The Alestle Election Issue Vol. 74 No. 9

T H E

ALESTLE VOTE

friday, 10.30.20

The Student Voice Since 1960

vol. 74 no. 9

I VOTED

I VOTED

I VOTED

I VOTED

AN ELECTION LIKE NO OTHER The results on Nov. 3 might not determine the president. Plus, the pandemic has changed campaigning, for better or worse. see page 3

PLAN YOUR VOTE

THE FLY ISN’T THE FIRST

Animals making appearances Our special insert detaches from the rest of the paper, so on the campaign trail are not you can fill out a sample ballot unusual. Learn more about and take it to the polls. Also, this fun history by visiting our hall of fame. learn about your rights and see pages 6-7 responsibilities while voting.

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News in brief Morris University Center serves as polling place With election day less than a week away, some voters are looking for polling places. SIUE is serving as a voting location for students, faculty, staff and other members of the community.

Early voting has been taking place on the SIUE campus since Wednesday.

Voting will still be available Friday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. in the Morris University Center Willow Room.

Voter registration will be available at SIUE during the early voting period. Registration will also be open at the Madison County Clerk’s Office in Edwardsville.

For more information about early voting, visit the Madison County website.

On-campus voting will also be available throughout the day on Nov. 3, election day, in the Meridian Ballroom in the Morris Univesity Center. However, only those registered in Precinct 21 may vote on campus on election day.

Those not registered in this precinct may learn where their polling place is by visiting the Illinois State Board of Elections website.

NEWS

SIU political science professors explore implications of election, say protests inevitable GABRIEL BRADY reporter

Forget the holiday season, the months, weeks and days leading up to the election is the most wonderful — or frightening — time of year for political science professors and students.

In honor of this notable time in history, political science faculty from both Edwardsville and Carbondale held a panel over Zoom to discuss the possible impacts of this election.

Here are some of the main topics covered:

EXPECTED REACTIONS Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the results of the election could be delayed. Some people are voting early, and others are voting by mail. This has led to many concerns about reactions to the results, with plenty of protests already happening this year. Associate Professor of Political Science Sophia Wilson from SIUE said regardless of who wins the election, or when the results are announced, protests are inevitable, but there is a chance that more serious events may transpire.

“In my study of revolutions, I do see that people protest as well.

They see that their basic rights are being threatened, or they see that the regime has been very oppressive, or it’s about to be very oppressive ... It depends on a social discourse leading to the election,

and that social discourse will be led by the politicians themselves, as well as the media,” Wilson said.

“So in the few days [as the election results come out], it will be very important to see how these potential losses for either candidate will be framed. So far, it [seems like] … there will be protests, and there … may be violent clashes, as polarization has grown, due to some of the rhetoric that we have seen.”

Regardless of if there are clashes, SIUC Political Science Professor Benjamin Bricker said a major change may be coming to the U.S. after the election. According to Bricker, many young Americans want a new form of government altogether — maybe not even a democracy.

“The number of people in major opinion polls [who have] a preference for some sort of strongman rule, or military rule, has been increasing in the United States, and I think notably among young Americans,” Bricker said. “Only 25 percent of those born [since] the 1980s believe that living in a democracy is important to them.

In the last 12 years, the number of Americans that say they’re dissatisfied with the form of government in the United States … has risen from about 20 percent in 2008, to 55 percent in 2019.”

PRE-ELECTION POLLS Although former Vice President Joe Biden is maintaining a lead in the polls as of Oct. 26, for-

mer presidential candidate Hillary Clinton also had a lead in 2016, but still lost. This confused some Americans, and made others certain that President Donald Trump would win again this year.

However, SIUC Political Science Department Chair J. Tobin Grant said polls don’t actually predict the winner of presidential elections, because the popular vote does not always determine the presidency.

“If we look back, right before Election Day [in 2016, the polls] had Hillary Clinton winning by three or four percentage points,” Grant said. “In terms of the popular vote, the number of votes cast, she ended up winning just over two percent of the vote more than Donald Trump, and so it was really only off nationally by one or two percentage points, which isn’t that bad.”

According to Grant, since the presidency is determined by the electoral college, polls aren’t the most accurate way of guessing an elections outcome.

“Where [the polls] tended to be off was at the state level. So if we looked at states that ended up breaking for Trump, … the polls typically had Hillary Clinton up by four percentage points or so, and those ended up breaking for Donald Trump by a percentage point or less,” Grant said. “It’s important to remember that Hillary Clinton got more votes than Donald Trump, but he ended up win-

ning the electoral college because of some key states that ended up breaking his way.”

INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS Throughout Trump’s time in office, he employed an “America First” approach to foreign policy, which heavily focused on isolationism. This has led to some issues with international relations that, according to SIUC Political Science Professor Virginia Tilley, will be very hard for his successor, whoever — or whenever — that may be.

“People have a bit of kneejerk reaction to the term globalization, when they hear about jobs moving elsewhere, and companies going abroad. Unfortunately, that doesn’t really reflect how the world works today …

The way things are made today is so globalized anyway. The laptop or phone you’re watching this on was made [in] 50 or 60 different countries if you track all the pieces,” Tilley said. “With the loss of U.S. prestige abroad, and the U.S. leaving some multilateral institutions, … America First is translating to America Alone …

The least enviable person that we can foresee is any president that comes to follow Trump, because the impact is going to hit us in the next few years.”

For more information, visit SIUE’s political science department’s website, or SIUC’s political science department’s website.

Student political organizations focus support on local candidates JOHN MCGOWAN reporter

The endorsement of a candidate by a political group might seem like a simple, easy choice, but there’s actually a lot involved in the process of an endorsement.

The College Democrats of SIUE is one of many student political groups on campus. For this election, they’re supporting former Vice President Joe Biden, but they haven’t officially endorsed him. President of the organization, senior Applied Communications major James Beverly, of Los Angeles, said the club will endorse the Democratic candidate for local elections, but didn’t feel it was necessary for the presidential election.

“For whoever the nominee for Democrat is, we usually automatically endorse them. I know we came out with most of our local candidate endorsements in May. We haven’t endorsed a president yet. Even though it’s Biden, we’ve just been sharing stuff. We just haven’t endorsed him because we didn’t think it was necessary to do a separate one at this point,” Beverly said.

The College Democrats of SIUE are currently campaigning for Betsy Dirksen Londrigan to represent Illinois’ 13th Congressional District. Beverly said they focus more on local politics because of how it affects SIUE students.

“They plan on being a student here

for a while and living in this area. These people are going to represent them for the next two to four years. So, it is important,” Beverly said.

Beverly said when deciding which candidate to endorse for a local election, the club votes.

“It’s just majority rules,” Beverly said.

Another group, The College Republicans of SIUE , also focuses mostly on local candidates. Vice President of the College Republicans, junior business major Stephen Stewart from Edwardsville, said their endorsements are done by vote.

“We go into an endorsement session — this year we had to have it virtually — but all of the members then will raise the objections that they may have with any people and then we ultimately vote on these endorsements,” Stewart said.

Unlike the College Democrats, The Southern Illinois People for Progress, a group of southern Illinois residents who aim to solve issues progressively, endorsed Senator Bernie Sanders, before endorsing Biden. On the process of picking a candidate to endorse, organizer of People for Progress Dr. Pamella Gronemeyer said they just choose aligns with their ideals.

“It was basically on Bernie’s policies, you know, the Green New Deal, Medicare for All, a $15 an hour wage, free college …

You couldn’t be endorsed in the primary by those groups unless you were aligned with the Bernie platform.”

Springfield Democrat Betsy Dirksen Londrigan speaks to the crowd about why she decided to enter the political game at a showing of “Knock Down the House,” a film about women in politics, held on SIUE’s campus in February. Dirksen Londrigan is currently running against U.S. Rep. Rodney Davis to represent Illinois’ 13th Congressional District. The College Democrats of SIUE have endorsed Dirksen Londrigan and been volunteering for her campaign. | Alestle File Photo

Gronemeyer said after supporting Biden’s campaign, they will advocate for him to take progressive stances on issues if he is elected.

“The goal is that we’re working for Biden, and the idea is that after the election we’re going to get him to move more progressively. That’s just like Bernie says — the day after the election, that’s when we start pushing again,” Gronemeyer said.

Gronemeyer said The Southern Illinois People for Progress, unlike the College Democrats, focuses on federal candidates.

“We focus on the federal [candidates] … we really do focus on issues. I support the local candidates, but I really care about the federal issues,” Gronemeyer said.

Students can check out the College Democrats of SIUE and College Republicans of SIUE at their Facebook pages.

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2020 presidential campaigns put varying weight on pandemic restrictions DAMIAN MORRIS reporter

In response to COVID-19, the candidates have made changes to their campaigns anywhere from moving to outdoor venues to having people attend rallies from inside their cars.

Former Vice President Joe Biden has complied with CDC guidelines very closely throughout his presidential campaign, according to Professor of Political Science Laurie Rice.

“Biden has been more fully following CDC guidelines in how he’s handled his campaign,” Rice said. “He started out primarily doing campaigning via Zoom and other electronic methods. As the election’s gotten closer, his campaign has looked for ways to hold campaign events in person, but maintain social distancing.”

Rice said Biden holds these events through socially distanced chairs, requiring masks for attendees, and having everyone in their cars listen to him on the radio while watching him on stage.

President Donald Trump held campaign events that involved large rallies, but made two primary changes to respond to COVID-19, according to Rice.

“The two biggest ones are passing out masks to individuals as they enter the rally location, and the other is trying to shift to more outdoor venues, since it’s a bit safer to be outdoors than it is to be indoors,” Rice said.

She said the Libertarian and Green Party campaigns have not seen a large change due to already bringing in smaller crowds than the Republican and Democrat parties.

“The Libertarian and Green parties typically have had much less of a campaign size to work with, and that translates into far fewer campaign events, and we don’t typically see them campaign in the same way that the other two parties do anyway,” Rice said. “So I haven’t seen huge departures in the way those candidates have campaigned this year versus previous years.”

According to Rice, the vice presidential campaigns have closely followed the lead of the presidential candidate on their ticket.

Clinical Assistant Professor Beth Cady said she has seen a larger willingness to accept scientists’ assessments from Biden than she has seen from Trump.

“It definitely sounds like one candidate, Biden, is more willing to trust the sci-

ence versus listening to what Trump says, where he has not exactly listened to the science,” Cady said. “So strictly from a scientific standpoint, it sounds like one is much more willing to listen to scientists.”

Cady said, though she’s not been to any in person, she’s observed a large number of people at Trump rallies not social distancing.

“I have definitely seen at Trump rallies, people are wearing masks, a lot are not wearing masks,” Cady said. “I’ve definitely seen people shoulder to shoulder.”

Associate Professor of Historical Studies Erik Alexander said that of all past elections, the election of 1864 has the closest correlation to the 2020 election.

“The Civil War is the first time you had large scale absentee voting, and there was a really big effort, because the armies had hundreds of thousands of men fighting,” Alexander said. “So there was a very concerted effort to make sure that soldiers were able to vote by absentee ballot, and so I think the way war interrupted daily life and interrupted the normal patterns of political behavior, I think that’s actually a very close comparison.”

