Do you leave a vote blank on the ballot if you are clueless of the canidate on the ballot or---

[trumad]

do you fill it in on a guess.?

If it's a Dem, I vote for them...but sometimes a party affiliation isn't attached. So--I leave it blank.

I know, I know I'm supposed to be more informed before I walk into a voting booth... but sometimes I have no clue about the that particular race.

[magellan]

1. I look for information on my local commissioners/judges online

Usually I can find something to give me a clue how to vote.

[porphyrian]

2. The problem is that they use our ignorance of them as an election tool.

They count on us having no idea who they are or what they stand for. We should work on changing this.

[pooja]

3. I live in a large enough area that I can usually find out what I need

to on a judge or school board member. Otherwise I usually vote the party line.

[madokie]

4. state question, no but if it is between a Democratic or republican candidate

I will mark the Dem every time, never has it been to me that it is not the better choice.

[seaglass]

5. The only blanks I left were uncontested races in which I knew

nothing about the candidate.

We had a question on our ballot (non-binding) about medical marijuana. I had no idea it was going to be on the ballot - but it was easy enough to vote for. :-)

The oddest thing, I live in a conservative town that overwhelmingly voted for the (losing) Repub candidate for Governor, voted NO to sell wine in grocery stores but gave a big YES to medical marijuana.

[Toots]

6. In Oregon they receive their ballot weeks in advance

People in Oregan can have a chance to really examine their ballot and discuss things among their friends and family. They are able to make an informed decision by the time they fill out their ballot from their kitchen table and have the postman pick it up. They never have to leave their home. they don't need to find parking or stand in lines or miss any work or run into that individual they have been avoiding for quite some time. They have over eighty percent turn out (voters) as well. Wouldn't that be nice? You wouldn't have to leave any blanks. Some of those judges are good and some aren't, but they don't all deserve to be re-elected. The trick is to learn which ones are which and in Oregan you have time to do that....

[patricia92243]

7. I vote for the female candidate if no party is designated. The more women in government the better.

If it is two women, I just vote for whichever one I want to.

[trumad]

10. But repub women can be mighty nasty--- Libby Dole for instance

[patricia92243]

12. Agreed. But this OP is about how to choose if no party is designated.

I'm not saying my "system" is right, just saying this is what I do.

[Bjornsdotter]

8. In my case

I live in a heavily republican district, a few republicans run uncontested...I leave those blank.

We do have one democratic candidate that runs uncontested and wins every time (that should tell you where his loyalties are) and I refuse to vote for him, so I leave that blank.

Cheers

[Gman]

9. I don't care who the person is so long

as they have "Democrat" next to their name. If there's no Democrat, I vote for the Libertarian or whoever so long as it's not a Constitutional Party candidate.

[tanyev]

11. I wrote in "Paper Ballots" on one unopposed Republican race.

I had planned to do it on all of them (lots of unopposed Republican races in my county), but only one of them had a write-in option. I still don't know why that was.