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Your vote is more than just a sign

Jeanne Sager - Columnist
Posted 10/7/19

It's that time of year when the roadside is littered with signs from candidates claiming to be the very best person to get your vote.

The signs are useful. They get candidates' names out there. …

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Your vote is more than just a sign

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It's that time of year when the roadside is littered with signs from candidates claiming to be the very best person to get your vote.

The signs are useful. They get candidates' names out there. They remind people that the election is coming up.

If there's a sign on your friend's lawn, you can bet that the candidate they're backing has similar views to them or at least espouses the sorts of campaign promises your friend would be inclined to support.

But let's face it: A sign is just a sign.

It's short on words and even shorter on depth.

It's a slogan and some pretty colors.

It's not a person.

Are you sure your friend really supports that candidate? Or did someone just stick a sign in their yard when they were out of town?

Are you sure that the words on that sign ring true to the person? Or did they open up a thesaurus and pick a few things that sounded positive?

Are you sure that you want to vote based on some pretty colors or the fact that the politician just so happened to be really good at propping up signs all along your path to work?

Signs are supposed to be the start of the journey. Once you learn a candidate's name, it's up to you to read their candidate statements in this newspaper, to talk to people who know them, to investigate their history. Maybe they have a website or social media where you can interact directly with the candidate. Maybe you'll see them at a local event glad handing, and you can make a point to ask them some questions face to face.

What you do after you see that sign is up to you, but voting by sign means being an uneducated voter. And an uneducated vote isn't worth a whole heck of a lot.

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