Is a list of endorsements from an organization an end point for you or a starting point? Do you vote in a primary from a list provided by one organization or do you research endorsements from several organizations and see where they overlap? Do you do your own research?
Bunni Pounds from Christians Engaged has great advice. Read below or watch this clip.
“In 20 minutes you can research your ballot and go in much more prepared than anybody else. Look at the races. Look at their Facebook pages. Look at their website. Read out of their own mouth what they say about their qualifications. Check out their resumes. Google their names. See who else is supporting them in your community. See if they answer some of the questions that are important to you about these non-partisan races. And, then check around people in your communities to see who they are supporting and why. […] Check out public forums and anything they are hosting to get to know the candidates in your city.”
- Did the organization print a transcript, or at least a summary, of the interviews with the candidates on which they based their recommendations?
- Did they ask the candidates for written answers to a common set of questions and publish those answers?
- If they didn’t interview a candidate, did they tell you that?
- If they have an affiliation or prior business relationship with a candidate, were they transparent enough to tell you that?
- If one candidate is a member of their organization and the other is not, do they reveal that?
- Did they provide any rationale at all for why they chose one candidate over the others?
Never be a lemming. Just because this group or that says “vote for our list of candidates” or worse yet, “take our list to the polls with you”, that’s not what you should do in a primary, runoff, or uniform (May non-partisan) election.
Expect information. Better yet, demand information or refuse to be a lemming. Your vote is yours, not theirs.