Shelter Island Reporter editorial: Signs don’t get votes

What influences your decision about casting a ballot for a candidate?

Does seeing a yard sign or a bumper sticker affect your point of view? And does the cost of being bad for the environment — many of the yard signs are discarded to rot in the woods around the Island after election seasons — plus the theft, vandalism, and destruction of political yard signs by over-amped supporters outweigh a slim-to-none political advantage? 

Last year the raid on yard signs by some who disagreed with the message was unprecedented, according to representatives from the Republican and Democratic committees, and echoed by long-time observers who say they’d never seen anything like it. 

That’s why we applaud the decision Republicans have made to post no signs this year. This is not an endorsement of their slate or a condemnation of the Democrats for making a different decision. It simply means there will be less litter around town, fewer messages that tell you nothing about the issues or the values a particular candidate holds.

olitcal signsWe will go a step further. We have observed attendees at the annual League of Women Voters candidate forums and concluded even with solid information being shared by those who seek your support, your minds were made up before you entered the school auditorium.

Most come not for more information, but as a show of support for those who will get their votes.

Your choice for a candidate is decided because you have observed them in elective office or as members of a committee or an organization and either respect how they have performed or were dismayed and decided to go in another direction.

Perhaps you are motivated by a candidate’s overall stance on issues or that candidate’s decision on a single issue so important to you that it overrides all other matters.

On Shelter Island, we’re betting voters know their candidates. Those seeking office aren’t just names on a street sign or a ballot or statements candidates make in presenting themselves to voters.

You know them, you see them at the IGA, the Islander and other local restaurants and businesses, at the library, school plays or organizations to which you belong. You have a positive or negative impression about how they will conduct themselves in office.

We believe there isn’t a single vote cast based on seeing a name on a political sign.

We respect your choices that come from your hearts and minds because you know these people.