Alexander said there is also a comparison to be made to the election of 1876.

“There were a lot of similarities between that election with fears about voter fraud, but more important fears about voter suppression,” Alexander said. “In my mind, that’s one of the biggest concerns in terms of how this election is being handled.”

He said while there is no evidence of serious voter fraud in the 2020 election, there is evidence of voter suppression.

“You have two political parties today, one party has their policies to try and make voting as easy and as accessible as possible, and the other party, the Republicans, have made it their policy to limit voting,” Alexander said. “It is frankly voter suppression, and they’ve done that through voter ID laws, they’ve done it through limiting polling places, and they’ve done it through purging voter rolls.”

Alexander said while historical comparisons can teach lessons that can be applied to the 2020 election, there hasn’t been any election quite like this one.

“I think historical comparisons are good, but I’d say overall what we’re seeing is just unprecedented,” Alexander said. “I don’t think we’ve ever had an experience quite like this in terms of both the pandem-

Top: President Donald Trump returns to the Lehigh Valley for a campaign rally at HoverTech International in Hanover Township, Northampton County on Monday, Oct. 26, 2020. (Rick Kintzel/The Allentown Morning Call/TNS) Bottom: Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden speaks at a drive-in rally event during his visit to Georgia at the amphitheatre at Lakewood on Tuesday, Oct. 27, 2020 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Curtis Compton/ Atlanta Journal-Constitution/TNS)

ic, but then the way that’s affected in the middle of a presidential election.”

He said although the 2020 election is difficult and concerning for many, there will eventually be a resolution, as there was in previous elections with similar struggles.

“The good news is that the democracy and republic survived, and so I think, we don’t know what’s going to happen this year, and there’s a good chance we’re go-

ing to have a contested election, there will be legal battles in the courts,” Alexander said. “We saw this in the 2000 election with Bush and Gore, but the good news is that there will eventually be resolution, and I think that eventually the republic will survive, and that’s what we have to just keep in the big picture.”

For more information, visit each campaign’s website.

What to expect on election night: Winner may remain unknown ALEX AULTMAN lifestyles editor

In past elections, the American public knew who won late on election night. That may not be the case this year.

The effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on this year’s election are everywhere. The second presidential debate was canceled due to President Donald Trump contracting COVID-19, and more mail-in ballots are being cast than ever before. According to the Pew Research Center, in this year’s primary election, almost double the amount of mailin ballots were used than in the 2018 general election.

Due to the increase in mail-in ballots, there’s a high chance voters won’t know the official results on election night. Even in previous years, there hasn’t been 100 percent certainty of the results that night. Most news outlets will say a certain state has been won based on projections and exit poll data.

According to NPR, mail-in ballots take more time and resources to process than in-person ballots. Things are also complicated by the fact that policies vary by state. Some states are able to begin processing ballots before election day, while others can’t.

Data analyst and Hawkfish CEO Josh Mendelsohn said in an Axios interview there may be a “red mirage” of

a Trump win on election night. This is due to the different perceptions of the pandemic and mail-in voting across party lines. Trump has expressed doubt in the legitimacy of mail-in voting, making Trump supporters more likely to vote in person.

Mendelsohn said exit poll data may show a Trump win, and as mail-in ballots are counted, the results will shift in favor of Former Vice President Joe Biden. Due to this prediction, Democrats are concerned Trump will contest the results of the election. Biden’s campaign is trying to make legal preparations in case the results are disputed and sent to Congress or the Supreme Court, Democratic sources told CNN. In the battleground state of Pennsylvania, mail-in ballots aren’t allowed to be processed until election day. Votes that arrive by mail three days after the election in that state will still be counted and they have to be postmarked no later than Election Day, meaning results may not be finalized for at least three days after the election.

Social media platforms like YouTube and Twitter are taking steps to curb the spread of misinformation between when the polls close and when the results are officially announced.

YouTube has said it will be promoting election-related content from what they deem to be credible sources, in-

cluding Fox and CNN. Twitter is trying to make sure their users are informed by pinning voting information to the top of their timelines. They also recently added an extra step to retweeting to slow the speed of tweets going viral.

Even if results aren’t final, you can still tune in to election night on CNN, Fox, CBS and more.

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“The system is flawed”:

Voters want more voices beyond two-party system GABRIEL BRADY reporter

For many Americans, voting has become a matter of compromise, choosing between two candidates with neither fully aligning with the beliefs they hold. For some, this has led to distaste and distrust of the two-party system currently in place.

Peter Buhl, a sophomore in mechanical engineering from Godfrey, Illinois, said those compromises in voting are always bad, and voters should be able to vote how they want without fear of not having an impact.

“I think the system is flawed because of how old it is. Newer generations don’t want to subscribe to the entirety of a singular party, which leads us to have to pick [a party] that is closest to our values. But since there’s only two parties, there’s obviously not a lot of really viable options,” Buhl said.

Sophomore economics and finance major Amanda Clark, of Alton, Illinois, said although she isn’t voting third party this year, she may do so in the future.

“I’m definitely not voting third party this year, but I might in the future if the two-party system was a little more disbanded,” Clark said. “[The two-party system] divides us so heavily, and you have to fully commit to one party. The Democrats don’t capture all my beliefs, … and

the same is true for the Republicans. We Nader Effect is what happens when a third need more party options for people who party candidate weakens a major party by want them.” taking some of their votes, but still doesn’t Clark said she is not fully aligned with win. former Vice President Joe Biden’s politiIn the 2000 Presidential Election, cal views, but she plans to vote for him. George W. Bush had the Republican nomHer reasoning is ination, Al Gore she does not want had the DemoPresident Donald cratic nomination, “[The two-party system] Trump to win reand Ralph Nader divides us so heavily, and election, and no had the Green Parother candidate has you have to fully commit to ty Nomination. a chance of beating When the elecone party. The Democrats him. tion came around, “I feel like this liberal vote don’t capture all my beliefs the year, [voting third was split between party] would only ... and the same is true for Nader and Gore, take a vote away and Bush won the the Republicans. We need election since his from Joe Biden, and in America’s voter base stayed more party options for history, I don’t relatively constant. people who want them. think a third party Despite the candidate has ever Nader Effect, juAMANDA CLARK won. Joe Biden nior computer sophomore economics and finance major is really the only engineering major from Alton, Illinois option to beat David Mathus, of Trump,” Clark Godfrey, Illinois said. said he thinks peoIn a sense, Clark is correct. The last ple should vote by policy, and not by party U.S. president to be neither Democratic or lines or identity. Mathus said he doesn’t Republican was Millard Fillmore in 1850. quite know who he’s voting for yet, but The widespread unlikelihood of third party he’s leaning toward Libertarian Party Cancandidates winning is referred to by some didate Jo Jorgensen. political scientists as the Nader Effect. The “I don’t subscribe to one party, be-

cause tribalism in politics is very, very dangerous. I don’t care if you’re a man or a woman, white, Black, orange, purple or what,” Mathus said. “What matters is what you’re going to do. If someone votes based on identity, like people voting for Hillary [Clinton] based on her being a woman, that feels sexist to me, because you’re voting based only on her gender.”

Mathus said he has a serious problem with the “Vote Blue No Matter Who” movement, which focused on pushing people who dislike Trump to vote for the Democratic nominee, regardless of policy.

“To me, getting rid of Trump is a good justification [for voting for Biden], but it’s still a cop out … A lot of people on both sides [last election said] ‘I don’t want Trump to win, so I’ll vote Hillary’ or ‘Hillary is corrupt, so I’m voting for Trump’,” Mathus said. “I’d like to see more party representation, with plenty more parties.

The two-party system has been very detrimental to the growth of the nation. It only allows for two opinions, not a large amount of diverse voices. If we had more parties, there would probably be smarter, better-informed citizens, because we’d have to know what we’re voting for.”

For more information, visit the Libertarian Party’s website, the Green Party’s website, the U.S. Taxpayers’ Party’s website or the Party for Socialism and Liberation’s website.

Historically prevalent voter suppression remains controversial today NICOLE BOYD copy editor

While voter suppression tactics have changed throughout history, different sides of the political spectrum have conflicting ideas about what voter suppression may look like today.

According to the American Civil Liberties Union, voter suppression laws lead to obstacles for eligible voters. The ACLU advocates for state-level reforms such as expanding early voting, online voter registration and same-day voter registration.

These are measures that some states have opposed.

“Since 2008, states across the country have passed measures to make it harder for Americans — particularly Black people, the elderly, students and people with disabilities — to exercise their fundamental right to cast a ballot,” the website states.

Bryan Jack, an associate professor of history, said voter suppression measures after the Civil War sometimes included extralegal tactics such as violent intimidation, but were also upheld by law.

“States passed things like poll taxes where people had to pay to vote, literacy tests that were unfair literacy tests that people would have to pass, the Grandfather Clause which basically kept African Americans from voting as well, to things like Clerk Country, Mississippi, clear into the 1950s had what they called the ‘jelly bean test’ where African Americans would come in to register to vote and the local registrar would have a jar of jelly beans [and] would make them guess how many jelly beans were in the jar, and if they couldn’t answer correctly they weren’t allowed to vote,” Jack said.

Chair of the political science department and political science professor Ken Moffett said voter identification laws are considered by some to be a modern form of voter suppression.

“It’s the kind of laws that … require people to, say, have a driver’s license, or another form of government-issued photo identification. Because with a lot of those laws, you have a number of people who don’t have them, and the people who are more likely not to have that are those who

have been traditionally disadvantaged in American politics,” Moffett said. “And so consequently, the question becomes, ‘okay, do voter ID laws actually suppress peoples’ ability to go vote?’ And what political scientists have found is that there is a connection between the stricter forms of voter ID laws and voting.”

Moffett said a person’s answer to the purpose of voter ID laws indicates which side of the political spectrum they fall on.

“I’ll give you the conservative answer, which is that a voter identification law is simply a way by which you can verify in a meaningful way whether people are able to go vote … the conservative answer would go that if you have such a law, you prevent voter fraud,” Moffett said. “And so the answer from the left side of the political spectrum is that voter identification laws are connected with disenfranchising poor people and members of varying racial minorities, and that these laws are enforced in ways that are clearly differential relative to, say, whites, for example.”

Laurie Rice, professor of political science, said there are some measures in place

to prevent voter suppression.

“Most states have restrictions on how close people can campaign to the poll.

[That’s] meant to protect you by people that might be telling you to vote a certain way, and that can be really intimidating for some people who don’t want somebody telling them how to vote right as they’re going into the polls,” Rice said. “In areas where there’s concern, there are groups of lawyers that are volunteering their time advising people about election laws and stepping in when necessary.”

Erik Alexander, an associate professor in the history department, said mail-in voting may make voting more accessible, but has also created more questions.

“Because every state does this individually, it creates a lot of headaches. So …

I think that with all the main-in voting, I think that helps make voting more accessible, but it also has created more conflict and controversy as both political parties are trying to use the cords to challenge different forms of voting,” Alexander said.

