BND Voter Guide available online now with high-nutrition fare for an informed electorate
“Nothing in the world is worth having or worth doing unless it means effort, pain, difficulty…”
Teddy Roosevelt said that. I don’t know the context, but I frequently remind myself of this whenever a campaign ad pops up on my television or streaming service. Enduring the vile, attack-dog ads that provide high calories but little nutritional value has become part of the pain of supporting a functional democratic republic.
But take heart.
For every super-processed, non-nutritive faux food source that tastes good but leaves you unsatisfied and prone to illness, there’s a healthy and leafy green alternative that can fuel your understanding of the issues and the policies and personalities that affect them as we draw nearer to Election Day on Nov. 5.
Today, in Edition, the Belleville News-Democrat has published its annual Voter Guide for 2024, which we like to think of as the healthy choice for an informed electorate. A limited portion of the Voter Guide will be available in future print editions, but if you’ve eschewed use of bnd.com to this point, I’d encourage you to brush up on your internet skills now. That’s where you’ll get the most out of the guide.
We know there are endless sources of information about national races — the presidency most notable among them, of course — so our focus is on those races most local to the metro-east.
There are 26 contested races across the six southwest Illinois counties that define our region. They include contested seats in the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives, state legislature, and numerous board seats in St. Clair and Madison counties. St. Clair County voters also will be asked to cast ballots for board chairman and coroner.
There’s more, too, including nine referendums pertaining to public safety, schools and whether or not to kick Cook County out of Illinois.
Each candidate in a contested race received a questionnaire asking them some basic background and their views on particular issues. We asked them to stick to substance and avoid personal attacks against their opponents.
Yes, there’s a lot to consume, and the details of public policy proposals aren’t always as tasty or sweet as a political meme on Facebook. Study and research, I suppose, is another pain we endure in election season.
But we’ve done our best with the BND Voter Guide to make the information easier to digest. Come back as often as you need to at bnd.com.
We’ve organized candidate profiles into a list with jump menus and links to the races most local to you.
Then come back to bnd.com on the evening of Nov. 5. Our journalists will be fueling on pizza (per a long-standing newsroom custom) while continuing to provide more nutritious informational fare with election results, live and in real time.
It’s not the spiciest work that we do, but it’s work we think helps make our communities stronger.
If you are a candidate and need more information so you can respond to the questionnaire, please send an email to mkoziatek@bnd.com ASAP.
To our readers, if you have any questions, comments or suggestions about the guide, please send them to me at teschman@bnd.com, or call 618-239-2540. As always, we appreciate your suggestions and your support of the BND.
And, finally, always leave room for dessert!
This story was originally published September 26, 2024 at 12:28 PM.
