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For Immediate Release September 13, 2004 Contact Matt Rolf, League of Women Voters, (614) 469-1505 Supreme Court voter guide released To help fight misleading, negative campaign ads and provide voters in Ohio with nonpartisan information on the Supreme Court candidates, the League of Women Voters of Ohio Education Fund and Ohio State Bar Association (OSBA) have partnered with the Ray C. Bliss Institute of Applied Politics, the John Glenn Institute for Public Service and Public Policy, Ohio Common Cause Education Fund, and Ohio Citizen Action to create and distribute a statewide voter guide on this year's Ohio Supreme Court Elections. "A nonpartisan voter guide will ensure that citizens can make better decisions about their government, and will help counter the nasty attack ads that have characterized recent campaigns for the courts," said Linda Lalley, vice president of the League of Women Voters of Ohio. The voter guide will appear on the web site for the Next Steps forum for judicial reform, as well as that of the League and Ohio Citizen Action. A broad network of nonprofit organizations and print and broadcast media will be built to ensure the voter guide reaches as many citizens as possible. The network currently includes groups such as the Ohio Association of Broadcasters, the Ohio Newspaper Association, AARP, the Ohio PTA, and the Ohio Secretary of State. "This guide will provide voters with yet another tool to research Ohio Supreme Court candidates for the November election," Ohio Secretary of State J. Kenneth Blackwell said. "We encourage all voters to fully educate themselves on the candidates and issues before heading out to the polls on Election Day." "We'd like to see this project grow in the future," added Catherine Turcer of Ohio Citizen Action. "If voters are able to get good information about candidates from a voter guide, then the candidates do not have to spend as much time and energy on the fund-raising and television ads that they feel are necessary to get their message out." The voter guide includes a wealth of information on each candidate to help voters make more informed decisions on Election Day, including campaign contact information, legal background and experience, a candidate statement, OSBA ratings, and candidate photographs. The voter guide is laid out in an easy-to-read format with candidates for each office matched up with their opponents. "The layout makes the information easy to absorb and compare, and will help combat voter fatigue on November 2," said Lalley. In 2002, more than $7 million was spent on the Supreme Court races in Ohio, accounting for half the money spent on state Supreme Court races nationally. And as much as 70% percent of that money was spent on campaign ads by candidates and special-interest groups. "Over the course of the last two Supreme Court elections, Ohioans were bombarded with advertising that made it difficult to separate fact from fiction," said Heather Sowald, President of the OSBA. "We're all for free speech, along with fair and impartial elections. Where we have a problem is when campaign materials impugn the integrity of the court - and mislead Ohio voters." A poll commissioned by the League of Women Voters of Ohio in October 2002 found that four out of five voters (83 percent) believe that campaign contributions influence judges and candidates-more than any other factor. About the Next Steps The Next Steps was a forum on the many issues related to the selection and the qualifications of Ohio's judges, with the goal of developing a plan for action on the various alternatives deemed to be feasible by the approximately 40 participants. The statewide voter guide on the Supreme Court elections was one of the recommendations of the voter education/public funding committee. Contact Information
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