Bydio

This is in response to a post on LakelandLocal.com.  I also put this in the comments section under the post to which I was responding.

When I get to the polling place and cast my vote, I like to be informed of what I’m voting for.  Too many times I’ve gone into the booth and simply guessed at who I would like to have in office.

I wonder if many other people have the same questions I have.

I got the sample ballot in the mail… it’s simple, but not all that easy to understand.  One side is the Democratic ballot, the other is the Republican ballot, and on the back is the non-partisan ballot.

Question 1: So does that mean, being a registered Libertarian, that I don’t have a ballot?

Inside the sample ballot there are a few races to decide.  Let’s assume I’m a Democrat and see what I’m offered.

The first is CONGRESSIONAL – only the following precincts vote in the Congressional District Five primary race: 101, 102, 106, 107, 109, 110, 111, 112, 113, 114, 115, 116, 117, 118, 120.

Question 2: How do I know if I can vote for a District Five candidate, or if I’m even in District Five?

Question 3: Assuming I’m in District Five, how do I know what precinct I’m in?

Underneath the precinct numbers we have the following: REPRESENTATIVE IN CONGRESS – DISTRICT 5 (Vote for One):
- Carol Castagnero
- John Russell
- H. David “the flag-pole sitter” Werder

Assuming I’ve answered Questions 2 and 3, now I need to know a couple more things.

Question 4: What Congressional race am I voting for here? State or Federal?

Sure, seems simple to figure out, but why should I have to figure it out? Why isn’t it clearly marked that this is a Florida State Congressional race?

Question 5: Who are these people?

I need to know who these people are and especially how they stand on the issues.  Which leads to a very general but important question:

Question 6: What are the issues?

What’s important in Lakeland, Polk County, Florida, the USA?  Are any of these issues general interest, specific to a certain region, or are there issues that aren’t being addressed that should be addressed?

Sure, one could just say, “read the paper,” but that’s not the point.  The point is on what issues these people who want to be elected will focus, and if they’re important to me.  Which leads to:

Question 7: What is each person’s platform?

This will apply to everyone on the ballot, so I’d repeat that question for each and every name.  It’s a BIG question.  So where do I find out these people’s positions?  The last time I went to the supervisor of elections website it turned out to be fairly useless for this question.  The Ledger might help — either in print or on the web site — but again, the last time I went to check out candidates on the Ledger site, it wasn’t as helpful as I hoped it would be.

Under the names of the District 5 candidates there’s the following: Only the following precincts vote in the Congressional District Fifteen primary race: 103, 104, 105, 123, 401, 402, 406.

So again, I need to know what district and precinct I’m in.

Stephen Blythe and Paul Rancatore are running for this one.  Who are they?  Where do they stand?  SHould I give a damn?

Then we come to COUNTY.  County Commissioner District 1 Universal Primary Contest.

Now I need to know what a County Commissioner does, how that job affects me, and the positions of the four candidates.  I notice they’re all Republican, too, even though it’s on the Democratic ballot.  That could be confusing.

County Commissioner District 5.  Same general questions need to be answered.

Next is NONPARTISAN.  The first in this group is CIRCUIT JUDGE, 10TH CIRCUIT GROUP 19.  Do I vote for this office or not?  Do I have to find out what judicial circuit I’m in?  What are the positions of these two candidates?  Is there anything else I need to know about them, like are they under investigation, have they been controversial in their position if there’s an incumbent, are they in private practice and if so are they in good standing?  All this involves not only what they say — their campaign promises — but some journalism to see if what they say is the truth.

Then there’s SCHOOL BOARD MEMBER DISTRICT 4.  What does a school board member do?  What are these people’s positions?  How does what they do affect me?

Next is PROPERTY APPRAISER.  What is an elected Property Appraiser?  How will this position affect my life?  Are the people running qualified, and what are the qualifications for the office?

Next is LAKE REGION LAKES MANAGEMENT DISTRICT and a bunch of precincts.  I have to know if I’m part of this or not, and if I am, I have to vet the candidates.

Now we come to PARTY OFFICES.  What does that mean?

Precinct 312 Committeewoman and Precinct 527 Committeewoman.  Do I have to vote for this person?  By “committeewoman” does this mean that this is a position for women only, or does the wording only reflect the fact that five women — no men — are running for these offices?  If I do have to vote for them, what are their positions, etc.?

Now for the Republican side of the sample ballot.  We have the same two Congressional races in the same districts and precincts.  However, on this side, there’s a new section called LEGISLATIVE.  One is for District 64 and a whole bunch of precincts and the other is for District 79 and only four precincts. This says it’s for STATE LEGISLATURE.  Why do the Republicans have a Legislative section while the Democrats don’t?  Is it because only Republicans are running for those seats?

For County Commissioner, the Republican ballot has an extra district to vote for besides Districts 1 and 5, District 3.  Again, I wonder why?

Same NONPARTISAN and same LAKES sections, so the standard “who are these people” applies.

For the NONPARTISAN sample ballot on the back, there’s the Universal Primary Contest that the Democrat and Republican ballots have, the NONPARTISAN section of the Democrat and Republican sections, and only SEAT 2 for the LAKE REGION LAKES MANAGEMENT DISTRICT section.

TO conclude, I’d like to vote accurately for candidates I support, but when I don’t know how to find out what they stand for and what their past performance has been, there’s no way I can make an educated choice.  I’m sure plenty of people have these same questions, so it would be great if there was a place to put it ALL together and allow me to find out who I’m voting for.  The Ledger is the only place that has come close to that, but I still found it lacking in essential information.

The basics must be addressed: what is my precinct and district, what are the offices and how do they affect me, and who are the candidates, what are their positions, and are they being truthful.  Along with mail-in ballots and hopefully internet access to voting sometime soon, this would go a long way to increase voter turnout and make our candidates more representative of the populace.