’s sidebar, and The Indy will no doubt write about some of the mail pieces. We also will solicit your feedback as to questions you want answered about the mailers. We hope other news organizations and researchers will find the site useful, too, and we welcome their feedback on how to make it better.

Our other partner in this endeavor is… you. It’s as simple as a scanner or a camera and a click for you to submit mailers or door hangers you have received. Or you can mail them to us at:

Poli Lit

848 N. Rainbow Blvd. #4253

Las Vegas, NV 89107

We want you to help us so we can help you and other voters around the state (and, as we expand, around the country).

We are excited about this project. As always, if you have ideas or suggestions, email me directly at [email protected].

Welcome to Poli Lit.