Qualified Elector
One of my old engineering professors (one who gave open book tests) once said "It's not a good idea to try and learn anything during a quiz." What he meant was you don't need to forego studying for a test because it's open book. You don't have the time to both learn the material AND solve the problems during the exam. He was right.
How many times have you gone up to the polling location on election day and tried to learn what all those laws and amendments mean only AFTER the curtain is closed and five hundred people behind you are waiting for you to pull the lever? To be a qualified elector, you only need to be a US citizen, 18 or older (with possibbly a few other minor restrictions). But to be an informed elector, you need to know who or what you're voting for AND WHY.
Nowadays, what with the internet and all, you can research your voting options rather easily. We live in East Baton Rouge parish, and our parish Clerk of Court (Doug Welborn) has a webpage dedicated to elections that occur in our parish. If you search for your county/parish clerk of court on the web, you might find a similar page. The very first link on the EBR clerk's election page gives ballot information for the upcoming election. Here, you can select your polling place and precinct and obtain a sample ballot for the election. How nifty is that!
But suppose your county/parish is small and the only person who knows how to do a world-wide-web-page is the 11 year old kid who lives on Walnut St.? This is the case with my home-parish - Morehouse. Not to worry, if there is no county/parish web page on elections, chances are, your Secretary of State has got your back. The Louisiana SOS, Al Alter, has a website dedicated to elections across the state. It's a little more difficult to find, but about in the middle of the page, there is a link to. . .TA DA - Sample Ballots! By clicking on Morehouse Parish, one can choose their Ward/Precinct number and obtain a sample ballot. Ha! Like we ever needed that weird 11 year old on Walnut St!
Ok, now you have a sample ballot on your screen. Print it out. No really, print it out. Now staple it together; you're going to take this with you on election day. Now comes the most important part - finding out who you're going to vote for. For us, we're voting for a US Rep., 8 LA constitutional amendments, and two local tax items. You can find lots of information about candidates at Project Vote Smart and by searching for the candidate on google. For the items like state constitutional amendments, check your secretary of state's elections web page. Louisiana has a page that lists all of the proposed amendments, complete with links to the full text of the amendment and voting history (how state representatives and senators voted on it) etc. For the local things, the LA SOS sample ballot even provides a link to the full text of those parishwide propositions. For example, if you lived in Precinct 4 of Morehouse Parish, you could view your sample ballot here. From here, you could click on the "Parish Propositions Text" link at the bottom. Then, click on "2006" (after all, it IS 2006, you know). Then, clicking on 2006-11-07 (that's when the election is occuring), you get a list of all the parishwide propositions for the whole state. When you locate the one that starts off "MRHS" (that's Morehouse), you can view the full text of the proposition.
Ok, now you're really ready. Take your printed-out ballot and get a pen or pencil (whichever you prefer) and mark up the sample ballot. Put a circle around the amendment you want to vote for. Mark a frowny face beside the candidate you want to vote against. I don't care. Take this marked-up sample with you on election day. Don't worry, they'll let you take it right into the voting stall. Then your friends and neighbors behind you will thank you for getting in and out of the booth in record time.
By all means, know who and/or what you're voting for AND WHY come November 7th. It's not a good idea to try and learn anything behind the curtain.
How many times have you gone up to the polling location on election day and tried to learn what all those laws and amendments mean only AFTER the curtain is closed and five hundred people behind you are waiting for you to pull the lever? To be a qualified elector, you only need to be a US citizen, 18 or older (with possibbly a few other minor restrictions). But to be an informed elector, you need to know who or what you're voting for AND WHY.
Nowadays, what with the internet and all, you can research your voting options rather easily. We live in East Baton Rouge parish, and our parish Clerk of Court (Doug Welborn) has a webpage dedicated to elections that occur in our parish. If you search for your county/parish clerk of court on the web, you might find a similar page. The very first link on the EBR clerk's election page gives ballot information for the upcoming election. Here, you can select your polling place and precinct and obtain a sample ballot for the election. How nifty is that!
But suppose your county/parish is small and the only person who knows how to do a world-wide-web-page is the 11 year old kid who lives on Walnut St.? This is the case with my home-parish - Morehouse. Not to worry, if there is no county/parish web page on elections, chances are, your Secretary of State has got your back. The Louisiana SOS, Al Alter, has a website dedicated to elections across the state. It's a little more difficult to find, but about in the middle of the page, there is a link to. . .TA DA - Sample Ballots! By clicking on Morehouse Parish, one can choose their Ward/Precinct number and obtain a sample ballot. Ha! Like we ever needed that weird 11 year old on Walnut St!
Ok, now you have a sample ballot on your screen. Print it out. No really, print it out. Now staple it together; you're going to take this with you on election day. Now comes the most important part - finding out who you're going to vote for. For us, we're voting for a US Rep., 8 LA constitutional amendments, and two local tax items. You can find lots of information about candidates at Project Vote Smart and by searching for the candidate on google. For the items like state constitutional amendments, check your secretary of state's elections web page. Louisiana has a page that lists all of the proposed amendments, complete with links to the full text of the amendment and voting history (how state representatives and senators voted on it) etc. For the local things, the LA SOS sample ballot even provides a link to the full text of those parishwide propositions. For example, if you lived in Precinct 4 of Morehouse Parish, you could view your sample ballot here. From here, you could click on the "Parish Propositions Text" link at the bottom. Then, click on "2006" (after all, it IS 2006, you know). Then, clicking on 2006-11-07 (that's when the election is occuring), you get a list of all the parishwide propositions for the whole state. When you locate the one that starts off "MRHS" (that's Morehouse), you can view the full text of the proposition.
Ok, now you're really ready. Take your printed-out ballot and get a pen or pencil (whichever you prefer) and mark up the sample ballot. Put a circle around the amendment you want to vote for. Mark a frowny face beside the candidate you want to vote against. I don't care. Take this marked-up sample with you on election day. Don't worry, they'll let you take it right into the voting stall. Then your friends and neighbors behind you will thank you for getting in and out of the booth in record time.
By all means, know who and/or what you're voting for AND WHY come November 7th. It's not a good idea to try and learn anything behind the curtain.
posted by jigawatt at 2:25:00 PM
3 comments
