Voter Information: Where and How to Find it

Looking for voting information at the last minute?

Me, too.

Voter Information from your Secretary of State

You could try this: Go to Google.com, and put this in the 'search' box:

voter guide minnesota site:.gov

That's if you're voting in Minnesota. Put the name of your state where "minnesota" is there, and you've got a good chance of getting some official information.

That's how I found "Minnesota Office of the Secretary of State - Voter Information"

There's a fair amount of information there, like a Pollfinder to find your polling place location and election districts. "Time Off for Voting on Election Day - Memo to All Minnesota Employers."

For Minnesota Voters: Maps of Congressional a nd Legislative Districts

My oldest daughter asked me some questions about Minnesota's legislative districts (like which one she's living in) that I couldn't answer, so I look up these resources. Maybe this will help you, too: "Maps: Legislative and Congressional Districts."

What About Who to Vote For?

I'll provide some links, but remember: I'm a devout Catholic, and what people in America call either "pro-life" or (if I'm lucky) "anti-choice." These organizations generally reflect my views.

• Minnesota Citizens Concerned for Life (MCCL)
  The MCCL "Take Action!" page includes links to:
  • "MCCL's Legislative Accountability Rating"
    "Lawmakers' voting records on key pro-life issues"
    Minnesota House and Senate from 2000 to 2008
  • "Taxpayer Funded Abortions"
    (Thanks to the Doe v. Gomez decision, it happens)
  • "Saline Abortion Ban... It's about time!"
  • "Sex-Selection Abortions are being done"
    (It's legal: but it's still a bad idea.)
  • National Right to Life Committee "Federal Legislation"
    Includes "NRLC Vote Scorecards
    "You can view a scorecard for the important pro-life roll call votes in the U.S. Senate or U.S. House of Representatives for any Congress beginning with the 105th Congress (1997-98), up through the current 110th Congress (2007-08)...."
• Priests for Life
  • "Elections 2008" includes:
    • Priests for Life Voters’ Guide to the 2008 Presidential Election
    • Priests for Life Voters' Guide to the 2008 Presidential Election
      A comparison of the Democratic and Republican party platforms

I Can't Vote: None of the Candidates Is Perfect!

Can't find the perfect candidate? Welcome to my world.

It would be nice to find a candidate who wholeheartedly supports all Catholic teachings: particularly those dealing with life - and death. Nice, yes. Likely, no.

So: what does a Catholic voter do? Particularly when both candidates for an office support abortion to some extent. Can a Catholic, in good conscience, "choose the lesser of two evils?"

Catholics are not allowed to choose evil. We do, sometimes, but we're not supposed to. That doesn't mean that we shouldn't vote, unless that hypothetical perfect candidate shows up.

In American elections, one or the other of the major-party candidates is almost certain to win the presidency. This year, barring a miracle - or a disaster - Barack Obama or John McCain will win the election. Not voting for either may feel noble, but the result will be that the candidate you would have voted for lost your vote.

This is going to be a close race, if the polls are even close to being accurate. A few votes really could make a difference, as they did in 2000.

Choosing a candidate who, although not 'perfect,' is likely to do less harm than the other is not "choosing evil," if the voter is trying to limit destruction of human life by choosing the less-unacceptable candidate.

That's it For Today

It's well after midnight now, and I haven't been a twenty-something college kid for about thirty years. The thoughts in that last section were my attempt to boil down part of a booklet I picked up from the Priests for Life PoliticalResponsibility.org: "Voting with a clear conscience."

I hope to come back to the distinction between choosing evil and limiting evil some other day.

One more link, and I'm done. "Opposing Evil and Doing Good: Our Essential Obligations in Fighting Abortion A Statement by Cardinal Justin Rigali and Bishop William Murphy" (October 24, 2008) (a Microsoft Word document) might be worth reading.

More, about

• "Obama, McCain, Life, Death, Abortion, Voting, and this American Catholic"