Editorials

Long ballot requires a little homework

Highlands Today
Published: October 18, 2010

Voters who go out to cast their ballots should know one thing.This election is not the one to wing it.

Voters will need to do their homework before they cast their vote because the ballot for the Nov. 2 election has choices that cover two, legal-sized sheets of paper: Tons of races, six proposed constitutional amendments, two local school referendums and two proposed local charter changes.

Races include those for governor, U.S. Senate, U.S. Representative, attorney general, CFO, commissioner of agriculture, state representative in Avon Park, three county commissioners, four supreme court justices, seven court of appeal judges, the Avon Park mayor and city council, and a Sun N' Lake of Sebring supervisor.

Early voting started Monday and will continue until Oct. 30.

Elections supervisor Joe Campbell has advised voters to mark their selections on a sample ballot before stepping into the voting booth. They can also take these sample ballots for reference purposes, to the pollsSample ballots, which were printed in the local Sunday newspapers, are available at the Supervisor of Elections Office in the Government Center or can be printed from the Web site: votehighlands.com. Voters can also request to have a sample ballot mailed to them.

Once there, a ballot shouldn't be shared, even between husband and wife, so each voter should bring his own.

We strongly recommend that voters take a marked sample ballot to the polling booth because as many voters know, the language of referendums and proposed constitutional amendments tend to be very confusing. Not to mention all the other races people are running for. Marking a sample ballot before casting a vote also allows voters time to do some homework and think about their choices.

Some of what voters have to decide can have long-term ramifications. We could end up appointing our schools' superintendent or voting on changes made to our long-range comprehensive plans.

As voters, our duty is not just to vote but to do our homework before voting.