Primary election day is Sept. 14, almost three weeks away. In reality, though, there isn’t an election “day” anymore. Instead, there’s an election “period,” one that starts today as absentee ballots begin showing up in voters’ mailboxes.
If you’re an absentee voter and have already made up your mind which candidates and ballot issues you favor, you may be one of those who fills out and returns your ballot a day or two after receiving it. If, however, you’re in the majority that prefers to wait until the official election day, until you’ve had a chance to absorb all the information you can on each of the races, keep an eye on this newspaper over the next couple of weeks.
While that recommendation is unabashedly self-serving, it’s also an honest invitation to make more informed choices about the candidates and issues on the primary ballot. The Herald’s news department will cover the crucial state and local races, and the editorial board – which is independent both from the news department and the political parties – will offer its views through editorial endorsements.
Our first endorsement will run Sunday, and others will follow over the next two weeks. We weigh in on key political races for much the same reason we do so on other issues in this space: to spark thought and discussion so citizens can be better engaged in their own governance.
The process we use to arrive at endorsement decisions is similar to the news gathering process reporters use. We interview candidates, research their background, ask others about them. We draw on our own knowledge of issues and candidates’ records. But while reporters work to present objective reports to readers, the editorial board makes its opinions known.
Those opinions are the consensus of the four people whose names appear in the upper right-hand corner of this page. Sometimes we reach consensus quickly and easily. Other times, long discussions are involved and preconceived notions are dashed. Always, editorial board members strive to be open-minded and fair.
We don’t expect, or even desire, that everyone will agree with us. In fact, we welcome and encourage differing viewpoints in the form of letters to the editor.
The point is to strengthen democracy by engaging in it.
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