Ballots for the November General Election are in the mail, which means Lewis County voters will have the chance to check boxes for or against several statewide initiatives, the home rule charter process, U.S. Senate and Congressional races, four local state House races, local elected positions and a handful of bond proposals.
The Chronicle Editorial Board is restoring its tradition of issuing endorsements for this year’s elections in a special opinion page in Saturday’s edition, but on top of that, we recommend you take the opportunity to educate yourselves on the many issues swirling this election season.
Of course we’ll start by tooting our own horn — all of The Chronicle’s coverage of issues this election season is available at Chronline.com, along with video recorded at the Meet the Candidates Forum held Tuesday night at TransAlta Commons at Centralia College.
The forum, hosted by The Chronicle, KELA/KMNT, the Centralia-Chehalis Chamber of Commerce and Centralia College was well-attended by the community and by candidates for five state and local positions. If you want to know what your candidates think of the McCleary decision and state funding for schools, voter initiatives on the November ballot or the Home Rule Charter process, check out the video posted on Chronline.com and The Chronicle’s Facebook page.
The Lewis County Auditor’s Office, which supervises local elections, is also a great resource for voter information. The site includes information about the Home Rule Charter and freeholder measures, candidates who have filed for office and their contact information and important dates to remember (such as the last opportunities to register to vote or how to get a replacement ballot) Go to lewiscountywa.gov/auditor for more.
Voters’ guide pamphlets have already been mailed to registered voters, but if yours has met the fate of many before it — thrown in the trash with junk mail or covered with yesterday morning’s spilled coffee — you’re in luck. Voters’ guides for statewide races and for individual counties are available at www.sos.wa.gov/elections/research/2018-voters-pamphlet.aspx.
The Washington Secretary of State’s Office also has the complete text of all four initiatives and an advisory vote on November’s ballot if you’re interested in some light reading (we kid — Initiative 1631 is 38 pages long.)
A quick Google search also reveals voters guides published by a plethora of Washington organizations and political parties to help you weigh your options.
Finally, if you’re looking for some hard data, we recommend the state Public Disclosure Commission at www.pdc.wa.gov. Candidates and political groups are all required to report their donations with the PDC. For example, did you know Initiative 1624, which would prohibit local governments from imposing taxes on soda and other products, has gotten nearly all of its $20 million in campaign donations from just four soda companies?
Those and other donations are all a matter of public record, and thanks to the PDC, they’re available at a click of your mouse.
However you research your choices, we recommend making an informed decision. We are blessed to live in a democracy — make it count.
