If You Don't Vote, You Don't Get to Whine

Your elected officials can't hear you if you're not talking, right? And one of the loudest ways to talk is at the voting booth!

Voting. You know you're supposed to do it. You know it's your role as an American citizen and our government depends on your participation, blah, blah, blah. But you just don't feel like it, right?

Well, I'd be willing to bet you'll feel like complaining about something you should have voted on come the middle of next year. And if you don't vote, you don't get to whine. True, there are no "whine police," but you owe it to your conscience to get out there and let your voice be heard.

Even though it's an "off" year, on November 4th most communities around the country are asking citizens important questions at the ballot box. From local government offices to citizen-led initiatives, the outcome of these elections may have a dramatic impact on your neighborhood or state. Don't you want to be a part of the changes that will take place in your community?

Here are some insights and resources for learning about the candidates and issues in your area:

First of all, if you aren't registered to vote, you should check to see if it is still possible to do so in your state at www.beavoter.org. From this site, you can search for voter registration deadlines by state, and, if you're still eligible to register, find out how to do so!

To find out more about ballot initiatives in your area, try the Ballot Initiatives Strategy Center at www.ballot.org. They have a tremendous state-by-state listing of ballot measures in all 50 states. Note that this site focuses on citizen-led initiatives and "progressive" politics.

In addition to ballot initiatives, a range of other measures may come up during your local elections. To prepare yourself to be an informed voter, I recommend a couple of options:

- First of all, there's nothing like a good old-fashioned "Google" search to find what you're looking for. Try typing in a phrase like "information on the November 4th elections in [fill in name of city/county here]." Often, you'll find that some level of government has posted information on the upcoming elections

- Another good resource is the National League of Cities (www.nlc.org). From the front page of the site, you can access the web sites of state chapters of the NLC. Through these sites you can track down individual home pages for individual cities. Try links that read "Board of Elections" or "Elections" or "Ballot Box" to find out what's going on in your neck of the woods.

- Finally, many local newspapers are great resources for election issues. Try a site like onlinenewspapers.com or newspaperlinks.com to access local papers, many of which will carry ballot information starting one to two weeks before the election.

And, if you're already looking ahead to 2004, get the full scoop on the Washington Post's "On Politics" site at http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/politics/elections/2004/ . Or you can access E-Democracy.org's Presidential Launch Pad. This new Election 2004 section lists the top 50 "deep links" and search queries conveniently organized by candidate.