Vote or Sleep

I’ve spent the last hour scouring the Internet for information about the political races that don’t exactly make headlines. The Minnesota District 4 U.S. House race, the District 66B Minnesota House race, the various Minnesota Supreme Court and Appeals Court races, and the crucial Ramsey County Soil and Water Supervisor.

I’m continually amazed at how difficult it is to find basic information about these lesser races. The state wide elections (U.S. House and state Supreme Court) garner web sites for candidates, but every other race gets barely a bio from the local paper. Is it too much to ask for a simple web site? $65 annually can get you a web site with all the frills you need. That seems cheaper than any newspaper ad or direct mail campaign.

And for the folks that do have web sites, I’m amazed at how pathetic the are. Only a few offer some simple, straight forward discussions of the issues. The others are too busy recruiting supporters or bashing their opponents.

It’s even more fun when you get to the judges’ races. Apparently judges aren’t allowed to talk about how they stand on issues, since judges are simply supposed to interpret the law. So you’re left to read self-important bios and somehow figure out whether or not the judge is honorable and worth electing.

And don’t get me started on the Soil and Water Supervisor. Soil needs supervising?

I believe I wrote-in Wes Halula for Soil and Water Supervisor the last time I voted. I might just do it again.

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