Prepare to Vote

Only informed citizens should vote. You won’t be informed if you:

• Trust the media. Media outlets are businesses that need to make money.  They will run any ad and stir up any mess to get audience. They tend to fail to separate news from opinion from advertising.
• Count signs. Signs don’t vote. Do you really want to vote for the guy or gal with the most signs? Even if signs represented votes, would you really want to vote based on what the most think?
• Trust what a candidate says about his opponent. If you want to know what a jerk I am talk to my enemies. If you want to know what a saint I am talk to my acquaintances. If you want to know the truth, talk to my wife. It might be informative to talk to spouses of the candidates.
• Rely on the opinion of others. Really. Can’t you think for yourself. Be particularly careful about ads put out by groups not associated with the candidate. They may or many not express the views of the person seeking office.

So what can we do? If you get a chance to see, meet, or hear the candidate in person that’s great. People are different in person from their media image. If you can’t do that, check out their website and see what they have to say about themselves. Candidates really believe they have something to offer. See what it is.

Get a sample ballot. Don’ go into the voting booth with no idea about the decisions you will have to make. You don’t want to be a victim of “vote rage” will may occur if you face the ballot for the first time with long line behind you. You can get a ballot for your precinct here:

 https://voterportal.sos.la.gov/Mobile/AddressSearch.html By inserting your address, you can get a voter guide and find out where you are to vote. The site is run by the Louisiana Secretary of State.

Everyone in Louisiana has constitutional amendments to face. This is were almost all of us are under informed. The best source of information I have found is the PAR Guide. It’s a downloadable file that can be printed or emailed to your friends. It seems very unbiased, but that’s my biased opinion. 🙂

Here is what my ballot will look like. Scary isn’t it. I have done links where you can find info about the different candidates and issues. You can get a complete Acadiana Ballot from KATC. There are no links as I have done. At the end I added some races I am interested in but I don’t get to vote on.

If you can’t be informed do democracy a favor and STAY HOME. 

Here are some races you might be called upon to consider:

PRAY

We all need to pray for this election, for the stressed candidates and for our stressed democracy.

Be blessed.

Nick