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Earlier this week, Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose urged voters to do their homework ahead of the November general election -- not regarding a person, but regarding State Issue 3.
Full text, official ballot language, certified explanation and arguments for and against have been made available at OhioSoS.gov, for the measure proposing a constitutional amendment to require voters to present photo identification when voting.
"Transparency matters, and Ohio voters deserve to have all of the facts before deciding whether a photo ID requirement for voting should be included in the Ohio Constitution," LaRose said. "I encourage every Ohioan to take the time to research Issue 3 and make an informed decision for themselves. Our elections are strongest when voters are engaged, informed, and prepared to make their voices heard on the issues that matter most to our state."
Be sure you are registered, be sure you know where and how to vote, and then, yes, learn as much as you can not only about the issues, levies and such that might be on the ballot, but about the people, too.
LaRose is right to want voters to make their decisions based on facts. And while locally, readers know they can count on us to provide them; nationally, the picture gets murkier.
It is fitting, then, that as LaRose calls for voters to become informed, Ad Fontes Media has released this year's Media Bias Chart. The chart ranks media organizations on a scale of both news value and reliability, with "Original fact reporting/high effort" at the top; and political bias, with the idea being that the best news media organizations are both highly fact-based and middle or balanced in terms of bias.
Doing your research via a media organization that ranks low on the fact scale and far to the right or left on the bias scale is not optimal.
LaRose is right. Transparency matters. Facts matter. Do your best to seek out both — and then vote!