Mar. 5, 2007
True Adventures in Voter Education
By Chris Heagarty
RALEIGH - Last spring, staff from the N.C. Center for Voter Education stood outside polling places in Wake County handing out copies of the State Board of Elections’ Nonpartisan Judicial Voter Guide to anyone who wanted them.
The state did not have enough money to print and mail these guides during the primary election. The N.C. Center for Voter Education stepped in, had thousands of copies printed and shipped to county elections offices around the state, encouraged newspapers to reprint the guide in their local communities and gave the rest out directly to voters on Election Day.
It was a very light day of voting at the North Raleigh precinct where we worked and our staff located themselves among the volunteers from different political parties or campaigns that stood near the polling place, but outside the minimum distance within which campaigning is prohibited.
One particularly determined woman marched up the line of poll workers, refusing any information and casting them dirty looks.
As she passed me I offered her the guide, explaining that “it’s nonpartisan and issued by the State Board of Elections, and has statements from all of the statewide judicial candidates.” With a look of disdain she told me quite matter-of-factly that she didn’t need a guide. She “knew who she was voting for.”
So moments later on her way out, she stopped as a poll worker for a female candidate thanked her for voting.
“I voted for your candidate, because she’s a woman, and we need more women in government,” she said quite triumphantly. “Women are smarter, and women will sort out all the messes that men make!”
She then turned back to where I was standing near the yard signs and started pointing.
“I voted for her, and for her, and for her!” She said, pointing to the signs of different women running for office. “And her,” she added with a smile, “because she spells her name like my daughter.”
Some of you may have predicted where this is going, but sure enough she was pointing at a sign for one of the candidates in the voter guide, former District Court Judge Kris Bailey -- who is, and who has always been, a man.
I couldn’t resist confirming her selection, asking her if, in fact, she had voted for Mister Kris Bailey, showing her Judge Bailey’s picture and statement in the voter guide.
She stammered, stuttered and angrily argued that she’d been cheated and misled, and that she wanted to recast her vote. I felt no pity.
Many voters will admit that they don’t have all the information they need to vote for judges. But others are confident that they have all they need. Resources are available to anyone who wants them, to help guide their choices, but many refuse them.
Some voters will always remain ignorant, by their own choosing. But for those who really do want to learn about the candidates, we can help them and it’s a very easy thing to do.
Every citizen interested in learning about judicial candidates before they vote should say “Yes” to the Public Campaign Fund when they file their state taxes.
The Public Campaign Fund is the program that pays for the state’s Nonpartisan Judicial Voter Guide. A box on your state income tax form will ask you if you want $3 of the taxes you’ve already paid to be used for this program.
If you say “Yes,” you will help fund this important program so the guides, currently mailed out to every home during the general election, can also be mailed out during the primaries.
Checking “Yes” is not making a contribution and won’t raise our taxes or reduce our refund. Marking “Yes” simply designates that $3 of the taxes we’re already paying be used for this important program. You can learn more about the option at www.ncjudges.org.
A vote, like a mind, is a terrible thing to waste. Let’s help build an educated electorate by saying “Yes” to the Public Campaign Fund.
Chris Heagarty is the executive director of the N.C. Center for Voter Education, a Raleigh-based nonprofit and nonpartisan organization dedicated to improving elections in North Carolina.
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