Vote Manatee

For those of you in Manatee County, here is a link to the Supervisor of Elections web page. From here, you get all the information you need to vote in the 2006 elections: where to register to vote, how to change/update your voter information (name, address, party affiliation etc), methods of voting (early and absentee voting) and who is on the ballot.

Actually, the ballot hasn't been posted yet, but the primary election is September 5, so if you don't get a newspaper, this is where you will be able to find out who and what will be on the ballot. Then, you can do your research to find out just who and what you want to vote for.

Please don't fail to vote, but just as bad is voting simply because there is an election. Educate yourself about the issues and the candidates. An educated voter votes with their head. You and I might differ on who we vote for, but I will never say anything about a voter who has a logical reason for voting the way they do. "Oh, he's so cute!" isn't a good reason to vote for someone. Nor is "but she's a woman!" While I haven't voted for a candidate for those particular reasons, I've made my share of mistakes in the voting booth. Mostly because I didn't do my homework, but sometimes because I didn't follow my instincts. A failing of mine. I have good life instincts when I listen to them.

I'm all about electing women, but I don't want a woman in office who will set the rest of us back ten or twenty years. This isn't the place (right now) for a lecture about putting women into office. This is about getting out to vote, but doing it smartly.

This is what you have to do. It's pretty simple, actually:

Register

Research

Vote

If you go to vote and have questions about how to fill out the ballot, ask a poll worker. If you mess up the ballot and accidentally vote for someone you didn't want to vote for, notify a poll worker. They will help you out.

If your candidate didn't win or your issue didn't pass, don't whine about it. Believe it or not, it's not the end of the world and there will be other elections.