Educate Yourself and Vote
To the editor:
Early voting begins next week. Before heading to the polls, I encourage everyone to spend some time on research to be an informed voter. Don’t just rely on the ads you are bombarded with right now. Dig deep on the issues that concern you. Yes, the issues. Here’s what I do to be an informed voter.
The easiest thing to do is to read the League of Women Voters of South Central Texas Voters Guide. There was a copy in last Friday’s paper as well as it being available in the digital version of the FCR (kudos to the paper for including it!). In it, you will find candidate information for state races as well as county ones. Candidates’ responses are published as submitted unless they don’t meet the league guidelines which are listed in the guide. Printed guides are available at the public libraries around the five county area that the chapter of the League of Women Voters covers as well as at the Fayette County Record office while they last. You can also find the information at Vote411.org. With the guide, you are basically getting the information “from the horse’s mouth.” I like to read the answers from all candidates, regardless of whether there’s a D or an R next to their name. We are electing people, not parties, and need to take the time to find out about the people running.
I saw an interview with a candidate in another state last weekend who said several things that have stuck with me. The first is “I’ve been a Republican. I’ve been a Democrat. You know, I value things in the Republican Party. I value things in the Democratic Party. And it’s not that you don’t stand anywhere. It’s that you try to say, OK, let’s bring the best of these two parties together to really solve problems.”
We are more alike than we are different. Polling shows that most Americans share the same priorities: grocery and fuel prices, healthcare and education funding. In our county, the overreach of the federal government has also become a hot issue. Texas is also seeing an explosion of data centers, with hundreds of projects seeking to acquire Texas land, energy, and water for their facilities. Find out where the candidates stand on those issues.
If you watch the TV ads, follow up with a little research. Not all ads are from the candidates. Multiple PACs are spending millions in Texas and can say whatever they want without getting the candidates approval. Texas can not have a state income tax without a constitutional amendment. It’s that simple. No single office holder, chamber of our legislature, or political party can change that without the rest of us voting for it. Property taxes are a hot button issue. Tax rates are set locally by the taxing body (city, county, water district, etc.) with the exception of the ISDs which approve their rates based on a complex funding formula dictated by the state. No state office holder can raise your property taxes. When you see or hear quotes from candidates on ads, look up the original quote and see what the rest of it says.
Who is paying for all of these ads? They tell you at the end of each one. Write those down and do some research. Go to fec.gov and search the name of each group/PAC. You’ll find where and how they have spent their funds. It’s amazing how much money is raised and spent outside of Texas for Texas candidates.
I’ll close with another quote from the interview I mentioned earlier because I think we all need to be reminded that we are more alike than we are different and that we need to vote in the best interest of everyone. The candidate said, “To be liberal means to be generous of spirit and open to seeing things with new eyes. Everybody should be that. To be conservative means to hold onto things that are treasures, that conserve values. Everybody should be that.”
Do your research, make your decisions, and vote.