Opinion

I heard about it. Some people plan to stay home or have plum ignored information to help them prepare for the upcoming Primary Election this Tuesday, August 14.

To do that is to vote for folks without knowing what they stand for OR forfeit the right and responsibility to vote altogether.

Please reconsider and get out and vote on Tuesday. Polls are open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.

Read over your Sample Ballot, talk with friends and family or read about the candidates online or in the newspaper and then take your completed Sample Ballot with you to your polling place to vote. That will save time and you will be an informed voter. In the overall scheme of things, you will help your community,  state and country!

Yes, I know Florida is a closed election state, which means only voters who are registered members of political parties may vote for their party candidates, for an office in a primary election like Tuesday’s.

However, there are times when all registered voters can vote in a primary election, regardless of which major or minor political party they are registered or even if they are registered without a specific party affiliation:

1. If all the candidates for an office have the same party affiliation and the winner of the primary election will not face any opposition in the general election (i.e. no write-in candidates have qualified), then all registered voters can vote for any of the candidates for that office in the primary election.
2. If races for nonpartisan (i.e., free from party affiliation) judicial and school board offices, nonpartisan special districts or local referendum questions are on the primary election ballot, then all registered voters, including those without party affiliation are entitled to vote those races on the ballot. (Source: orangecountyvotes.com)

I know in Orange County, there are key positions that fit into one of those categories.

For example:

• Democrats Jeff Ashton and Lawson Lamar are running for Lamar’s State Attorney’s job with no competition from the Republican side.
• Five Democrats are running for Florida Representative District 46 seat, with no competition for the Republican side: Bruce Antone, Sean Bradford, Jason Henry, Rosalind B. Johnson and Pam Powell.
• There six judge seats being contested, including the one held now by Judge Belvin Perry, who was pushed into international spotlight last year as judge in the Casey Anthony Murder Trial here in Orlando. The seats are non-partisan.

The list goes on and on…

Who you vote for is your business. All I am saying is this: do your homework and select the candidate who you think will best serve the community as a whole, based on their background, experience and plans for improvement.

Then, on Tuesday, go out and vote in your assigned Precinct, at your assigned Polling place which may have changed since you last voted. Take your photo I.D. with you; if you are driving, you should have your driver’s license with you.

I agree with the popular saying: You have no right to complain, if you don’t vote.

© Orlando Community News, 2012