You enter the booth. You jubilantly press the button for your candidate of choice for President and Vice President of the United States of America. Hooray! You voted! Super! Hold on...oh dear...who are these other people on the ballot? Hmmm...which button to push. Eeny, meeny, miney, moe...
Many voters, caught up in the glitz and glamour of the presidential election, overlook the fact that there are candidates up for election (or re-election) in their very own neighborhoods. Many of these candidates don't have enough funding to make their campaigns very visible to their districts. But state and local issues remain just as important as federal issues, if not more so because we can make a bigger impact locally than nationally.
I’m sure that very many bloggers on ProgressiveU are already knowledgeable about their state/local governance. But perhaps it is new to some of you. Or, perhaps you know of someone who might appreciate the information.
So here is some information to hopefully help you press the right buttons:
The best route is to check your voter registration card for your local Supervisor or Board of Elections webpage.
If you can't find this, try going to Votesmart.org and under "Officials" you have the option to search for your state or local officers. Information about which state/local offices are open for election and the candidates might be found on this webpage. There might even be a link to your local Supervisor/Board of Elections webpage, for additional information.
Referring to your voter's registration card will tell you which state and local district offices you are eligible to vote for.
If you have never heard of your current state/local representatives here is the time to learn all you can about them and their respective records to see how they help or hurt you.
Anyone who knows an easier way or has tips to add, please do so. Let’s be proud, loud, and informed!
Cheers, all.
SInce this would be my first time ever voting( i'm 18) i had no idea that local and state names would also be on the ballot with the presidental names. I thought the dates were completely separate. thanks for the heads up.
Every election you will find that the most important candidates to you will be those who affect where you are living, costs for college, the economy, the military, health care, and jobs. This election, the president/vice-presidential selections have become the most important because of the state of this country.
Trust me. Each time you vote, there will be a referendum on the ballot that you never heard of, a judge running for re-election that you may never have heard of, county officials whose names you may never see anywhere else but on a ballot, and many names that will forever be unfamiliar to you unless there is a major crisis, a bill to be passed, photo ops with other officials for a big project, or an investigation into corruption.
I have been voting for a little while now and each time there are names of people that I do not recognize. Do not feel bad. As long as you vote, you will encounter this.
Know your mayor, your alderman, your state representative, your senator, our president and vice-president and you should be fine. You have time to learn and investigate the rest of them.
Keep exercising your right to vote!
"But state and local issues remain just as important as federal issues, if not more so because we can make a bigger impact locally than nationally."
Greatest blog I've read this year. Easily. I've been making this point over and over in comments, but haven't had a chance to write the blog.
Actually when I voted early in Montana on October 6th, a few people I was waiting alongside in line said they couldn't name a local candidate. That's UGLY! I can't think of many undemocratic things as repulsive as that. Do your best, elt, to make the point to your friends. Keep up the good fight--public work begins at the local level.
my documentary...
"some folks say that a hippie won't steal,
but I caught three in my corn field"
--John Hartford
Now I don't have to! I've been planning to write a similar one, but you beat me to it.
Nice work!
:yay:
"Never go with a hippy to a second location."
~Jack Donaghy
http://www.progressiveu.org/blog/ediblewoman
I don't plan on living in this location for the rest of my life. (in fact I'll be here for 3 years tops) Is it worth my time to take away from studying and normal life maintenance to look this stuff up?
-----
"As for me, all I know is that I know nothing."-Socrates
"Better to illuminate than merely to shine, to deliver to others contemplated truths than merely to
contemplate."- Saint Thomas Aquinas
Only if you want to be called a 'citizen' by politicians. A wise man once wrote me a letter--he had much to say, but I liked this passage especially.
In America, people and corporations with money and power have gamed the system and the democracy rots from the inside out, led by ineffectual weasels and populated by sedated, disillusioned, materialist, fearful residents. I can’t even call them citizens. People should be referred to as “folks” like the Mayor does, because they have abandoned what it means to be a citizen in a representative democracy. Our leaders do not want us to be citizens, they want us to be voters they can manipulate with fear. They WANT us to be “folks.” If a politician refers to you as one of the “folks,” punch him in the nose.
my documentary...
"some folks say that a hippie won't steal,
but I caught three in my corn field"
--John Hartford
This is a great post : )
You are the only person who can judge your priorities. If you have a busy schedule, working and going to school, don't feel too guilty.
I would suggest using these next few years as a learning curve and exploring your state/local officers' websites and state constitution on your downtime, just to get your feet wet. Even if you don't plan on staying in that location, this early research will provide you with knowledge you can take anywhere.
So when you finally can devote your energies to getting involved locally you will be a superstar because you will already be familiar with the general process!
It's for this reason that I love love love that I have to voted by absentee ballot. That way, I can research candidates as I'm voting. If your state does not require a reason for absentee voting, I strongly recommend it.
