Voter Education Is Important

Voting is a tremendous privilege, honor, and responsibility. We, as Oklahomans and Americans, actually pick who our next political leaders will be. We, as voters, select people to represent us in government at all levels, whether it’s at City Hall, the State Capitol, or in Washington D.C.

As many people are aware, this is an election year.  Television ads are already running, advocating one candidate, attacking another.  The radio airwaves are beginning to fill up with campaign commercials as well.  Soon, you’ll begin to get political mail, too.

But with all of that, do you really ever know anything about who is on the ballot when you stand in the voting booth?

This year, Oklahoma voters will be choosing a brand new Governor, Lieutenant Governor, Attorney General, State Treasurer, and State Superintendent of Public Instruction. We will vote to either re-elect or put in a new State Auditor, Labor Commissioner, Insurance Commissioner, and Corporation Commissioner, and will vote on candidates for U.S. Senate and U.S. House. And that doesn’t include the numerous candidates for the state legislature, judicial offices, county offices, municipal offices, and this year’s State Questions.

A bit overwhelming, isn’t it? It’s hard to know who to vote for when there are so many unfamiliar names on the ballot. Don’t you wish you could hear all of those candidates personally tell you why you should elect them?

Well, good news - you can. This Friday, at 6pm at Muskogee's Civitan Park, the Muskogee Tea Party group is hosting a FREE, non-partisan “Voter Education Rally”, specifically designed to giving candidates the opportunity to educate the public about the “who-what-why” of their campaign. All candidates for statewide and federal office have been invited to speak, and over 30 candidates have already confirmed their attendance.

This will be a great opportunity for you to hear, straight from the horse’s mouth, about the different offices and candidates that will be on the ballot in the July 27th primary and November 2nd general elections.

In addition to candidates speaking and having booths, attendees will be able to participate in a straw poll to voice their opinions in a mock election based on what they heard.

The political climate today requires us to be informed voters. Too much is at stake to be uninvolved in the voting process. I’ll be at the Voter Education Rally at Civitan Park on Friday, July 2nd, at 6pm... will you?

Jamison Faught

Jamison Faught is the organizer of the Muskogee Tea Party group. For more information, visit www.MuskogeeTeaParty.com.