Voting in Oklahoma, pt. 2

This is the most amazing idea ever: http://www.votesmart.org/voteeasy

You need updated flash, but it gives some good statistics and is a good, interactive way to release local and state issues.

For example, I found out:

67% of Oklahoma's population is registered to vote and 84% of those registered voted in the last election.

You can also simply state opinions about big issues and compare yourself to the candidates on your ballot. This is incredibly simplistic (i.e., the only indicator for "education" is test requirements and standardization. It would be interesting to include spending on education as an indicator).

Still, it is interesting. Especially if I have a choice between two unlikable candidates on the surface, this may be helpful (although, I am inclined to abstain on the races that have a lack of likable choices for me. We'll see). Also, 2 of the candidates for Senate didn't provide answers so I can't compare myself to them.

This did help to show how dissimilar I am to most of the candidates running on my ballot, which I guess I didn't need such a test for. Still, so interesting! I think it was kind of a cool way to interact with the surface issues.

By the way, I this ad by the pro-744 folks says perfectly why I am casting my ballot for the measure tomorrow:

Also, it is interesting to note that almost 100 percent of the ads during tv breaks are now political. On election eve, I have never heard so many references to "God," "Freedom," "Conservative Values," and "Obama Care."

Interesting.

~MJ