I'm filling out my mail-in ballot tonight (thank you BallotReady and Injustice Watch for your collection of candidate information). I like to research everyone, even those running for the county clerk, and have noticed patterns to how I'm filtering out candidents:
1) If they don't have a website, I'm not considering them. If i cannot research you, I can't evaluate how you'd do the job. Also, it's 2024. You should have a website, even if it's a single page.
2) If the reason they're running, or their main issue, is doing better than the person currently doing the job and rooting out corruption, I'm not considering them. I don't just want to know you're better - I want to know your plan. Also, if the water commissioner was really bad at their job I'm pretty sure I'd notice.
3) If they're advocating for work policies I don't like (such as 5 days mandatory in the office), I'm not considering them. I was actually surprised at how hard a 'nope' this was for me until I ran across it.
I'm a little uncomfortable with myself how arbitrary these are and not based on say, the actual politics of a candidate. (Maybe someone without a website is amazing!) But it's also so wild how these three filters pretty much eliminate all Republican candidates.
Democrats, and Libertarians, almost always have websites listing their experience and issues, often including plan outlines and term objectives. And that's really what I want in office - someone who is communicative and has goals and ideals that line up with mine.
I know what my political beliefs are, but it's just kinda wild going down this ballot and realizing that's not what I'm using to narrow down my choice. It's accessibility.
