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How should I vote?

I got my absentee ballot in the mail the other day. I recommend doing this to everyone because you can take your time, research and vote in the privacy of your own home. Just call the number on your voter I.D. card and request an absentee ballot. You can even order one on the internet in many places.

Okay, I have my ballot. Now how should I vote?

I used to rely a lot on voter guides such as those put out by the Christian Coalition. The problem with these guides is that they are often incomplete and many Republican candidates know how to answer the questions to court Christian conservatives even though their voting record doesn’t match the voter guide. I want to know how politicians will vote on the issues. I already know how skillful they are at lying. I never know how to vote on judges. I knew that the Florida Supreme Court is pro-euthanasia and pro-abortion because it is filled with Lawton Chiles appointees. The problem is that I can never remember their names when I get to the voting booth. Florida has periodic retention elections for Supreme Court and Appellate Court Justices. But judges won’t fill out voter guides or answer questions on potential cases because it is a violation of the principle of unbiased jurisprudence to announce their stance to the public.

So how should I vote on a judge?

The answer is simple. Use the world-wide-web to research candidates you are unsure of. With each election cycle the abilities of search engines are getting more specific in finding quick information on candidates. Just type in the name of a candidate, their office and the name of an issue that is important to you. For instance, I wanted to know how to vote on whether Justices R. Fred Lewis and Peggy A. Quince should be retained. So I typed “R. Fred Lewis Florida Supreme Court pro-life” in Altavista.com and immediately found a good article on these justices.

These are pro-abortion, pro-euthanasia justices that should not retained.

Peggy A. Quince and Harry Lee Anstead are also anti-life. I found out that the only pro-life justice is Charles Wells. These judges have been retained for many years mainly because the conservative voting base of Florida just doesn’t see the importance of getting rid of judicial activists who strike down laws that are the will of the people.

I plead guilty to being part of the problem in not even knowing the names of all these judges and how they stand on pro-life issues. Today I remedied that. I also found out information on Appellate Court Justices and even the district school board candidates. Most people don’t know anything about local candidates because these campaigns have less money and the media doesn’t give a lot of coverage. A lot of people leave these choices blank. That is a huge problem because as someone once said, “All politics is local.” If you have your absentee ballot and a few minutes to search the Internet, you can become part of the solution.