Earlier this week, The International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences announced their nominees for the 12^th annual Webby Awards, and MAPLight.org is one of five nominees for best Politics Website of 2008. MAPLight.org, a Sunlight Foundation grantee, is based in Berkeley, Calif., and uses databases to reveal connections between campaign contributions and legislative outcomes on both the federal and state levels.

Why Tuesday?, another site we like a lot, is one of five nominees fo best Political Blog. Our friends at Why Tuesday? raise awareness about America’s broken voting system and to find solutions to increase voter turnout and participation in elections.

The Webbys have been dubbed the "Oscars of the Internet" by The New York Times," and are the leading international award honoring excellence on the Internet. In other words, it’s a big deal. The Webbys are actually two awards, with the academy awarding a winner for each category, and Internet users from around the globe can register and vote for their choice in each category for a Webby People’s Voice Award. Click here to vote. The academy will announce the winners on May 6^th, with an awards ceremony set in New York City on June 9^th and 10^th.

The Webby Awards are also known for restricting the winner of their awards to a strict five-word speech limit. For instance, when Al Gore won a Webby in 2005 his speech was, "Please don’t recount this vote." Dan Newman, MAPLight.org’s co-founder and executive director, promised that if he has the chance to give a winning speech he will say, "Sunlight is the best disinfectant." Justice Brandeis would surely approve.