By Leslie Luna

With the November election looming, voters have a lot of responsibility on their shoulders.

Whether it is our municipal City Council race or the presidential race, it’s the time to consider the issues you care about and decide which candidate you’ll rally behind.

But how do voters go about vetting candidates? Way too often voters pick candidates based on juicy one-liners in the newspapers or sound-bites they hear on radio and TV. It’s hard to move beyond a candidate’s image to the substance of a campaign.

However, voters need to do their homework and study a candidate’s background and history to see if what they have done in the past will give them a glimpse of what candidates intend to bring to the table in the future. As voters, it’s our duty to vet candidates running for office so we can make informed decisions based on facts.

In the business world, investors go through a procedure known as due diligence to determine if a business is worthy of investment before committing to the transaction. Due diligence identifies issues so they can be tackled early on.

Similarly, vetting candidates is our conduct of due diligence. It allows voters to discover the strengths and weaknesses of individual candidates. In an era where there’s an abundance of online tools to inform and educate voters, there’s no excuse to sit on the sidelines out of dissatisfaction with our current political climate. Our actions in elections have consequences.

Come fall, Carlsbad residents will decide who’s going to fill the two open seats on the City Council held by Mayor Pro Tem Lorraine Wood and Council Member Keith Blackburn. The field is plentiful with seven official candidates throwing their hats in the ring.

The candidates as they will appear on your ballot are Lorraine Wood, Cori Schumacher, Brandon Rowley, Bill Fowler, Ann Tanner, Melanie Burkholder, and Keith Blackburn. 

The following steps are designed to help you vet a candidate:

Find out about the candidates

When vetting candidates you need to rely on unbiased, non- partisan, and official sources. First, determine upcoming election dates and deadlines. Find out which candidates are running in the race you are following by using Voter’s Edge (votersedge.org). This sophisticated tool engages voters by allowing them to access relevant candidate and voting information about all races on the ticket. It lets voters evaluate a slate of candidates or ballot measures in a user-friendly and accessible format.

Gather campaign materials about the candidates

Review campaign literature, review candidates’ speeches, debates and community forums, watch and read interviews, pay attention to televisions ads. For incumbents in the Carlsbad City Council race, take a closer look at their voting records on issues that you have listed as important.

Evaluate candidates’ stands on issues

As you sift through the materials you find, evaluate the candidate’s position on issues.

Do the materials give you an overall impression of the candidates’ leadership qualities? What specific conclusions can you draw about the candidates’ stands on issues? Try filling a Candidate Report Card as you find new information about the candidates. Don’t forget to examine endorsements. This is a way for interest groups and organizations to give a “stamp of approval” to a candidate. Endorsements provide clues to the issues a candidate supports.

In addition, look into campaign contributions. Where do the candidates get the funds to finance their campaigns? The City of Carlsbad has posted election-related information on its website, including key dates leading up to the November election such as voter registration deadlines, early voting and mail-in ballot opportunities and candidate campaign statements.

The City’s Clerk office strives to promote open government and transparency of information. On the City’s website click on the Election Information link and under the Resources section, you’ll find a link for campaign financial disclosure statements and a link to the Fair Political Practices Commission’s website.

“We are the office that provides all the election-related regulations to the candidates. We tell them what they can and cannot do based on the California elections code and FPPC regulations,” said Sheila Cobian, clerk services manager with the City of Carlsbad. “From here on, it’s up to the candidates to start doing their campaigning and getting the word out about their platforms. The next filing is September 29 when candidates need to submit their campaign statements.”

Now that you have thought through your choices, it’s time to back the candidates you believe in, take the time to talk to your community about candidates. Their opinions can help you clarify your own views.