To learn more about the ACLU, visit their website.

A brief history of voting laws in the U.S.

The Civil Rights Act of 1866 is passed, granting citizenship to all natural-born Americans. This did not guarantee the right to vote.

1866

1870

The 15th Amendment is ratified. This gives African American men the right to vote.

Several southern states begin to enact “grandfather clauses” to prevent Black voters from casting their ballots.

1896

1940

Poll taxes are outlawed under the 24th Amendment.

Obstacles to vote such as literacy tests and poll taxes are still in effect under Jim Crow laws, leading only 3 percent of eligible Black voters to be registered in the South.

1964

The Voting Rights Act is extended 25 years

by President Ronald Reagan. Previous extensions came under President Richard Nixon in 1970 and President Gerald Ford in 1975.

1982

1965

The Voting Rights Act is passed. This banned any practices that deny minorities the right to vote as well as any barriers purposefully placed to discourage voting by certain communities.

A record number of voting restrictions, such as photo ID requirements and cuts to early voting were passed by states.

2011

2006

Congress extends Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act another 25 years. This requires certain jurisdictions to receive clearance before implementing any voting changes.

Source: the ACLU

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Who’s on the ballot for President of the United States?

COVID-19

DONALD TRUMP REPUBLICAN

JOSEPH BIDEN DEMOCRAT

HOWIE HAWKINS GREEN

GLORIA LA RIVA PARTY FOR SOCIALISM AND LIBERATION

RACE RELATIONS/LAW • Introduced federal grants for improved policing practices and created database to track officers with excessive use-of-force complaints • First Step Act focuses on rehabilitation and judicial power • Pledges to fully fund and increase the amount of police officers in the U.S., along with increasing the penalty for assaulting a law enforcement officer

• Withdrew the U.S. from the Paris Climate Agreement • Removed limits on carbon dioxide emissions • Allows oil and gas drilling in Alaska’s Arctic Wildlife Refuge

• Outlines the following goals in his COVID-19 response plan: improve testing, produce more personal protection equipment • Invest $25 billion in manufacturing and distributing a free vaccine (when one becomes available) • Require nation-wide mask mandate

• Hopes to pass a federal law to protect right to abortion • Plans to re-enter the U.S. into • Holds a less cut-and-dry the Paris Climate Agreement stance on the Hyde Amend• Hopes to achieve net-zero ment, which keeps taxpayemissions by 2050 er money from funding • Wants to use clean electricabortions except in special ity to yield a carbon pollucases; at first he supported tion-free power sector within its repeal, but has weakened the next 15 years his stance after criticism

• Supported and influenced “tough on crime” rhetoric in the 90’s, but now is advocating for the end of mass incarceration • Will not defund police, rather reallocate funds within departments to prioritize social services

• Boasts being the “original Green New Dealer” • Create jobs in the process of creating a 100 percent clean renewable energy system

• Revive Black Panther Party’s concept of community control of the police • Reduce poverty and inequality to reduce crime, thus to reduce need for policing

• Proposes the Defense Production Act to reopen the U.S. by implementing a universal test, contract tracing and quarantine program • Supports Medicare paying for testing and treatment • Wants federal government to cover rent, mortgage and utilities for most citizens and suspends student loan payments

• Wishes to overturn Roe v.

Wade • Believes abortion is acceptable in cases of incest, rape or danger to the mother’s life

• Supports right to choose

• Provide free testing, PPE distribution • Provide hazard pay for all workers and income for those who cannot work during pandemic • Stop evictions, rent and mortgage payments until pandemic is over

• Believes capitalism and the need to make a profit leads to • Promises to defend Roe v. environmental depletion Wade • Help end environmental racism that disproportionately • Provide free healthcare and prenatal care, including free impacts communities of color contraception • Stop oil and coal companies to end fossil fuel production • Use sustainable energy

• End mass incarceration and free political prisoners, including her running mate Leonard Peltier • Supports Black Lives Matter • Supports reparations for African Americans and Native Americans

• Has not discussed specific COVID-19 policy (as of Oct. 25)

• Believes everybody is responsible for taking care of the Earth • Believes federal and state governments have power to adopt policies regarding pollution control, climate change and alternative forms of energy, provided such policies are evidence-based

• Takes a “Pro-life for whole life stance,” which includes opposing euthanasia, assisted suicide and death penalty • Supports a constitutional amendment saying there is no right to an abortion • Wants to pass laws prohibiting abortion and its funding

• Against privatization of prisons and law enforcement • Wishes to implement accountability measures and boost transparency through body cameras, civilian review boards and community policing • Plans to overturn mandatory sentencing requirements • Emphasizes restoring prisoners to communities through implementing rehabilitation-centered systems

• Opposes CARES Act, says it will make recovery hard on small businesses and end up costing most taxpayers more • Wants to end the “red tape” she believes the FDA has created, so medicine, treatments and testing can get to all patients in a timely manner

• Wants to use nuclear power plants and solar power instead of coal and oil burning power plants • Would end energy subsidies, allowing for innovation and competition

• Plans to remove governmental interference on abortion • Hopes to remove subsidies and regulations on abortion

• Would focus on treating drug addiction and federally decriminalize all drugs • Wants to defund federal policy in policing and the DEA; keep federal agencies out of local situations unless called upon • Plans end no-knock raids

• Worked as a CEO at an energy company that relied on coal mines • Resists environmental movement and thinks it has financial motivations • Withdrawal from UN programs • Repeal federal Endangered Species Act

• Believes Roe v. Wade is unconstitutional • Opposes abortion in cases of rape and incest, says “Instead of further violence of abortion, the mother and the child should be provided with compassionate care.”

• Told USA Today he believes prosecutors have too much power

• Has not released an official statement regarding COVID-19

DON BLANKENSHIP CONSTITUTION PARTY

ABORTION

• Hopes to distribute 300 million doses of a COVID-19 vaccine by January 2021 • Told Americans the experimental treatment he received will be made widely available • Formed a committee to investigate and address the pandemic’s disproportionate effects on people of color

BRIAN CARROLL AMERICAN SOLIDARITY

JO JORGENSEN LIBERTARIAN

ENVIRONMENT

Sources: BBC, NPR, candidate websites and press releases, NBC, ontheissues.org, USA Today, Los Angeles Times, New York Times, Vox and justfacts.votesmart.org Photo credits (top to bottom): Library of Congress on Unsplash; Carter Marks, Royals Media; Dennis Nett, syracruse.com; Pax Ahimsa Gethen, funcrunch.org; Royphotog, wikimedia; jo20.com; Brianhayden1980, wikimedia

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LIFESTYLES

Politics have always been a zoo!

Recently, Vice President Mike Pence carried a fly on his hair for over two minutes during the vice-presidential debate.

The incident spawned various memes, and even a “Saturday Night Live” sketch. The Biden campaign even got in on the fun with a tweet on presidential candidate Joe Biden’s Twitter account reading, “Pitch in $5 to help this campaign fly,” along with a photo of Biden himself holding a flyswatter. The campaign even started selling swatters based on the situation.

In a very different situation, Senator Bernie Sanders was faced not with a fly, but rather a bird on his podium. Since this was a more visible interaction at a more informal event, the encounter was met with thunderous applause rather than unexpected memes.

A year after the encounter happened, reporter Daniel Marans wrote in a Huffpost article, “it symbolically embodied for many of his followers the organic nature of the movement propelling him and Sanders’ seemingly preternatural connection to his audience, human or otherwise.”

Pence’s fly situation may seem familiar to those that remember the same thing happening to former presidential candidate Hillary Clinton during a debate in 2016.

In Clinton’s case, the fly was directly on her face, rather than on her hair. As expected, countless memes resulted from the event.

Texting brings new possibilities for campaigning NICOLE BOYD copy editor

Instead of having their phones ring off the hook, students may notice a lot more texts coming through. This is because political texts are becoming the new political calls in the hopes of reaching a younger generation, but young people may not know real people are sending the messages.

Vice President of the College Republicans Steven Stewart, a junior computer and information systems and finance major from Edwardsville, said text banking is a more modern way to engage with voters.

“Text banking is used by, a lot of times, political campaigns and stuff like that to kind of engage voters and get their opin-

ions on things and reach out to them in that regard, since some of the more conventional ways of reaching voters and stuff like that, like knocking on doors and phone calling is kind of outdated … [We] obviously can’t knock on doors when we’re in the middle of global pandemic, so there’s ways around that and text banking is one of them,” Stewart said.

President of the College Democrats James Beverly, a senior applied communications studies major from Los Angeles, said the College Democrats have been text banking for Betsy Dirksen Londrigan (D-Springfiled), candidate for U.S. Representative, and State Representative Katie Stuart (D-Edwardsville), using relational and data text banking.

“For Betsy Dirksen Lon-

drigan we do relational texting, where we take contacts out of our own contact list, and we’ll text them from our own personal phone numbers saying, ‘hey, I’m doing this, can we count on your support for Betsy?’ and engage in that way … they do say relational text banking is one of the most powerful ways because you already have that relationship established with them,” Beverly said. “As for Katie’s campaign, I get a list of registered voters between a certain age group and I just send a mass text to them using the app Hustle. And it’s the same way, it’s just less personal, where it’s a standard message, probably the messages you get on a day-to-day basis.”

Beverly said some people are unaware that a real person sends the texts, instead of a bot.

“They gave me a vile answer and I don’t want to just let that stand. So I think I just said, ‘can we count on your support for Katie?’ and they said something like, ‘I count on your support,’ something with my mom, and I was like, ‘do you count on Katie or not,’ and they’re like, ‘oh shoot, I’m so sorry, I didn’t know there was a person behind this,’” Beverly said.

According to Stewart, the College Republicans do not do text banking as an organization due to legal concerns.

“We found there’s some gray areas in the law that kind of prohibit just picking peoples’ phone numbers from a list and texting them. That’s not entirely clear whether it is actually legal or not,” Stewart said.

Secretary of the College

Republicans Sophia Pritchett, a sophomore political science major from Staunton, Illinois, said she regularly receives political texts, but rarely responds.

“I either ignore [the messages] … or if I’m bored I’ll reply to them, but nine times out of 10, I ignore them,” Pritchett said.

Beverly said text banking has been far more successful than phone banking.

“Most times, people will not answer a number they don’t know, but they can still look at that text and it’s harder to delete it without reading even a snippet of it, so they’ll get the idea of it.

So text banking is a lot more efficient than phone banking,” Beverly said.

To learn more about text banking or get involved, visit Demand the Vote’s webpage.

T H E

ALESTLE presents

PLAN YOUR

VOTE everything you need to make the most of your vote this election cycle WHAT TO EXPECT ON YOUR BALLOT

COMMON QUESTIONS ANSWERED

Learn a little bit about each candidate’s stance by checking out our guides to Madison County, St. Clair County, St. Louis County and St. Louis City’s 2020 ballots.

What do I need to bring with me to the polling place? What about write-ins?

What should I wear? All that and more on page 12.

