Things are starting to get intense in election races. Mail-in ballots will go out May 7th, and June 5th is election day.
The day you go to vote used to be a big deal. I remember back in my younger days (when I lived in Washington DC) friends would gather for cocktails before going to walk the gauntlet outside our designated polling place. We called it VWI. (Just joking) Mailing your ballot was called absentee voting, seemingly reserved for overseas military and those wealthy enough to plan jaunts to exotic places.
By the time the local media decides to go to polling places on election “day,” as many as 75% of voters will have already cast their ballots. Smart campaigns know this, and that’s why you’ll see an uptick in advertising, direct mail, and those ever-so-pesky phone calls in coming weeks. (Pro Tip: Casting your ballot stops the phone calls and most of the mail.)
So who are all these people on the ballot? Why should you care? And how do you know you’re not voting for the wrong person? [Read more…]