Election Day is Coming! Local Races Matter!
Are you prepared? Now’s the time to make sure of it!
While we agree that midterm federal elections mean a lot, here at Synchronicity we continually hope to draw attention to more local engagement. What happens at the state, county, town, hamlet or city level is really important, and does have an impact on what transpires above!
Local politicians influence many aspects of our everyday lives and have an ability to react to Long Island’s needs at a granular level. These elected officials live, work and raise their families here, having frequent interactions with local business owners, community leaders and thoughtful citizens. They also tend to be a lot more nuanced and independent than those beholden to national audiences. It’s important to know who they are and what they stand for.
May we chose them wisely!
It's a Good Time to Brush up on Civics in General
There was an excellent show entitled “Civics, education, and the strength of our democracy” that was presented by the program “1A” recently on WNYC. Do check it out! There’s a lot you can find on that website to help better understand how US elections work, civics in general, and how be well educated citizen meaningfully engaged in that process.
One of the guests, Nick Capodice from “Civics 101: A Podcast” (another excellent resource) loosely quoted Richard Haass, president of the Council on Foreign Relations, who has often said this in one way or another, “We’re not born learning geometry or algeba or that the mitochondria is the powerhouse of the cell. Why is it expected that we are born knowing how to be citizens, how to engage civically and how to be a member of a thriving democratic republic?”
A big theme that stuck with me was this: Kids are often not learning this in school! In the wake of so much political turmoil, schools are shying away from encouraging debate and mock elections. They said that civics as a whole is the 2nd worst scoring subject in the nation (roughly 22% proficiency), followed only by US History (13%). This reflects federal investment: We invest roughly $50/per student per year for STEM. In 2022 the investment in civics was 5 cents, growing significantly, but still dismally in comparison to now roughly half a dollar.
Personally, while I think I did receive a pretty good civics/history education, and am grateful for how much our local schools seem to invest in this stuff, I have spent my entire adult life learning more!
Take a Deep Breath! A Note on Election Stress and the Need for Civil Discourse
The stress comes for us all. Over consumption of news and other media, tough disagreements with family, friends and associates, and general stress related to elections impact us all. While we believe our civic duty includes listening to others, and expressing our own views, we’re not generally well taught how to do that. Further, conversations can be painful as we hold beliefs dearly and aren’t always able to hear each other, see the same aspects, or agree on who has the facts.
These emotionalities and differences in perspective cloud a LOT long before we uncover any real disagreements, making everything a lot harder, especially when there are real forces out there trying to divide and mislead us.
It’s a stressful season! May we learn to handle it well!
One of our younger readers, a student named Samantha, recommended this resource from the website, “Masters in Public Administration,” regarding election stress management. It looks excellent. Thank you, Samantha!
Getting back to education, it’s good to study up on civil discourse, conflict management, and generally endeavoring to be a force for grace in a world of enraged overwhelm.
The Center for Civic Education offers a “Civil Discourse Toolkit” that looks valuable for teachers, and more. FIRE (The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression) has a “Three Steps to Civil Discourse” that looks good as well.
Mostly, just remember, at the end of the day, the best thing we can do is be grounded ourselves. This “6 Steps to Stay Sane in an Insane World,” seems like a good primer on that!
Key Local Resources
Ok, let’s focus! THE DEADLINE TO REGISTER TO VOTE IN NYS IS 10/24!
You can find information on how to register and to receive an absentee ballot at the NYS Board of Elections. Nassau and Suffolk Counties also each have their own Board of Elections, which contain information specific to each County. We think it’s important that our U.S. Constitution decentralizes elections and lets individual States determine exactly how that works within certain guildelines. These are excellent basic resources to learn a lot about how local elections work here on Long Island!
We also deeply appreciate the LWV. As stated on their website, “The League of Women Voters is a nonpartisan organization of volunteers working to promote political responsibility through the informed, active participation of citizens in government. The League does not support or oppose any political party or candidate. It does support or oppose legislation after serious study and substantial agreement among its members. Membership is open to men and women, aged 16 and over.”
The Suffolk County LWV is here. Among more local leagues, The Huntington LWV in particular offers a lot of important info and resources on matters that affect all of Suffolk County and beyond. The Nassau County LWV is now two separate organizations. You can find the East Nassau LWV here, and the Central Nassau LWV here.
Another Reason Local/Regional Press is Important
In a world of news deserts, we are very, very fortunate to maintain a rich culture of largely independent local journalism on Long Island. It’s still not easy. Many of these folks basically follow their callings here for free. Please do support them! Even more, pick them up, and take a look at their work.
These local publications tend to be a GREAT way to learn about candidates, elections, and local issues. The more local sources you read, the more well rounded your view will be!
Of course, critical thinking is fundamental to getting the facts straight, best we can. Our friends and sponsors at The Fair Media Council have created a Guide to Building Media Savvy to help with that! If you want to get deeper, this “Miniature Guide to Critical Thinking: Concepts & Tools” from The Foundation for Critical Thinking is a remarkably deep and fascinating academic approach.
Meet the Candidates
…and get involved! One really nice thing about local elections is that you can really get to know folks in a ways you just can’t with people who serve millions. A great way to do this is to join local organizations who do things that are important to you. Many local Chambers, other business associations and various other organization host meet the candidate events that are exclusive to their membership and focused on their interests.
A few more open forums are here:
Hicksville residents will have an opportunity to meet candidates October 1st, 13th and 15th at the Hicksville Community Center.
Huntington Matters is an excellent, independently run civic/community forum that serves the Town of Huntington. They are now taking questions for their upcoming candidate interviews. If you want your question answered go over to their Facebook page and leave a request.
Know of others? Let us know!
Other Great Ways to Be an Educated Voter
Vote411.org Voter Guide: Vote411.org is the League of Women Voters online voter guide. You can go there, enter your address and get a personalized ballot and information on polling places and voter registration.
Vote Smart: From their website: “Vote Smart provides free, factual, unbiased information on candidates and elected officials to all Americans…Started over 30 years ago by Presidents Ford and Carter and other political leaders, Republicans, Democrats and independents alike, each leader knew our democracy depends on Americans having the trusted, factual tools needed to resist deception, manipulation and division based on lies and emotional appeals. Our founding president, Richard Kimball, led this effort from the beginning and united leaders, politicians, educators and others to create this special tool for the American people. From Arizona to Oregon to Massachusetts to Montana to Iowa, Vote Smart has done this work longer than any other unbiased project funded by ordinary citizens.”
On the website you can enter any candidate up and down the ballot and view their: biographical information, professional experience, education, committee assignments and other civic and religious memberships.
Ballotpedia: Ballotpedia bills itself as “the digital encyclopedia of American politics, and the nation’s premier resource for unbiased information on elections, politics, and policy.
We provide our readers curated content on all levels of U.S. politics that is relevant, reliable, and available for all. In addition, Ballotpedia’s policy content and assets are a gateway to learning about public policy and an unparalleled resource for clear, comprehensive, and factual information on key policy areas. We are firmly committed to neutrality in all our content.”
Finally, there’s a lot of nonsense out there. While we encourage folks to view everything with a thoughtfully critical eye, we do appreciate the work of the Annenberg Public Policy Center project, Factcheck.org.