BE SURE TO FILL OUT YOUR SAMPLE BALLOT BEFORE VOTING. SIMPLY COPY YOUR ‘PRACTICE BALLOT’ AT THE POLLS!

page 2

SAMPLE BALLOTS

Madison County

The Election Issue

United States Senator Richard Durbin Democrat

Durbin wants to reduce deportations, however, he is in favor of deportation if the person committed a crime. He supports common sense gun control.

Mark Curran - Republican

Curran advocates for lower taxes, labor unions and immigration reform.

Willie Wilson Willie Wilson Party

Wilson supports prison reform, Medicare for All and dismantling structural and systemic racism.

David Black - Green

Black supports universal healthcare, a $20 federal minimum wage, cutting military spending and abolishing the electoral college.

Danny Malouf Libertarian

Malouf wants to end to interventionist foreign policy and audit the federal reserve.

12th Congressional District Raymond Lenzi Democrat

Lenzi wants to encourage green energy use and increase funding for public infrastructure. He is anti-war.

Mike Bost - Republican

Bost wants to reduce agricultural regulations, expand the Medicare Advantage Program and supports a large military budget.

13th Congressional District

ating jobs, mental health awareness and easing the burden of small businesses.

Betsy Dirksen Londrigan Democrat

Londrigan wants to expand the Affordable Care Act, lower prescription drug costs and create public insurance. She supports police reform and tax reform.

Rodney Davis Republican

Davis wants to lower taxes, limit government spending, pass red flag laws and repeal the Affordable Care Act.

15th Congressional District Erika Weaver - Democrat

Weaver wants to increase funding for public schools and expand early childhood education. She supports police reform, increasing border security and creating new visa categories for entrepreneurs and lower-skilled workers.

Mary Miller - Republican

Miller is pro-life and supports a free-market healthcare system

Amy Elik - Republican

and reducing the cost of liability insurance for medical professionals.

State Rep. 95th District Chase Wilhelm Democrat

Wilhelm wants to increase funding for public school teachers and staff. He supports increased conservation efforts, lowering the cost of prescriptions and bringing psychiatrists and psychologists to rural hospitals.

Avery Bourne Republican

Bourne supports term limits and is pro-life. She wants to lower income taxes and property taxes. She hopes to strengthen state ethics laws and enact independent redistricting reform.

State Rep. 100th District

State Rep. 108th District

Brandon Adams Democrat

Kacie Weicherding Democrat

Adams supports expanding Medicaid, increasing funding for social services and expanding internet access in rural areas to bridge the digital divide. He advocates for lowering the voting age to 16 and providing early civics education.

C.D. Davidsmeyer Republican

Davidsmeyer is pro-life and has historically voted against raising the wages of teachers.

Ralph Sides Pro-gun Pro-life Party

Sides supports term limits and wants to end gerrymandering.

Weicherding advocates for tuition-free community college, access to early childhood education and equal pay for women.

Charles Meier Republican

Meier is against lawmakers giving themselves pay raises and raising taxes. He is pro-gun and pro-life.

State Rep. 111th District Monica Bristow Democrat

Bristow’s main concerns are cre-

Elik is pro-life and a strong supporter of the Second Amendment. She wants to reduce taxes and limit government spending.

State Rep. 112th District Katie Stuart - Democrat

Stuart supports law enforcement and affordable healthcare. She is against taxing retirement funds.

Lisa Ciampoli Republican

Ciampoli wants to lower property

taxes and decrease state spending.

She supports term limits, ethics reform and the Second Amendment.

Judges

Part of the second page of the ballot asks questions about judicial election and retention. To learn more about each judge, visillinoiscourts.gov. it illinoiscourts.gov

SAMPLE BALLOTS

The Election Issue

page 3

Madison County County Board Chairman Robert Daiber - Democrat

Daiber is the former Regional Superintendent of Schools. He wants to cut the county’s budget to save taxpayers money.

Kurt Prenzler - Republican

Prenzler is the current Madison County Board Chairman. He is opposed to Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s “Fair Tax.”

County Board District 2 DeAnn Rizzi - Democrat

Rizzi has been in public safety for 25 years. She said she supports law enforcement and unions.

Stacey Pace - Republican

Pace is a community educator for First Community Credit Union.

She wants to lower taxes. She is pro-life.

County Board District 3 Maria Ferrari - Democrat

Ferrari is a police officer and says she will bring her union family values to office with her.

William Meyer Republican

State Rep. 113th District Jay Hoffman - Democrat

Hoffman wants to protect U.S. steelworkers by discouraging the use of cheaper steel from China and create job training programs for returning veterans.

Mark Elmore - Libertarian

Elmore wants to reform the Illinois foster care system to provide more stable homes for the children. He is advocating for a smaller government with lower taxes, less spending and term limits.

Ryan Musick Constitution

Musick supports lower taxes and reducing the salary of state employees to balance the state’s budget. He wants to ban abortion and provide women who are pregnant due to rape or incest with state-funded counseling resources.

Circuit Clerk Amy Gabriel - Democrat

Gabriel is a former prosecutor for the state’s attorney. She said her experience working directly with the community will help her in the position.

Tom McRae - Republican

McRae is a former county board member. He is opposed to county politicians “politicking on the public dime” through government computers.

Meyer is a current county board member. He wants to establish a code of conduct for the board.

State’s Attorney Crystal Uhe - Democrat

Uhe is the First Assistant State’s Attorney and Chief of the Violent Crimes Unit. She wants to fight against elder abuse.

Tom Haine - Republican

Haine is a former prosecutor for U.S. Army Judge Advocate General’s Corps. He said he will enforce the law “swiftly and justly.”

Auditor Joe Silkwood - Democrat

Silkwood is the mayor of East Alton. He wants to protect citizens’ data security.

County Board District 4 Kelly Simpson Democrat

Simpson wants to be bipartisan and work with board members regardless of their political party.

Bobby Ross - Republican

Ross is a small business owner.

He wants to keep property taxes low and balance the budget.

County Board District 18 Jack Minner - Democrat

Minner is a current county board member. He said he wants to balance the budget.

Richard Keasy Republican

David MichaelRepublican

Keasy is a retired military colonel.

He has called Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s COVID-19 restrictions oppressive. He said he is a supporter of the Second Amendment.

Coroner

County Board District 19

Michael is a certified CPA. He wants to lower taxes and balance the budget.

Steve Nonn - Democrat

Nonn chose not to take a pension with his position as coroner to save taxpayer money.

Adam Micun - Republican

Micun supports term limits for coroner. He also wants to lower government spending.

Dina Burch - Democrat

Burch doesn’t have any clear stances listed on her campaign page, but she said she wants to lower property taxes in an interview with the Belleville News-Democrat.

Aaron Messner -

Republican

Messner opposes the “Fair Tax” proposed by Gov. J.B. Pritzker.

He believes it will raise taxes for working families. He is also opposed to the closure of nuclear power plants.

County Board District 20 Kristen Novacich-Koberna Democrat

Novachich is a vocal supporter of law enforcement and has posted Blue Lives Matter content on her campaign page frequently.

Denise Wiehardt Republican

Wiehardt doesn’t have a campaign page and doesn’t have any stances listed on her personal Facebook account.

County Board District 26 Collin VanMeter Democrat

VanMeter is a desktop engineer for SIUE and also a staff senator.

He wants to end corruption on the Madison County Board. He said he will represent all Madison County residents regardless of their political beliefs.

currently has a flat tax where all personal income is taxes at 4.95 percent.

A graduated income tax system separates pay into fixed income brackets, taxing each at the lowest rate. The first $10,000 of an individual’s income would be taxed at 4.75 percent. The second bracket of income between $10,000 and $100,000 would be taxed at 4.9 percent and so on.

County Referendum This referendum would reduce property taxes from .2 percent to .18 percent. For a $250,000 home, this would reduce property taxes from $5,000 to $4,500.

Advisory Question 1 The Illinois General Assembly receives an annual salary increase and only a vote from the General Assembly can end this practice.

However, the Madison County Board put this question on the ballot to show the General Assembly what the voters in Madison County think they should do.

Erica Conway Harriss Republican

Advisory Question 2

County Board District 27

Madison County officials are able to receive a pension from prior service while being in a different salaried position. This is referred to as “double dipping.”

The board members that proposed this question say that this practice is unfair to taxpayers due to the state’s underfunded pension system.

Harriss is a current county board member. She wants to lower property taxes and balance the budget.

Paul Rydgig - Democrat

Rydgig is a supervisor for a contracting company. He doesn’t have a campaign website and doesn’t have any stances listed on his personal Facebook account.

Heather Mueller-Jones Republican

Mueller-Jones is a lawyer. She wants to lower taxes and better support families.

County Board District 29 Jim Trucano - Democrat

Trucano is the current Collinsville Township Highway Commissioner. He says he will support workers and their families and promote economic growth.

Ryan Kneedler Republican

Kneedler is a lifelong Collinsville resident. He said he wants to “reduce government redundancy.”

He also supports law enforcement and wants to lower taxes.

Constitutional Amendment This amendment would create a graduated income tax system, meaning higher-earning people and businesses would pay increasingly higher taxes. Illinois

Sanitary District The President and Board of Commissioners of the Metro East have deemed it necessary to replace the lining of the sewer system and man hole covers. The district has insufficient funds to do so and requires a vote from citizens to take out a loan in order to complete the improvements.

Wood River Question Citizens posed this advisory question, but the city does not have to abide by the vote.

Wood River is planning to build a new recreational center, but the city says they have no plans to tear down Roundhouse.

Michael Holliday Sr (D - District 8) and Victor Valentine Jr. (D District 17) are running unopposed and do not have campaign pages.

Sources pertaining to each candidate’s position, as well as each proposition or amendment, are: campaign websites, campaign Facebook and Twitter pages, ballotpedia.org and votesmart.org.

page 4

SAMPLE BALLOTS

St. Clair County

The Election Issue

U.S. Senator Mark C. Curran Republican

Curran has served as a sheriff in the Lake County Sheriff Department and as a senior prosecutor at the Lake County state’s attorney office. He is advocating for lower taxes and supports labor unions.

He is pro-life and supports immigration reform.

Richard J. Durbin Democrat

He has voted in favor of prochoice policies. In 2014, he urged the Department of Homeland Security to reduce deportations, however he is in favor of deportation if the person committed a crime. He is a proponent of common sense gun control.

Willie L. Wilson - Willie Wilson Party

Wilson ran for Chicago mayor in 2019 and lost to Lori Lightfoot.

He is a supporter of prison reform and wants to dismantle structural and systemic racism. He supports Medicare For All.

David F. Black - Green Party`

Black supports universal healthcare and is advocating for a $20 federal minimum wage. He wants to cut military spending by 75 percent and abolish the electoral college.

Danny Malouf Libertarian

Malouf is advocating for an end to interventionist foreign policy including spying programs and foreign aid. He wants to end the War on Drugs and audit the Federal Reserve.

