Friday, October 26, 2018

Election Day is November 6


Whether you consider voting a right or a responsibility, or both, now is the time to gather your wits. Early voting has begun, and Election Day is Tuesday, Nov. 6th. The ballot is busy enough with federal, state, and local matters to justify some preparation. Consider these sources of information:

League of Women Voters
The League of Women Voters has been the national workhorse providing nonpartisan election information for many decades. Here is the Santa Fe LWV voter guide: https://www.lwvsfc.org/uploads/7/9/7/7/7977240/lw_voter_guide_november_2018_fin.pdf.

NMVote.org
NMVote.org is the New Mexico Secretary of State portal for voter information such as voter registration, polling places, candidate lists, absentee ballot requests, etc. http://nmvote.org .
Click on “Find my Registration and Election Information” for personalized voting info including sample ballots.

Bonds for Libraries
On your ballot, Bond Question B is about libraries—the act “authorizes the issuance and sale of library acquisition bonds,” not to exceed $12.8 million, which will be used by school, public, academic, and tribal libraries for library materials and electronic needs. For information, see https://www.nmbondsforlibraries.org/

Bond Question B basically asks to continue the same amount of support for libraries approved by voters in previous years. Libraries in Santa Fe County would get a total of $656,000, with Santa Fe Public Library receiving about $220,000, dedicated to print and non-print information resources (e.g. books, ebooks, downloadable audio, online magazine and newspaper access, etc.) as well as certain kinds of Internet computer equipment. All Bond funds are used for resources for the public.

More Informed Voting
The Internet abounds in election information … of all kinds. Some are committed to neutrality as part of their mission, such as https://ballotpedia.org/Ballotpedia:About and https://votesmart.org/. Many newspapers and other organizations support their own election news sites.

It’s an obvious quote, but: “Every election is determined by the people who show up.”

Post by JD

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