Preparation for Voting in November

Voting is a privilege and a responsibility. Voting choices have moral implications. Our faith impels us to be voters committed to compassion, education, fact-checking, passion for justice.  Thorough voter preparation is essential for the well-being of Illinois residents.  How do we decide which candidate will earn our vote?  These questions are offered as voter preparation aids.  They are starters in our search for the most inclusive, visioning, justice-oriented candidates for each of the offices for which we have the PRIVILEGE and the RESPONSIBILITY to vote.  These questions are motivators as we take seriously our moral obligation to vote responsibly. 

What are the characteristics of leaders that we need in this time, this area, this county/township, this town, this state, this nation, internationally?

What kind of power is essential for elected leaders to exercise?  In the work history of the candidate, how was power exercised?  Is the work history centered within for-profit corporations, government, not-for-profit agencies, or?

If we watch campaign ads, how do we analyze them?  If people are featured in an ad, who are they?  What is their connection to the candidate for whom the ad is supporting/opposing?  What is the meaning of a physical location if featured in an ad?  What is the purpose of that location: support or opposition of the candidacy?  When we study the connections between the ad and the individual/group that paid for the ad, what do these connections indicate?  In the ad, are judgments about reasons for actions being made?  If judgments are being made, are these assumptions or reality?  Do we fact check the claims made in the ads?

If we are pondering statistics, who did the statistical analysis?  What is the reputation of the group/individual who did the statistical analysis?

What groups/individuals are financing the candidacy?  In what ways?  What lobbying groups are funders?  What is the focus of each of the funding groups/individuals?  What is the relationship of these groups/individuals with the candidate?

What other resources are impacting the election?  Billboards, posters, parties, door-to-door visiting, and ?  How do we analyze the candidate flyers that populate our mailbox?  Who is paying for these resources?

How reliable is the political analysis of social media, TV and radio news?  What lenses do I as an individual bring to my analysis, my decisions?  How do these lenses impact my conclusions?

When I’m going to a candidate forum, do I prepare questions to ask the candidates?  After attending a candidate forum, how do I make a decision about what I’ve heard—dialog with others who attended the forum, silent contemplation, incorporating the insights from research I’ve already completed, and ….?  To which candidate(s) is the energy of the forum leading me?