U.S. Rep. District 12 Mike Bost - Republican

Bost has been a congressman since 2015. He wants to reduce agricultural regulations. He is a proponent of expanding the Medicare Advantage Program to increase competition between insurance companies. He supports a large military budget. He is opposed to privatizing or raising the age for Medicare.

Raymond C. LenziDemocrat

Lenzi’s first priority is to solve the climate crisis and encourage green energy use. He is anti-war and has been since he was protesting in the 60s. He wants to increase funding for public infrastructure.

State Senator District 58 Terri Bryant - Republican

Bryant represents District 115 in the Illinois House of Representatives. She is pro-life and supports U.S Rep. can be found at the bottom of page one on the ballot (shown on this page). State Senator and State Reps. can be found on the second page of the ballot (shown on the sample ballot to the right).

gun owners’ rights. She also wants to increase investments in education.

pay workers under 18 below minimum wage. She also supports equal pay for women.

State Rep. District 113

state employees to balance the state’s budget. He wants to ban abortion and provide women who are pregnant due to rape or incest state-funded counseling resources.

State Rep. State Rep. Jay Hoffman - Democrat Hoffman has been a state repreDistrict 112 District CERTIFY 108 I HEREBY THAT THIS SPECIMEN BALLOT IS A2013.

TRUE AND StateCOPY Rep.OF sentative since He aims to CORRECT protect U.S. steelworkers disTHE OFFICES, CANDIDATES, TO BE by VOTED AT THE GENERAL Lisa AND/OR Ciampoli - PROPOSITIONS District 114 couraging the use of cheaper steel Charles E. Meier Republican ELECTION TO BE HELD IN ST. CLAIR COUNTY, ON TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 3, 2020.

Republican

Meier has been a state representative since 2013. He is against lawmakers giving themselves pay raises and raising taxes. He is pro-gun and pro-life. He was endorsed by the Illinois Sheriff’s Association.

Kacie Weicherding Democrat

Weicherding advocates for tuition-free community college and access to early childhood education. She wants to abolish the policy that allows employers to

Ciampoli is a former Madison County board member. She wants to lower property taxes and decrease state spending. She supports term limits and ethics reform. She is also a supporter of the 2nd Amendment.

Katie Stuart Democrat

Stuart has been a state representative since 2017. She supports law enforcement and other public employees. She advocates for affordable healthcare. She is against taxing retirement funds.

from China. He wants to create Dave Barnes - Republican job training programs for returnis the trustee for St. Clair ing veterans.

THOMAS HOLBROOK, Barnes COUNTY CLERK Mark Elmore - Libertarian Township. He wants to lower ST. CLAIR taxes to increase employment. He Elmore wants to COUNTY, reform the Il-ILLINOIS linois foster care system to pro- supports gun ownership, law and vide more stable homes for the order and banning abortion. children. He is advocating for a LaToya N. Greenwood smaller government with lower Democrat taxes and less spending. He is also Greenwood has been a state repa strong supporter of term limits. resentative since 2017. She has Ryan C. Musick voted in favor of lowering insulin prices and allowing student-athConstitution Musick wants to lower taxes and letes to be compensated for the supports reducing the salary of use of their name and likeness.

The Election Issue

SAMPLE BALLOTS

St. Clair County

page 5

County Board District 2 Marvin B. Strode Republican

Strode does not have a campaign page.

Harry Hollingsworth Democrat

Hollingsworth is a current board member. He does not have a campaign page.

County Board District 4 Robert A. Wilhelm Republican

Wilhelm is running unopposed.

He does not have a campaign page.

County Board District 5 Lonnie Mosley - Democrat

Mosley is running unopposed.

He is a current board member and does not have a campaign page.

County Board District 6 Roy Mosley Jr. - Democrat Mosley is running unopposed.

He is a current board member and does not have a campaign page.

County Board District 9 Cheryl A. Mathews Republican

Mathews is against Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s “Fair Tax.”

C. Richard Vernier Democrat

Vernier is a current county board member. He wants to improve St. Clair County’s roads.

County Board District 10 State Rep. District 116

State Attorney Jim Gomric - Democrat

supporter of the Second Amendment and is pro-life.

Kahalah Clay Democrat

Jameson is a real estate agent and believes this makes him more qualified for the position.

Mike Costello -

I HEREBY CERTIFY Gormic THAT THIS SPECIMEN A TRUE AND CORRECT COPY OF is running unopposed. BALLOT Clay is the IS current circuit clerk.

Democrat He was appointed in 2019.PROPOSITIONS He She has digitized David Friess - Republican has been recorder since theBE St. VOTED Clair Costello THE OFFICES, CANDIDATES, AND/OR TO AT THE GENERAL Friess wants to lower taxes and doesn’t have any clear stances on Circuit Clerk’s office with court 1984.

BE HELD IN ST.Facebook.

CLAIR COUNTY, ON TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 3, 2020. his campaign create ELECTION more jobs. He TO is pro-life date text reminders and an onand a supporter of the second Amendment. He wants to enact term limits.

Nathan Reitz- Democrat

Reitz has been a state representative since 2019. He supports law enforcement and voted against the legalization of recreational marijuana. He is also pro-life.

County Board Chairman Mark Kern - Democrat

Kern is running unopposed.

County Coroner Calvin Dye - Democrat

Dye is the current coroner and is running unopposed. He does not have a campaign page.

Circuit Clerk Jason Madlock Republican

Madlock ran against LaToya Greenwood for State Representative and lost in 2018. He is a

line docket.

County Board

THOMAS HOLBROOK, COUNTY CLERK of Review County ST. CLAIRAuditor COUNTY, ILLINOIS Patty Sprague Democrat

Sprauge is running unopposed.

She does not have a campaign page.

County Recorder Doug Jameson Republican

Jim Wilson - Republican

Wilson has been on the Board of Review for six years. He believes his experience as a Real Estate Agent and Board of Review Chairman will help him in the position.

Kinnis Williams Sr. Democrat

Williams has been a member of the East St. Louis School District Board for 23 years. He does not have a campaign page.

Cindi A. McDonald Republican

McDonald opposes raising taxes.

She has said if she is elected to the board she will opt out of health insurance to save taxpayer money.

Charles J. “C.J.” Baricevic - Democrat

Baricevic is a current board member. He does not have a campaign page.

County Board District 15 John Coers - Republican

Coers is running unopposed. He does not have a campaign page.

Connect with us on: @thealestle @thealestle

page 6

County Board District 16

SAMPLE BALLOTS

St. Clair County

The Election Issue

David B. Langford Republican

Langford wants to take control of the cost of the Mid America Airport.

Randy C. Bolle Democrat

Bolle believes the current most important needs are infrastructure and public safety, such as safe streets and transit as well as properly constructed roads.

County Board District 24 Marty Crawford Democrat

Crawford is a current board member. Crawford looks to support senior citizens and provide jobs for youth.

County Board District 25 Thomas “Tom” Stahl Republican

Stahl is concerned about the sewer and storm drain system in Cahokia.

James Haywood Democrat

Haywood is a current board member. He does not have a campaign page.

Courtney D. MooreIndependent

This candidate does not have a campaign website.

County Board District 26 Rick Casey - Republican

Casey supports increased protection for police officers, budget cuts, and increased communication among Caseyville residents according to the Belleville NewsDemocrat.

John Waldron Democrat

Waldron plans to improve sewer services in Caseyville.

Judges I HEREBY CERTIFY THAT THIS SPECIMEN BALLOT IS A TRUE AND CORRECT COPY The end of page three ofTHE the St. OFFICES, CANDIDATES, AND/OR PROPOSITIONS TO BE VOTED AT THE GENER Clair County ballot (shown on ELECTION TO BE HELD IN ST. CLAIR COUNTY, ON TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 3, 2020. this page) and the beginning of page four (shown above the main ballot) asks questions pertaining to keeping judges in office, and electing new judges. Learn more about each judge, including their backgrounds and performance reviews, by visiting illinoiscourts. gov.

Sources pertaining to each canidate’s position, as well as each proposition or amendment, are: campaign websites, campaign Facebook and Twitter pages, Belleville News-Democrat and ballotpedia.org.

THOMAS HOLBROOK, COUNTY CLERK ST. CLAIR COUNTY, ILLINOIS

Proposition If the majority of St. Clair County voters choose ‘yes,’ the Metro East Sanitary District will give Landsdowne Sewer System 14 million dollars to improve the current sewer system.

City of Cahokia Heights St. Clair County voters will be asked to decide whether or not Cahokia and Alcentra should be combined to create one community due to a de-

crease in population, according to the Belleville News-Democrat.

In March, Centreville and Alorton were combined to form the City of Alcentra. If the majority of voters choose ‘yes’, they newly combined city will be called Cahokia Heights.

County Board members are located on both page two and three of the ballot (shown on pages five and six here). Page four of the ballot has a final judicial question, proposition and City of Cahokia Heights question (shown here).

SAMPLE BALLOTS

The Election Issue

page 7

St. Louis County Sample Ballot

Sample Ballot

Precinct

FOR OFFICE USE ONLY:

Precinct CC-020

FOR OFFICE USE ONLY: REP ______ DEM ______ REP ______ DEM ______

November 3, 2020

ST. LOUIS COUNTY, MISSOURI

Paul Venable Constitution Party

ST. LOUIS COUNTY, MISSOURI

SECRETARY OF STATE

Four yearterm term Four year Vote ForOne One Vote For

Fourterm year term Four year Vote For One Vote For One

DONALD TRUMP MICHAEL DONALD J. J. TRUMP andand MICHAEL REPUBLICAN R.PENCE PENCE REPUBLICAN R.

SECRETARY OF STATE

COUNTY EXECUTIVE communities,

stronger COUNTY EXECUTIVE

support-

ingEnding an educated workforce, imUnexpired Term Unexpired Term 2022 Ending 2022 proving infrastructure and govVote For One Vote For One ernment reform.

(JAY) ASHCROFT JOHN JOHN R. (JAY)R. ASHCROFT REPUBLICAN REPUBLICAN

23093 v1

U.S. PRESIDENT and VICE PRESIDENT U.S. PRESIDENT and VICE PRESIDENT

Venable believes America must return to God, while ensuring that the government does not threaten citizens’ liberties, which they are supposed to protect.

23093 v1

GENERAL ELECTION GENERAL ELECTION SAINT LOUIS COUNTY SAINT LOUIS November 3,COUNTY 2020

istration deadlines and other rules that provide obstacles to voting.

Under his plan, all citizens would CC-020 automatically be registered to vote upon turning 18, and ballots would be mailed to all eligible voters.

