Reviewing them before Election Day can help you decide who to vote for. Voter guides provide background information on the candidates and ballot measures.
You can save your choices online and print or email your personalized ballot to bring with you to the polls. Sample ballots simply show you the elections and candidates and any ballot measures that will be on your real ballot. Your state may mail you a sample ballot or let you download one from its election site. The sample ballot may look exactly like the real one will. Call campaign headquarters and watch the press. Sources of information from which you may choose include:.
In a local race, interviews with the candidates can be helpful. For incumbents, a look at their voting records on issues that you have listed as important can tell you the candidates' positions on those issues. As you read the materials you collect, keep a record. Do the materials give you an overall impression of the candidates?
What specific conclusions can you draw about the candidates' stand on issues? Fill in the Candidate Report Card as you gather new information see end. Step 5: Learn about the candidates' leadership abilities.
Decide if a candidate will be a good leader is difficult. How can you know if someone will be honest, open or able to act under pressure if elected to office? Here are some ways to read between the lines as you evaluate the candidates' leadership qualities. Now that you have accumulated information from campaigns and other sources, you will want to learn what other people think about the candidates.
Their opinions can help to clarify your own views, but do not discount you own informed judgments. You may be the most careful observer of all! Review the information in your Candidate Report Card and compare all the candidates. Ask yourself these final questions:. More and more, people tune in to televisions for their main source of information.
Television is a visual medium dependent on good pictures and timely events to tug at your emotions and keep your interest. Candidates are aware of the potential power of television and try to use it to their advantage.
For instance, in a newscast, the picture you see of a crowd with banners and balloons cheering a candidate may have been staged by a media advisor whose job is to make the candidate look good on television. As you watch news coverage of campaigns, be aware of staged events and try to find out what the candidate is saying about the issues. When you watch political ads you need to be aware of how the media influences your reactions.
Ask yourself some questions as you watch. Did you find out anything about issues or qualifications? Or was the ad designed only to affect your attitude or feelings about a candidate? How important were the script, setting and music? All candidates are trying to sell themselves to voters. Sometimes their language is so skillfully crafted that they distort the truth in way that are difficult for even the most careful observer to detect.
On Sept. Right now people are voting without complete information. The California Secretary of State then takes the time required to certify the paperwork. As such, the certified list of write-in candidates will become available September 3. That number will be a lot higher by Sept. Will Lt. Eleni Kounalakis be on the list of certified write-in candidates? No, Kounalakis reiterated to me Friday. Rumor-mongering — Watch for the unsubstantiated statement or innuendo. Have you ever heard quotes like these in a political campaign?
Such dark hints can sway an election, if voters are unwary, long before a fair-campaign investigation or a slander suit can put a stop to them. If a candidate gets away with an empty claim like that, he or she may never have to account for identifying which expenses are necessary and which are just fat.
The loaded question has the same effect. If a term defies definition or leaves out great chunks of real life, be on your guard. Baiting — Politics is a tough game. But badgering and intimidation are unfair campaign tactics. Think twice about a candidate who tries to make an opponent look weak or out of control by harassment until she or he flies off the handle or says something rash.
Passing the blame — When one candidate accuses another candidate or party of being the cause of a major problem such as unemployment or inflation, check it out. The incumbent or the party in power is often accused of causing all the woes of the world. Was the candidate really in a position to solve the problem? What other factors were at work?
Has there been time to tackle the problem? Promising the sky — There are promises that one in an elective office can fulfill and problems that are beyond the reach of political solutions. Examine the issues that are important to you. Decide what changes you feel that your community, state and country need most.
What do you want to keep the same? Which of your interests are served by the programs each candidate is proposing? As you ponder, weigh alternatives. Listen to people on both sides of the issue.
Look at cause and effect. Consider what you have to trade off to get what you want. Evading real issues — Many candidates work very hard to avoid giving direct answers to direct questions. And the candidate who claims to have a secret, easy plan to solve a tough problem is just copping out. Watch out for candidates who talk about benefits and never mention costs or how the nuts and bolts of a program will work.
Do the materials give you an overall impression of the candidates? What specific conclusions can you draw about their stands on issues? Deciding if a candidate will be a good leader is difficult. How can you know if someone will be honest, open and able to act under pressure if elected to office?
Here are some ways to read between the lines:. The opinions of others can help clarify your own views, but remember you may be the most careful observer of all. Throughout the campaign, opinion polls will be taken by a variety of groups to evaluate public support for the different candidates. Polls reveal who is leading at a certain point in the race.
As you read the polls, ask yourself these questions:.
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