--Mike
I wanted to avoid the hassle of having to apply for and fill out an absentee ballot, so I re-registered as a resident of the municipality my college was in. Unfortunately, I didn't even think of my own local officials back home- they're the officials I've known all my life, and now I'm stuck with voting for local officials I'm not familiar with whatsoever. That's the problem with voting locally in college- you're technically a resident of that area, but it's not the "home" you know. If I had realized that, I would have stuck with the absentee ballot. I really like some of the local guys back where I'm from, too...
That's a great point. I hadn't thought of that at all. Suppose if you were to get an absentee like embryo said and gain a better sense of the place you're in by researching the new local?
The point is, despite our country's commitment to making the voting process easy, it will always require the efforts of citizens to get to the booth or fill out paperwork for an absentee. I submit that this is the way it should be as a citizen. We have to work for the commonwealth and for the people who will represent us in this layered cake of political offices.
my documentary...
"some folks say that a hippie won't steal,
but I caught three in my corn field"
--John Hartford
There's also the issue of local ballot initiatives (referenda and the like). If you're voting absentee, you get to vote on those back home and if you're voting at your college, they're for wherever your college is.
--Mike
This is actually very helpful. Thanks! C
I think some people don't realize just how easy it is to vote. I volunteered at my local democratic headquarters all of this summer, and registered several new voters in the process. All it takes is your name, your birthdate, and EITHER your social security number or drivers license number. Just ONE of those. Although I think its too late now to vote before the Nov. 4th date. But for people like me who won't be 18 before the upcoming presidential election, its good information to have. You can also register when you are seventeen, so if your birthday is right before the election you are set to vote. I'm a registered voter...at seventeen!
Good blog to put up right before elections. Although I'll just say that in my city particularily, incumbents always win. We'll have the same governor, delegates, and mayor until they either retire or die in office, and that's no lie. :D It's great to know who's on the ballots though.
I just wrote an essay for my English class on this exact topic (after a woman tried to explain to me that Sarah Palin was up for election for the city council).
Great blog, by the way.
-acertainsaint-
Post it and send me a link, brotherman.
my documentary...
"some folks say that a hippie won't steal,
but I caught three in my corn field"
--John Hartford
Shameless promotion of my blog on the same topic
-acertainsaint-
I already voted and although I knew most of the candidates on the ballot, I think voters, especially first time voters should really read up on various issues that are going to be on the ballot such as road bonds and library bonds that you can usually find in the voters guide manual at your local clerk office. When I went into the polls for early voting, I was faced with knowing nothing about the various local bonds and policies that were placed on the ballot and I had this sudden urge just to place yes all the way through, but was afraid that putting a yes on this certain bond would cause destruction in the future. I didn't know what to do, so I played eeney meenie miney moe...stupid uneducated voting, but what else could someone do right? anyway, thanks for writing this blog, I'm hoping others will read up on what and who they are voting for before heading to the polls.
Although I expected to see all the other names on the ballot, I was shocked to have to vote yes or no to what seemed like 1000 judges. Who are these people? I felt like I had not done my civic duty by researching the good ones/bad ones. But with all the propaganda and negative campaigning, I guess it would be hard to figure that out in the first place...
The League of Women Voters makes it pretty easy to figure out who all the people running are. They have information on their websites (at all the different chapters) about everyone running and all the ballot measures. Next go round, just search for League of Women Voter [your city name].
"Never go with a hippy to a second location."
~Jack Donaghy
http://www.progressiveu.org/blog/ediblewoman
You get to vote for judges? No fair!
--Mike
I had no idea! Is it uncommon to vote for judges?
Actually, I should really look into this. My partner's stepmother recently sued the Bush administration and a whole bunch of law enforcement agencies for strip searching her at a Bush rally in 2004. (She was holding a piece of notebook paper that read, "Bad war, no more" and they decided she was threat to homeland security). The judge in the case just overruled a jury verdict and made her retry the case again and again until the judge got the verdict she was looking for. By all reports this judge was an appointed friend of Laura Bush. The only fact I have been able to verify about the relationship is that the judge was appointed. Still, suspect, don't you think?
"Never go with a hippy to a second location."
~Jack Donaghy
http://www.progressiveu.org/blog/ediblewoman
I've never seen a Jersey ballot with judges on it. Plenty of state, county and local seats including sheriff, though.
--Mike
We vote for whether or not to retain judges; we don't elect the judges in, just decide whether to keep them or not. In the booklet they send out across the state, they give a page to each judge about whether lawyers and the general public have said whether they think the judge should be retained. Most are up in the 90%s.
~C
Check out the latest entry in the Between The Lines column!
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Even though I couldn't vote, I looked at a sample ballot and saw the same issue. However, I knew alot of the extra people on the ballot. I didn't know them because I was informed on their causes, I knew by their ads. I think if a sheriff or coroner is running for their position, they need to get their names out so on election day people won't be saying "Who is this Bozo." I loved that you addressed this.
Bow.
Why?
Because SIR TRIP said so!