PAUL BERRY III REPUBLICAN PAUL BERRY III REPUBLICAN Nicole Galloway -

Democrat

SAM PAGE DEMOCRATIC SAM PAGE DEMOCRATIC

State Treasurer

SSA AM MP PL LEE B BA A LL LL O OT T

Galloway wants to lower health JOSEPH R.R. BIDEN andand KAMALA D. D. YINKAYINKA FALETI FALETI DEMOCRATIC JOSEPH BIDEN KAMALA DEMOCRATIC Scott Fitzpatrick care costs, require law SR. enforceDEMOCRATIC THEO BROWN, SR. LIBERTARIAN HARRIS THEO BROWN, LIBERTARIAN HARRIS DEMOCRATIC ment to wear body cameras and CARL HERMAN FREESE FREESE Republican CARL HERMAN extend (BETSEY) paid family leave to 12 Fitzpatrick is the incumbent canLIBERTARIAN JO and JEREMY ELIZABETH MITCHELL LIBERTARIAN JOJORGENSEN JORGENSEN and JEREMY ELIZABETH (BETSEY) MITCHELL weeks. GREEN LIBERTARIAN GREEN (SPIKE) COHEN LIBERTARIAN didate. His priorities include im(SPIKE) COHEN PAUL LEHMANN GREEN Rik Combs - Libertarian PAUL LEHMANN GREEN proving financial literacy and proHOWIE HAWKINS and ANGELA Combs is pro-life, pro-gun and moting job creation in the state.

HOWIE HAWKINS and ANGELA PAUL VENABLE CONSTITUTION NICOLE WALKER GREEN wants to cut government size PAUL VENABLE CONSTITUTION NICOLE WALKER GREEN Write-in Vicki Lorenz Englund Write-in and spending at all levels. He also DON BLANKENSHIP and WILLIAM wants to COURT drastically slash taxes for DON BLANKENSHIP Democrat MISSOURI SUPREME CONSTITUTION and WILLIAM MOHR MISSOURI SUPREME COURT Missourians.

Write-in MOHR CONSTITUTION Englund has emphasized the need PATRICIA BRECKENRIDGE Write-in Jerome Bauer - Green for an economic recovery plan to PATRICIA BRECKENRIDGE Shall Judge PATRICIA BRECKENRIDGE of the Party STATE TREASURER target small business loans in areas Shall PATRICIA BRECKENRIDGE the Write-in Missouri Supreme Court be retained in health STATE TREASURER BauerJudge supports universal mostofimpacted by the COVID-19 Four year term Write-in office?

Missouri Supreme Court betransretained in care, disability rights and pandemic.

Vote For One Four year term U.S. REPRESENTATIVE DISTRICT 2 portation equity and accessibility.

YES office?

Nick Kasoff - Libertarian Vote For FITZPATRICK One SCOTT REPUBLICAN U.S. REPRESENTATIVE DISTRICT 2 Two year term YES Kasoff supports a ranked-choice SCOTT FITZPATRICK REPUBLICAN NO Vote For Two yearOne term voting system and reducing govVICKI LORENZ ENGLUND NO Vote For One ernment spending.

DEMOCRATIC ANN WAGNER REPUBLICAN VICKI LORENZ ENGLUND ANN WAGNER REPUBLICAN

DEMOCRATIC

JILL SCHUPP DEMOCRATIC

NICHOLAS (NICK) KASOFF LIBERTARIAN

JILL SCHUPP DEMOCRATIC

MARTIN SCHULTE LIBERTARIAN

MARTIN SCHULTE LIBERTARIAN

NICHOLAS (NICK) KASOFF LIBERTARIAN JOSEPH CIVETTINI GREEN JOSEPH CIVETTINI GREEN

Write-in

Write-in GOVERNOR

Four year term GOVERNOR Vote For One

Four year term MIKE PARSON REPUBLICAN Vote For One

Lieutenant MISSOURI COURT OF APPEALS Governor EASTERN DISTRICT

MISSOURI COURT OF APPEALS

EASTERN DISTRICT KURT S. ODENWALD

Mike Kehoe - Republican Shall Judge KURT S. ODENWALD of the KURT KehoeS. isODENWALD the incumbent

Civettini supports a choice voting system.

Eastern District Court of Appeals be retained date,Judge holding this S.position since of the Shall KURT ODENWALD in office?

Write-in

YES

Write-in ATTORNEY GENERAL

NO

Four year term ATTORNEY GENERAL Vote For One

candi-

Joseph Civettini - Green Party

ranked-

Attorney General

June 2018.

His Court priorities include be retained Eastern District of Appeals growing in office? new jobs and advocating for seniors’ rights and interests.

YES

ROBIN RANSOM

Alissia Canady NODemocrat

Eric Schmitt - Republican

Canady wants to expand Medic- As attorney general, Schmitt Four year term REPUBLICAN Shall Judge ROBIN RANSOM theviolence Eastern and ERIC SCHMITT aid and combat of gun worked to address the opioid District Court of Appeals be retained Vote For One ROBIN RANSOM NICOLE GALLOWAY DEMOCRATIC social inequity throughincommu- crisis, human trafficking and the MIKE PARSON REPUBLICAN office?

RICH FINNERAN DEMOCRATIC Shall Judge ROBIN RANSOM of thethousands Eastern of untested sexual asnity resources and education.

ERIC SCHMITT REPUBLICAN RIK COMBS LIBERTARIAN YES District Court of Appeals be retained in NICOLE GALLOWAY DEMOCRATIC Bill Slantz - Libertarian sault kits waiting to be logged.

KEVIN C BABCOCK LIBERTARIAN office?

RICH FINNERAN DEMOCRATIC Slantz has declared that if he wins JEROME HOWARD BAUER GREEN Rich Finneran NO RIK COMBS LIBERTARIAN the race, he will work to abolish YES Democrat KEVIN C BABCOCK LIBERTARIAN the lieutenant governor position Finneran plans to protect the exWrite-in JEROME HOWARD BAUER GREEN 21st JUDICIAL COURT NOthe toCIRCUIT reduce size of the govern- pansion of Medicaid in court, Write-in ment. combat biases in the justice sysRICHARD M. STEWART STATE REPRESENTATIVE DISTRICT 89 Kelley Dragoo - Green tem and fight fraud through reWrite-in LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR Division No. 2 Shall Judge RICHARD M. 21st JUDICIAL CIRCUIT COURT Two year term Party covering money for victims of Write-in STEWART, Circuit Judge of Judicial Circuit Four year term Vote For One Dragooin supports a ranked-choice economic crimes.

RICHARD M. STEWART STATE REPRESENTATIVE DISTRICT 89 No. 21, be retained office?

Vote For One voting system, universal healthDEAN PLOCHER REPUBLICAN LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR Kevin Babcock No. 2 - Shall Judge RICHARD M. YES Division Two year term care and increased public transMIKE KEHOE REPUBLICAN STEWART, Circuit Judge of Judicial Circuit Libertarian Four year term Vote For One DEMOCRATIC LUKE BARBER portation.

NO No. 21, be retained in office?

Vote For One CANADY DEMOCRATIC Babcock does not currently have a ALISSIA DEAN PLOCHER REPUBLICAN campaign website set up; howevYES MIKE KEHOE REPUBLICAN BILL SLANTZ LIBERTARIAN er, Libertarians usually advocate Write-inLUKE BARBER DEMOCRATIC RENEE HARDIN-TAMMONS for as little governmental interferNO ALISSIA CANADY DEMOCRATIC Division No. 5 - Shall Judge RENEE KELLEY DRAGOO GREEN ence in individuals’ lives as possiHARDIN-TAMMONS, Circuit Judge of ble.

Judicial Circuit No. 21, be retained in office?

BILL SLANTZ LIBERTARIAN

Secretary of State

Write-in

Write-in KELLEY

YES

Write-in

Anne Wagner - Republican Wagner has held this seat since 2013. She is pro-life and supports lower taxes and reducing government spending. She also championed the Stop Advertising Victims of Exploitation Act, which was passed in 2015. Also known as the SAVE Act, this act works to combat human trafficking.

Jill Schupp - Democrat limited the rights it is supposed Schupp has served in both Mis- to protect. He also believes busisouri’s House and Senate. If nesses should be allowed to fully elected, she has vowedBoth to fightSides to operate withBallot precautions, despite Read of the protect and improve the Afford- the COVID-19 pandemic. He able Care Act, work with small doesn’t support Medicaid and opbusiness owners and expand pro- poses any tax increases. tections for workers. She is also Read comBoth Sides of the Ballot pro-choice and supports mon-sense gun laws.

Martin Schulte Libertarian

Schulte believes Congress has been attempting to play moral police in recent years and has

State Rep. District 89

Division No.of5state, - Shall Judge has RENEE As secretary Ashcroft HARDIN-TAMMONS, Circuit Judge of opposed regulations that create NO Judicial Circuit No.businesses 21, be retained challenges for new and in office?

DRAGOO GREEN

U.S. Rep. District 2

RENEE HARDIN-TAMMONS Jay Ashcroft - Republican

Governor

Mike Parson - Republican

Parson has been serving as Missouri’s governor since June 2018.

His top priorities are building

vowed YES to reduce spending in the secretary of state office. He supports strong voter identification NO requirements.

Yinka Faleti - Democrat

Faleti promotes cutting red tape that prevents new businesses from thriving and supports the expansion of Medicaid.

Carl Herman Freese Libertarian

Freese supports reducing taxes and government regulations.

Paul Lehmann - Green Party

Lehmann’s platform focuses on voting rights and eliminating reg-

Dean Plocher - Republican

Plocher has held this House seat since 2016. Plocher’s priorities if elected include promoting job and economic growth, eliminating regulations that kill jobs, pushing for tax reform and ensuring quality schools.

Luke Barber - Democrat

Barber is an advocate for those with disabilities and has been diagnosed with autism. If elected, he plans to continue advocating for greater accessibility and inclusion. He also supports expanding Medicaid and universal early childhood education.

SAMPLE BALLOTS

page 8

The Election Issue

St. Louis County

County Exec.

Sample Ballot

Paul Berry III - Republican

does not have a campaign CRETARYBrown OF STATE

website established. The Libertarur year term ian Party generally supports limitte For One ing government size.

- Green JOHNBetsey R. (JAY)Mitchell ASHCROFT Mitchell has vowed to call for REPUBLICAN

immediate outside investigations into cases of racist and sexist beYINKA FALETI DEMOCRATIC haviors among law enforcement.

She also supports raising the minCARL HERMAN FREESE imum wage to $15 per hour and LIBERTARIAN making COVID-19 testing available to all citizens free of charge.

PAUL LEHMANN GREEN

Judges

PAUL VENABLE CONSTITUTION

JOHN N. BORBONUS

COUNTY EXECUTIVE

Division No. 6 - Shall Judge JOHN N. Unexpired Term Ending 2022 BORBONUS, Circuit Judge of Judicial Circuit Vote No.For 21, One be retained in office?

PAUL YES BERRY III REPUBLICAN SAM PAGE DEMOCRATIC

NO

Constitutional NICHOLAS (NICK) KASOFF Amendment 1 LIBERTARIAN

PL E

Missouri’s governor and state treasurer both already have a twoJOSEPH CIVETTINI GREEN term limit placed on them, allowing one person to only serve in these positions for a total of eight years. Currently, no such restricWrite-in tion exists for other statewide positions. If this amendment passes, TORNEYthe GENERAL lieutenant governor, secretary of state, state auditor and attorney ur year term general positions will all be limte For One ited so that one person may only ERIC SCHMITT REPUBLICAN stay in each office for two terms.

