I ordered a mail in ballot. Then didn’t mail it in, so now I have to show up. Some days, weeks, months, ok. Some years it’s just hard to survive much less be organized about mailing something.
Actually mailing things has been a life long issue with me. In my 20s my bills were perpetually a bit late merely because I couldn’t seem to stuff an envelope, and put the damn thing in the mail. My credit soared with advent of the internet banking.
Anyway, here in procrastination central, we have finally decided to look at the ballot and do a bit of research. In Ohio, they don’t tell you which party a candidate is with on the ballot. Is that true everywhere? I don’t know. But while I have definitely voted for Republicans locally in the past, I will no longer give any credence to that party. It’s like there’s a giant seeping tumor in the party and they are dancing around pretending it’s not there. So it’s important to know who is who because I’m not spreading the cancer.
Anyway, I went to Ballotpedia to check out the candidates. And some of them don’t even have pictures on Ballotpedia. How half assed do you have to be in order to run for office? I’m suspecting that a quarter ass might be sufficient. They are carrying a camera on their person 24 hours a day, but don’t have a public facing picture to put on Ballotpedia? I might assume Ballotpedia just doesn’t trouble themselves with minor local election candidates, except it’s not all of them. Some have pictures.
It’s just interesting to me. How hyped up we are about the National Election and how completely unimportantly we treat a local commissioner or Engineer. On my ballot there are several offices with only one person running. No clue at all if the people are competent or not. The Coroner and the Engineer are both undisputed. Do they even have the necessary education for the jobs? Do we even have minimum requirements? A quick google check does not provide any enlightenment on the subject. And since no one is challenging them, I guess it’s not going to be questioned if they don’t. They are both incumbents.
I lived in a town a few years ago where the actual city council members went into elections unchallenged. School board was the same.
It’s not an election if there isn’t a choice.
Do they though?
It's a Thought 
Yes, local offices are very important! They do show party on NH ballots. I’ll have to ask my parents about northern OH – I know they did absentee, but they would know (or my sister in northern OH as well).
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Party feels like a minimum of information to offer on the ballot, but I can also see the idea that we should vote for the person not the party… Said the girl who has decided to vote against an entire party. 😂
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You should vote for a person, not the party, but… people in parties do vote in blocks, and even more so for the Republicans these days. The entire party has become very extreme, and if there are any moderates left, they are intimidated into toe-ing the party’s line..
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Yes. I wish the sane Republicans would break away and start a new party. It would probably be risky but I think it would work. Because that party needs a good clean up and since the leadership is the most toxic part of it, it’s not going to clean itself up.
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It would be nice… On the other hand, if they lose big time this year, there will be a huge shake up, and hopefully one that moves them back away from the extreme!
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Voting matters although I’m not near as concerned about coroners and such. Some of those positions don’t pay much and have bizarre hours so they don’t attract a lot of candidates but they also don’t make policy. Our ballots list party and there were a few uncontested positions. I am also very annoyed that Republicans have not stood up for simple honesty and integrity.
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I feel like they stopped being the same party they were in my youth. I was never a Republican, but wasn’t particularly against them and on more than a few occasions voted for the GOP. One of my coworkers was my state representative for many years. Perfectly reasonable human, who happened to be Republican. But then…. Of course they think liberals have gotten extreme, so possibly we have all gone crazy.
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Not all liberals are extreme. I consider myself a moderate liberal. Firmly believe in civil rights but a financial conservative.
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That’s been my viewpoint too. I have a friend who used to call herself a liberal conservative.
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Once upon a time, I was a Republican. And then I majored in American History, specifically the Industrial Revolution. That’ll wake you up to deep-seated inequalities in capitalism.
Just like social media is waking everyone up to systemic racism and police brutality.
Let’s hope we don’t go back to sleep.
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Yes. We are all just modern serfs to the Capitalist Kings. The best that can be said is that most us serfs have running water and heating. I would say we all have a distraction box in the form of TVs, phones, etc. But honestly think the distraction boxes might be the modern whips.
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