When it comes to voting for city elections, most people are "somewhat" informed about their local politicians. They are some of the same people who care about what happens in their city, are concerned about their tax dollars and how their policies will affect their families. However, the important thing for politicians to know is that these people are the ones voting. So, in order to vote smartly, they need to know which candidate will address their needs and concerns as voting tax-payers with families.

So, it can be a bit disheartening when a person goes to look up information on candidates who are running for mayor and for city council and find very little concrete information.

This is both sad and agitating. The amount of efforts put forth by these candidates make people feel duped. These candidates seemed to think that if they simply announce their candidacy that voters would flock to the polls. How could they think that? Voters aren’t sure who to vote for.

In a few days, elections for major, alderman-at-large and ward alderman will be held where I’m from, Rock Island, Illinois. There are 9 candidates that should be vying for my vote. To date, I have received only one palm card (http://www.campaignpros.com/palmcards-postcards-businesscards.htm) and one cheaply created flyer in my mail box. I have had only one solicitation for a yard sign (http://www.campaignpros.com/yard_signs.htm) to be placed in my yard. And worst of all, not a single candidate has knocked on my door. This is completely unacceptable to me.

From my online research, I have found that two of the mayoral candidates have a website and only one has a Facebook page. One out of the 6 alderman candidates has a Facebook page and none have a dedicated campaign website. I suppose I can forgive the aldermanic candidates for not having dedicated campaign websites, but Facebook is free and easy.

This lack of accessibility and complete disregard for the needs of voters are extremely concerning. The laziness makes you wonder how badly these candidates really want these positions.

Perhaps these expectations are too high but maybe candidates should offer their community more. What is concerning is that there are many voters who are expected to vote for someone they do not even know. Voting shouldn’t be like gambling. It should be a process in where voters can be confident about whom they are voting for.