Constitutional 3 KEVIN Amendment C BABCOCK LIBERTARIAN RICH FINNERAN DEMOCRATIC

Sources pertaining to each candidate’s positions and the amendments are: campaign websites, campaign social media pages and ballotpedia.org.

JOHN N. BORBONUS

ROBERT M. HEGGIE

No. 21, be retained in office?

Division No. 42 - Shall Judge ROBERT M. HEGGIE, Associate Circuit Judge of Judicial Circuit No. 21, be retained in office?

Division No. 42 - Shall Judge ROBERT M. Division No. 6Circuit - ShallJudge Judge HEGGIE, Associate ofJOHN JudicialN. BORBONUS, Circuit Judge of Judicial Circuit Circuit No. 21, be retained in office?

YES

YES

YES

NO NO

NO

MARY ELIZABETH OTT

MATTHEW H. HEARNE OTT MARY ELIZABETH

MATTHEW H. HEARNE

ELIZABETH OTT, Circuit Judge of Judicial Circuit No. 21, be retained in office?

Division No. No. 44 - 7Shall Judge MATTHEW Division - Shall Judge MARY H. ELIZABETH OTT,Circuit Circuit Judge Judicial HEARNE, Associate Judge of of Judicial Circuit 21,retained be retained in office?

Circuit No. No. 21, be in office?

Division No. 44 - Shall Judge MATTHEW H. HEARNE, Associate Circuit Judge of Judicial Circuit No. 21, be retained in office?

ELIZABETH (BETSEY) MITCHELL Division No. 7 - Shall Judge MARY GREEN

YES Write-in

MISSOURI NOSUPREME COURT

YES YES

YES

NO NO

NO

PATRICIA BRECKENRIDGE

KRISTINE ALLEN KERR Shall JudgeALLEN PATRICIA KRISTINE KERRBRECKENRIDGE of the CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT NO. 1 Division No. 14 - Shall Judge KRISTINE Missouri Supreme Court be retained in Division No. 14 - Shall Judge KRISTINE Proposed the 100th General ALLENbyKERR, Circuit JudgeAssembly of Judicial Circuit office?

ALLEN KERR, Circuit Judge of Judicial Circuit (FirstNo. Regular Session) (SS SJR 14 & 9) 21, be retained inSCS office?

No. 21,YES be retained in office?

Do you wantYES to amend the Missouri YES Constitution to extend the two term NO NO currently applies to the restriction that

NO

MISSOURI COURT OF APPEALS EASTERN DISTRICT

21st S. JUDICIAL CIRCUIT COURT KURT ODENWALD

Governor and Treasurer to the Lt. Governor, Secretary of State, Auditor and the Attorney 21st JUDICIAL CIRCUIT COURT General?

ASSOCIATES State and local governmental entities

ASSOCIATES NICOLE S. ZELLWEGER Shall Judge KURT S. ODENWALD of the estimate no costs or savings from this Eastern District Court of Appeals be retained Division No. 31 - Shall Judge NICOLE S. NICOLE S. ZELLWEGER proposal. in office?

ZELLWEGER, Associate Circuit Judge of Division No. 31 - Shall Judge NICOLE S. YES Circuit No. 21, be retained in office?

Judicial YES ZELLWEGER, Associate Circuit Judge of Judicial Circuit No. 21, be retained in office?

NO

YES

ROBIN RANSOM

NO

Shall Judge ROBIN RANSOM of the Eastern District Court of Appeals be retained in office?

LORNE J. BAKER YESNo. 35 - Shall Judge LORNE J. Division

BAKER, Associate Circuit Judge of Judicial CircuitNO No. 21, be retained in office?

SA M

This amendment would counteract one passed by voters in 2018.

The 2018 amendment, which reWrite-in ceived 62 percent approval, called for the creation of a nonpartisan ATE REPRESENTATIVE DISTRICT 89 for state demographer responsible redistricting within this state. The o year term current amendment would reverse te For One this measure, putting redistricting back into the REPUBLICAN hands of a bipartiDEAN PLOCHER san commission appointed by the governor. amendment would LUKE BARBERThis DEMOCRATIC also change the threshold for gifts from lobbyists from $5 to $0, banning them completely. Furthermore, the amendment would Write-in lower the campaign contribution limit from $2,500 to $2,400 for state senate campaigns.

ROBERT M. HEGGIE

THEO BROWN, SR. LIBERTARIAN

BA L

VICKI LORENZ ENGLUND DEMOCRATIC

FOR OFFICE USE ONLY: REP ______ DEM ______

ST. LOUIS COUNTY, MISSOURI

LO

Most of the third column on page 1 of St. Louis County’s ballot and almost all of page 2 are dedicated to judges. Citizens are asked Write-in to vote whether they think these judges should be retained. Learn ATE TREASURER more about each judge, including their backgrounds and ur year term performance reviews, te For One by visiting SCOTT y o uFITZPATRICK r m i s s o u r i - REPUBLICAN judges.com.

November 3, 2020

Precinct CC-020

23093 v1

Theo Brown Sr. Libertarian

ST. LOUIS COUNTY, MISSOURI

23093 v1

As county executive, Page issued an executive order which prohibited the county from asking job applicants about their salary history. He has also worked to improve safety on the MetroLink.

Sample Ballot

PL SA E B M A PL LL O E T BA

- Democrat REP Sam ______Page DEM ______

GENERAL ELECTION FOR OFFICE USE ONLY: SAINT LOUIS COUNTY REP ______ DEM ______ Precinct CC-020 GENERAL ELECTION November 3, 2020 SAINT LOUIS COUNTY

T

Berry opposes any merger beSample tween the cityBallot of St. Louis and St. Louis County. He supports fully reopening the economy and opFOR OFFICE USE poses defunding theONLY: police.

YES

21st JUDICIAL CIRCUIT COURT RICHARDNO M. STEWART

Division No. 2 - Shall Judge RICHARD M. STEWART, Circuit Judge of Judicial Circuit JOHN F. NEWSHAM No. 21, be retained in office?

Division No. 40 - Shall Judge JOHN YES NEWSHAM, Associate Circuit Judge of JudicialNO Circuit No. 21, be retained in office?

YES

RENEE HARDIN-TAMMONS

NO

Division No. 5 - Shall Judge RENEE HARDIN-TAMMONS, Circuit Judge of Judicial Circuit No. 21, be retained in office?

VIRGINIA W. LAY YESNo. 41 - Shall Judge VIRGINIA W. Division LAY, Associate Circuit Judge of Judicial NO Circuit No. 21, be retained in office?

YES

NO

CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT NO. 1

Proposed by the 100th General Assembly (First Regular Session) (SS SCS SJR 14 & 9)

Do you want to amend the Missouri Constitution to extend the two term restriction that currently applies to the Governor and Treasurer to the Lt. Governor, Secretary of State, Auditor and the Attorney General?

State and local governmental entities estimate no costs or savings from this proposal.

YES NO

YES NO

CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT NO. 3

LORNEbyJ.the BAKER Proposed 100th General Assembly Division No.Session) 35 - Shall LORNE J. (Second Regular (SS 3Judge SJR 38)

BAKER, Associate Circuit Judge of Judicial

CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT NO. 3 Proposed by the 100th General Assembly (Second Regular Session) (SS 3 SJR 38)

Shall the Missouri Constitution be amended to:

ShallCircuit the Missouri No. 21,Constitution be retainedbe in amended office? to:

* Ban gifts from paid lobbyists to legislators and their employees;

* Ban gifts from paid lobbyists to legislators NO and their employees;

* Reduce legislative campaign contribution limits;

* Reduce legislative campaign contribution limits; JOHN F. NEWSHAM

* Change the redistricting process voters approved in 2018 by: (i) transferring responsibility for drawing state legislative districts from the Nonpartisan State Demographer to Governor-appointed bipartisan commissions; (ii) modifying and reordering the redistricting criteria.

YES

Division 40 - Shall Judgevoters JOHN * Change the No. redistricting process NEWSHAM, Associate Circuit Judge of approved in 2018 by: (i) transferring Judicial Circuit No. 21, be retained in office? responsibility for drawing state legislative YES districts from the Nonpartisan State Demographer to Governor-appointed NO bipartisan commissions; (ii) modifying and reordering the redistricting criteria.

VIRGINIA W. LAY State governmental entities expect no cost Division No. 41 -local Shall Judge VIRGINIA W. or savings.

Individual governmental LAY,expect Associate Circuitdecreased Judge of Judicial entities significant CircuitofNo. 21, be retained in office? revenues a total unknown amount

YES YES NO

NO

State governmental entities expect no cost or savings. Individual local governmental entities expect significant decreased revenues of a total unknown amount YES NO

SAMPLE BALLOTS

The Election Issue

page 9

St. Louis City [

[

WARD

] [

]

PCT.

] [ ] JUDGES' INITIALS REPUBLICAN (REP)

State Treasurer

OFFICIAL BALLOT GENERAL ELECTION CITY OF ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI NOVEMBER 3, 2020 ALL RACES BALLOT

For Polling Place Judges Only

DEMOCRATIC (DEM)

LIBERTARIAN (LIB)

Scott Fitzpatrick Republican

GREEN (GRN)

CONSTITUTION (CST)

TO VOTE, COMPLETELY DARKEN THE OVAL TO THE LEFT OF YOUR CHOICE, LIKE THIS: FOR PRESIDENT AND VICE PRESIDENT

PL E

(A VOTE FOR PRESIDENT AND VICE PRESIDENT IS A VOTE FOR THEIR ELECTORS) (VOTE FOR ONE PAIR)

DONALD J. TRUMP / MICHAEL R. PENCE - REP JOSEPH R. BIDEN / KAMALA D. HARRIS - DEM

JO JORGENSEN / JEREMY [SPIKE] COHEN - LIB

HOWIE HAWKINS / ANGELA NICOLE WALKER - GRN DON BLANKENSHIP / WILLIAM MOHR - CST Write-In FOR GOVERNOR (VOTE FOR ONE)

MIKE PARSON - REP

FOR STATE TREASURER (VOTE FOR ONE)

SCOTT FITZPATRICK - REP

M

NICOLE GALLOWAY - DEM

VICKI LORENZ ENGLUND - DEM

RIK COMBS - LIB

NICHOLAS [NICK] KASOFF - LIB

JEROME HOWARD BAUER - GRN

JOSEPH CIVETTINI - GRN

Write-In

Write-In

FOR LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR

SA

(VOTE FOR ONE)

FOR ATTORNEY GENERAL (VOTE FOR ONE)

MIKE KEHOE - REP

ERIC SCHMITT - REP

ALISSIA CANADY - DEM

RICH FINNERAN - DEM

BILL SLANTZ - LIB

KEVIN C. BABCOCK - LIB

KELLEY DRAGOO - GRN

Write-In

Write-In

FOR U.S. REP. DISTRICT 1

FOR SECRETARY OF STATE

(VOTE FOR ONE)

(VOTE FOR ONE)

JOHN R. [JAY] ASHCROFT - REP

ANTHONY ROGERS - REP

YINKA FALETI - DEM

CORI BUSH - DEM

CARL HERMAN FREESE - LIB

ALEX FURMAN - LIB

PAUL LEHMANN - GRN

Write-In

Write-In

Mike Parson - Republican

Parson has been serving as Missouri’s governor since June 2018.

