August is typically “vacation” time for a lot of families, but voters who may be absent from the home for the Primary Election (August 14th) can vote via the absentee ballot process. Another prominent reason for voting via absentee is for medical reasons, so if your doctor has ordered you to stay indoors during the “hot days”, you might want to contact your county election officials for an absentee ballot.

With the redistricting completed, some voters may find that the candidates they thought would be on the ballot are competing in other districts … and some candidates, such as Michele Bachmann, who does not reside in the Sixth District is challenging for the November ballot against fellow Republicans Aubrey Immelman from Sartell and Stephen Thompson from Lino Lakes.

That contest will not get the attention that happens in other contested primaries … specifically, Minnesota’s First where Republicans Mike Parry and Allen Quist are competing. Quist is out with his first television commercial and his lawn signs are starting to pop up after Parry’s supporters started to decorate their lawns.

In the Second, David Garson is challenging incumbent John Kline. David Gerson is author of How Crony Capitalism Crushed the Middle Class and Killed the Economy. His message is one that sure to please the TaxEnoughAlready movement, “Corporatism, or corporate capitalism, and the fact that special-interest groups and their lobbying power have made it to where there’s such income and wealth disparity in this country to where the bottom 80 percent only have seven percent of the financial wealth and 38 percent of the income.”

In the Eighth, the DFL has two candidates Jeff Anderson and Tarryl Clark, challenging DFL-endorsed Rick Nolan.

The U.S. Senate contest features a race between Stephen Williams, a perennial IP candidate and former Republican Glen Menze for the Independence Party nomination.

Now, there are others on the ballot … many legislature districts have contested primaries and the Judicial candidates will be whittled down to the top two … so there are reasons to vote.

Remember, you are eligible to vote if :

– will be at least 18-years-old on Election Day
– are a citizen of the United States
– will have resided in Minnesota for 20 days immediately preceding Election Day
– have any felony conviction record discharged, expired, or completed
are not under court-ordered guardianship where a court has revoked your voting rights
– have not been ruled legally incompetent by a court of law

To confirm that you are registered to vote (if you have not voted in the passed four years, your records may have been deleted), this link will confirm where you vote and provide a listing of who the candidates are in your area.

Voting is a right … apathy is a choice … a bad choice … the candidates that win will represent you !