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Why you should vote—and how to be a smart voter
By Miriam Raftery
October
1, 2008 (San Diego’s East County) -- Your
vote does count!
John F. Kennedy was elected president of the United States by just one vote
per precinct nationwide. Some local races have been decided by just a
handful of votes.
Decisions made in the November 4 election will impact the future of us all.
Nationally, seldom in history has so much been at stake. Our nation
is facing an economic crisis unrivaled since the Great Depression. How
our country addresses serious issues including war, global warming, rising
gas prices, food safety, the healthcare crisis and our economy will all be
determined by which candidate wins the presidency and which party controls
Congress.
The state of California is also facing a budget crisis. This election
could determine whether the future will bring further funding cuts in public
services or a shift in tax policies (including potential tax increases) to
assure that critical needs are met.
There are many important ballot initiatives and local races as well. You
may not be aware that the San Diego County Grand Jury has found serious ethical
violations by our community college board, or that government investigations
into patient deaths at Grossmont Hospital have raised questions about proper
oversight by the hospital board.
Fortunately, there are several places where you can easily learn more about
candidates and ballot initiatives before you cast your vote.
I highly recommend Project
Vote-Smart,
a nonpartisan site. In
addition to candidate biographies and issue positions, you can also easily
find voting records of elected officials and even how they are rated by various
interest groups such as labor, environmental organizations, groups advocating
on behalf of senior citizens, women, children, or gun owners. Not sure
who your elected representatives are? Just type in your zipcode.
You can also locate your elected officials, contact them, or learn their votes
on key issues through our Citizens’ Action Center:
The East County League of Women Voters has set up two websites for East San
Diego County (www.lwvesdc.org)
and San Diego County (sdcilo.ca.lwvnet.org). Newsletters
posted have additional news.
Here is a link to the LWV’s “Easy Voter
Guide” for East County. It
contains key info on candidates and ballot propositions: lwvc.convio.net/site/PageServer?pagename=easyvoter_home
More
good info is available at the LWV’s “Smart Voter” site,
which includes an online search tool to find your polling place and even print
out a sample copy of your ballot: www.smartvoter.org
Find
candidate forums here: www.eastcountymagazine.org/?q=candidate_forums
Many
people don’t understand the very real differences between political
parties. Nationally, politics are dominated by two parties: Republicans
and Democrats. In East County, there are Libertarian candidates also
running in several races.
To read the Democratic Party platform and learn
what the party stands for, visit www.democrats.org/a/party/stand.html.
To
view the Republican Party platform, visit: www.gop.com/2008Platform
To
learn what the Libertarian Party stands for, visit: www.lp.org/introduction/what-is-the-libertarian-party
See
this month’s Media Watch column at www.eastcountymagazine.org/?q=media_watch_october_2008 or
visit www.factcheck.org for nonpartisan
info on how to separate facts from spin (or in some cases, outright whoppers)
in the presidential race.
Not yet registered to vote? The last day to
register is October 20th if you want to vote in the November 4 election. Find
voter registration sites in East County here: www.eastcountymagazine.org/?q=register_to_vote
Even if you’ve previously registered, it’s wise to double-check
with the Registrar
of Voters to make sure you’re still on the voter rolls. Many voters have
been purged and mistakes have been made. There have also been campaign
dirty tricks exposed in some other areas, such as dropping voters who don’t
respond to certified letters – even if the voter is a soldier in Iraq
or a student temporarily away at college!
Never return an absentee
ballot to a campaign worker or mail to any address other than the San Diego
Registrar of Voters. (Some voters have received
trick notices to mail their ballots out of state, in which case they would
not be counted.) You can also drop off absentee ballots at your polling
place, or at the Registrar of Voters office at 5201 Ruffin Road, Suite 1, San
Diego. Absentee ballots will be mailed out in early October. If you don’t
receive your ballot, or have other questions, call the Registrar of Voters
office at (858) 565-5800.
Finally, sign up to be a poll worker! Bilingual poll workers are
especially needed. The Registrar aims to hire 18,000 people to work at
polling places countywide. You can receive $75 to $150 to work at a polling
place—and help assure that we will have enough polling places open to
avoid long lines on Election Day.
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