Learn to be an educated voter

Friday, January 29, 2010

To the Editor:

I read with interest the editorial two weeks ago regarding our legislators up in Concord being our voices when it comes to representing us, the people who voted for them.

I agree that this is the way our New Hampshire Legislature works and also agree with the writer’s suggestion that we all learn as much about the candidates up for re-election in November.

A great place to start would be the New Hampshire Liberty Alliance. This organization assigns a letter grade to each representative depending on how they voted on various bills and whether or not their votes held to a pro-liberty view consisting of personal responsibility, individual freedom of choice and promotion of good government.

If you are interested in how your reps voted on a particular bill, you can find that information from the General Court Web site. If the bill had a roll-call vote, all votes in the negative or affirmative will be listed along with the representative’s name and district.

A half an hour worth of work will give you a good picture of where your representative stands. As for any new candidate looking to become a state representative, I would suggest that voters make every effort to learn as much as they can about him/her and ask the questions that are important to you but may be difficult to ask.

The time of being politically correct is over when it comes to asking tough questions. We have got to understand where these individuals will gather the knowledge to be able to make decisions on our behalf – decisions that may have a deep impact on our families, on our pocketbooks and on our freedoms.

Will they vote the will of their constituents or will they vote along party lines? The questions have got to be asked and they have got to know they will be held accountable.

Lastly, as for the writer’s comments on the gay marriage bill, I do find it quite amusing that the writer references the sky falling down, the seas rising up in fury and the Apocalypse hiding in the closet ready to get you.

Instead of acknowledging the fact that this issue is a legitimate concern for many New Hampshire residents, the writer focused on painting a picture of those residents as Chicken Littles who are waiting for the end of the world.

I would say that this type of thinking about the people in our state who are expressing concern over a hot button issue is the same type of thinking that occurred in Massachusetts in their recent election. We all know what happened there.

It is time to get informed and make your voices heard.

IRINA OWENS

Brookline