We are just a few weeks away from Election Day, which is Tuesday, November 5. Signs are sprouting in neighbor’s yards, campaign ads are omnipresent in the media, and candidates are making the final push for your support, but are any of these really telling you anything? How do you go about finding what you need to know? It may seem to be a daunting process, so much so that it scares many people away from the polls, but thankfully, the Internet has made it much easier to become an informed voter. This year’s election will highlight state and local offices and issues, and the best website for Ohio I have found is SmartVoter http://www.smartvoter.org/oh/state/. The site was created by the League of Women Voters and is a comprehensive and non-partisan source of information. It focuses on the Cincinnati Metro area-Hamilton, Butler, Clermont, and Warren counties, but there is also an index of all other Ohio counties which will take you to outside links.
There are pages about candidates-from the State Executive level (Governor, Attorney General, etc.) to local school boards, as well as state and local ballot issues, such as tax levies and charter amendments. The latter pages are particularly helpful, as many of the issues are worded so that it is hard to understand what you are actually voting for; it’s nice to have a chance to read them before you are standing at your local polling place.
The website also provides quite a few useful links to media outlets, non-partisan groups, and government offices. One link that many readers might find very useful would be the Tips for New Voters http://www.lwvcincinnati.org/Tips4NewVotersInHamCty.ssi. This site provides information on the basics: who may vote, where to register, polling hours, and perhaps most importantly, how to vote. As the 2000 Presidential election showed, every vote counts, but not every vote gets counted, so take the opportunity to get informed and make sure your voice gets heard.