avocado8

Where's My Voter Information Guide?

When we lived in California, we got an official Voter Guide for every election—one that listed every candidate and every proposition on the ballot, including arguments for and against each. It also listed our polling place on the back, and usually included an application for an absentee ballot (handy if you knew you'd be travelling on election day). I've been waiting patiently for such a book to show up at my house in Philly, but so far, none has come.

The other day I happened to catch my friend Valerie, who moved from San Francisco back to Maine a few months ago, online. When I IMed to see what she was up to, she replied that she was taking a break from her violin practice "to see if I can find any info on our local bond measures so I can send in my ballot. Unlike SF, we're not inundated with info [here])." To which I replied, "Yeah, same here -- I'm like, 'where's my voter information guide?'" Valerie: "Exactly!"

I decided to try Valerie's technique and search the web for information. I found all kinds about how to register to vote, how to actually vote, how to determine whether I qualify for a provisional ballot, and what constitutes proper voter identification, but NOTHING ABOUT WHO THE CANDIDATES ARE. (Nothing at all about initiatives, either. Are there no ballot initiatives in Pennsylvania? Have my expectations been colored by living in proposition-happy California?)

When my searches of official websites failed, I tried the sites of local free weeklies. (In San Francisco, the SF Bay Guardian, a liberal free weekly, published a voter guide that was really useful; I remember voting a "straight Guardian ticket" one year, except for one proposition that I didn't agree with them on.) I even picked up an actual paper copy of Philadelphia Weekly yesterday, but alas, no voter guide. WTF? (I did find a couple of endorsements on the Philadelphia Weekly website, but they hardly constituted a guide.)

Today we received in the mail our voter information cards—which informed us of our polling place (I'd already panicked when one of the official local election websites said I'd need to check the newspaper (!) to find out where to vote, and subsequently followed a link from the Rittenhouse Review to Hallwatch.org, which gave me the scoop), our ward and division numbers, and the fact that we'd have to show ID because this is the first time we're voting in this district. It struck me as a little late to be telling us this stuff, but maybe the Voter Registration Office wanted to make sure we got it close enough to the election that we wouldn't misplace the info.

Along with Al's and my voter information cards, we also received one for the male half of the couple who used to live here; I guess he never re-registered when he moved (or maybe they finally moved out of state, as they intended to eventually, and word has not made it back to PA). In between the voter information cards were two slightly larger, four-color cards, one of which showed a photo of Yasser Arafat with the caption "Role Model and Statesman? John Kerry Thinks So." The other showed a nice Jewish lady by the name of Janet Kreisman, who, we are told, is a Registered Democrat, with the following quote: "I FEEL SAFE WITH PRESIDENT BUSH."

Once again I was left to puzzle, WTF? Why are we getting scare mail...? And then I saw the addressee. *We* are not getting scare mail; the former occupant, who happens to have a Jewish surname, is. I was pretty shocked, and yet glad for once that the former occupant's forwarding order had expired, while his voter registration had not—it gave me an opportunity to see some shady scare tactics that otherwise would have escaped my notice.

Here's my question (and at this point, I've obviously strayed pretty far from my original rant about the lack of voter information here in Philly, though I'll return to that in a moment): Does Bush-Cheney '04, Inc., which authorized the Arafat mailing, or the RNC, which paid for it, really think all American Jews vote based on a single issue—namely, Israel? I find that kind of hard to believe, but not being Jewish, I can't say for sure.

The other mailing, paid for by the Republican Jewish Coalition, focuses more broadly on the war on terror and 9/11 (though it also mentions "President Bush's unprecedented pro-Israel policies"). Ms. Kreisman goes on to say in the mailing that "I've always been a pro-choice Democrat, but party loyalties have no meaning when it comes to my family's safety." (I thought it was kind of interesting that the mailing would make reference to that other famous "single issue": abortion.)

Anyway, seeing Ms. Kreisman's smiling face over the Republican Jewish Coalition's pitch made me think of one more place to try for voter information: The League of Women Voters. Yay, women voters! While this non-partisan organization of course provides no endorsements, they do at least tell you who (and what) is on the ballot in your area. (Just enter your zip code into the box under My Races.)

It was so cool to at least see who was running in my district; now I can Google their names, look up their records, and check for endorsements by various news organizations. I didn't see any ballot initiatives listed, so to test whether (a) the LWV doesn't give info on ballot initiatives, or (b) there just aren't any here, I entered my old address in San Francisco to see what would come up. Sure enough, there was a huge list of initiatives for SF, so I now know that the answer is (b), there just aren't any here.

Now, go vote! (On Tuesday of course. Wait until Tuesday!)