His top priorities are building stronger communities, supporting an educated workforce, improving infrastructure and government reform.

Nicole Galloway Democrat

Galloway wants to lower health care costs, require law enforcement to wear body cameras and extend paid family leave to 12 weeks.

Rik Combs - Libertarian

Combs is pro-life, anti-gun control and wants to cut government size and spending at all levels. He also wants to drastically slash taxes for Missourians.

Jerome Bauer- Green Party

Bauer supports universal health to reduce the size of the governCard 1dx care, disability rights and transment.

Kelley Dragoo - Green portation equity and accessibility.

Lieutenant Governor Mike Kehoe - Republican

Kehoe is the incumbent candidate, holding this position since June 2018. His priorities in this position include growing new jobs and advocating for seniors’ rights and interests.

Party

Dragoo supports a ranked-choice voting system, universal healthcare and increased public transportation.

Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft - Republican

Canady wants to expand Medicaid and combat gun violence and social inequity through community resources and education.

As secretary of state, Ashcroft has opposed regulations that create challenges for new businesses and vowed to reduce spending in the secretary of state office. He supports strong voter identification requirements.

Slantz has declared that if he wins the race, he will work to abolish the lieutenant governor position

Faleti promotes cutting red tape that prevents new businesses from thriving and supports the

Alissia Canady Democrat

Bill Slantz - Libertarian

Yinka Faleti - Democrat

Vicki Lorenz Englund Democrat

Englund has emphasized the need for an economic recovery plan to target small business loans in areas most impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Nick Kasoff - Libertarian

Kasoff supports a ranked-choice voting system and reducing government spending.

Joseph Civettini - Green Party

Civettini supports a choice voting system.

ranked-

Attorney General Eric Schmitt - Republican

As attorney general, Schmitt worked to address the opioid crisis, human trafficking and the thousands of untested sexual assault kits waiting to be logged.

Rich Finneran Democrat

Finneran plans to protect the expansion of Medicaid in court, combat biases in the justice system and fight fraud through recovering money for victims of economic crimes.

Kevin Babcock Libertarian

Babcock does not currently have a campaign website set up; however, Libertarians usually advocate for as little governmental interference in individuals’ lives as possible.

U.S. Rep. District 1 Anthony Rogers Republican

PAUL VENABLE - CST

Governor

Fitzpatrick is the incumbent candidate. His priorities include improving financial literacy and promoting job creation in the state.

expansion of Medicaid.

Carl Herman Freese Libertarian

As a Libertarian, Freese supports reducing taxes and government regulations.

Paul Lehmann - Green Party`

Lehmann’s platform focuses on voting rights and eliminating registration deadlines and other rules that provide obstacles to voting.

Under his plan, all citizens would automatically be registered to vote upon turning 18, and ballots would be mailed to all eligible voters.

Paul Venable Constitution Party

Venable believes America must return to God, while ensuring that the government does not threaten citizens’ liberties, which they are supposed to protect.

Rogers opposes defunding the police, is pro-life, anti-gun control and supports looser COVID-19 restrictions.

Cori Bush - Democrat

Bush defeated incumbent Lacy Clay in the primary election. She is running on a platform that emphasizes social justice issues.

Bush is pro-choice, against mandatory minimum prison sentences and supports increased gun control and Medicare for All.

Alex Furman - Libertarian

If elected, Furman has committed to supporting efforts to end qualified immunity for law enforcement and the War on Drugs.

He is also anti-war and wants to see the Federal Reserve Banking System abolished.

DID YOU KNOW? Governors of Missouri must be at least 30 and a state resident for at least 10 years.

SAMPLE BALLOTS

page 10

The Election Issue

St. Louis City

Hebron plans to work toward ending redlining and fight for property owner rights.

(VOTE FOR ONE)

State Rep. Districts 66, 76, 77, 79, 80, 81, 84, 91 Marlene Terry, Marlon Anderson, Kimberly-Ann Collins, LaKeySha Bosley, Peter Merideth, Steve Butz, Wiley Price IV and Sarah Unsicker — all Democrats — are running unopposed in their districts. Voters have the option to write-in another name if they wish.

JO DOLL - DEM

STEVE ROBERTS - DEM

ANDREW BOLIN - LIB

Write-In

Write-In FOR STATE REP. DISTRICT 66

FOR STATE REP. DISTRICT 84

(VOTE FOR ONE)

(VOTE FOR ONE)

MARLENE TERRY - DEM

WILEY [CHIP] PRICE IV - DEM

Write-In

Write-In FOR STATE REP. DISTRICT 76 (VOTE FOR ONE)

FOR STATE REP. DISTRICT 91 (VOTE FOR ONE)

MARLON ANDERSON - DEM

SARAH UNSICKER - DEM

Write-In

Write-In

FOR STATE REP. DISTRICT 77 (VOTE FOR ONE)

FOR STATE REP. DISTRICT 93 (VOTE FOR ONE)

KIMBERLY-ANN COLLINS - DEM

GABRIEL JONES - REP

Write-In

BRIDGET WALSH MOORE - DEM

FOR STATE REP. DISTRICT 78 (VOTE FOR ONE)

TIMOTHY GARTIN - REP

Write-In

FOR CIRCUIT ATTORNEY (VOTE FOR ONE)

RASHEEN ALDRIDGE JR - DEM

DANIEL ZDRODOWSKI - REP

Write-In

KIMBERLY M. GARDNER - DEM

FOR STATE REP. DISTRICT 79

Write-In

FOR STATE REP. DISTRICT 80 (VOTE FOR ONE)

State Rep. District 82

FOR STATE REP. DISTRICT 81 (VOTE FOR ONE)

Doll supports expanding Medicaid, passing common sense gun laws and expanding community programs aimed at intervening to stop addiction.

Andrew Bolin - Libertarian

FOR TREASURER (VOTE FOR ONE)

ROBERT VROMAN - REP TISHAURA O. JONES - DEM

Write-In

Write-In MISSOURI SUPREME COURT JUDGE

FOR STATE REP. DISTRICT 82

Shall Judge PATRICIA BRECKENRIDGE of the Missouri Supreme Court be retained in office?

(VOTE FOR ONE)

ROBERT J. CRUMP - REP DONNA M.C. BARINGER - DEM

YES

NO

Write-In

State Rep. District 93

Jo Doll - Democrat

Write-In

DON DE VIVO - GRN

Donna BaringerDemocrat

State Rep. District 83

VERNON BETTS - DEM

STEVE BUTZ - DEM

Bolin has vowed to work against government intervention in citizens’ liberties and interference from large lobbying groups.

Baringer has been serving as the district’s representative since 2017. Baringer has listed her top priorities as quality education, access to job opportunities and public safety.

JOHN N. CASTELLANO, III - REP

Write-In

Robert Crump Republican

Crump is pro-life, anti-gun control and opposes tax increases.

(VOTE FOR ONE)

PETER MERIDETH - DEM

Rasheen Aldridge Jr. Democrat

Aldridge has been serving in the House since 2019. He supports expanding Medicaid, universal early childhood education and finding alternative means to prison to rehabilitate nonviolent offenders.

FOR SHERIFF

LAKEYSHA BOSLEY - DEM

Timothy Gartin Republican

Gartin believes that education and safety are the two biggest issues facing the district. He opposes defunding the police and military.

Write-In

(VOTE FOR ONE)

SA

State Rep. District 78

(VOTE FOR ONE)

MICHAEL HEBRON - REP

Steve Roberts - Democrat

Roberts is chairman of the Missouri Legislative Black Caucus for the House and Senate. Last year, he filed legislation to prevent nonviolent and low-level offenders from being confined while awaiting trial.

FOR STATE REP. DISTRICT 83

PL E

Michael Hebron Republican

FOR STATE SENATOR DISTRICT 5

M

State Senator District 5

Gabriel Jones - Republican

Jones is pro-life, anti-gun control and supports ending government subsidizing in health care.

Bridget Walsh MooreDemocrat

Moore supports expanding Medicaid, ending cuts to education and ensuring equal rights for those with disabilities.

Circuit Attorney Daniel Zdrodowski Republican

If elected, he plans to limit the sition since 2016. While sheriff, Card 1dx use of diversion programs and Betts instituted a body camera strengthen the relationship be- policy and worked to increase tween the Circuit Attorney’s Of- law enforcement providing secufice and city law enforcement. rity on Metrolink.

Kimberly Gardner Democrat

Gardner plans to continue expanding services for victims and survivors of crimes, promoting alternatives to prosecution and reforming probation practices.

Sheriff John Castellano III Republican

Castellano has been a sheriff’s deputy in the City of St. Louis since 1998. He has signed a neutrality agreement that would allow deputies to unionize if they choose.

Vernon Betts - Democrat

Betts has been serving in the po-

Treasurer Robert Vroman Republican

Vroman believes major restructuring of city finances is necessary due to the city of St. Louis’s debt level and decreased revenues due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Tishaura Jones Democrat

Jones has filled this position since 2013. Among her initiatives as treasurer, Jones opened the Office of Financial Empowerment and offered free financial

literacy classes and counseling.

Don De Vivo Green Party De Vivo currently does not have a campaign website set up. However, Green Party candidates generally support green policies and are anti-war and anti-violence.

Judges The very end of page 2 of the St. Louis City ballot (shown on this page) and most of the third page of the St. Louis City ballot ask questions pertaining to keeping judges in office. Learn more about each judge, including their backgrounds and performance reviews, by visiting yourmissourijudges.com.

YES

dicial

Shall Judge LYNNE R. PERKINS, Associate Circuit Judge of Judicial Circuit No. 22 (Division No. 27), be retained in office?

SAMPLE BALLOTS

The Election Issue

YES

ial

page 11

St. Louis City

NO

Shall Judge NICOLE COLBERT-BOTCHWAY, Associate Circuit Judge of Judicial Circuit No. 22 (Division No. 28), be retained in office?

YES

cial

NO

Constitutional Amendment 1

CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT 1

udge of fice?

Proposed by the 100th General Assembly (First Regular Session) (SS SCS SJR 14 & 9)

Do you want to amend the Missouri Constitution to extend the two term restriction that currently applies to the Governor and Treasurer to the Lt. Governor, Secretary of State, Auditor and the Attorney General?

State and local governmental entities estimate no costs or savings from this proposal.

YES - FOR THE AMENDMENT NO - AGAINST THE AMENDMENT

Card 5dx

Constitutional Amendment 1, shown to the left, is on page 3 of the St. Louis City ballot. Missouri’s governor and state treasurer both already have a two-term limit placed on them, allowing one person to only serve in these positions for a total of eight years.

Currently, no such restriction exists for other statewide positions.

If this amendment passes, the

lieutenant governor, secretary of state, state auditor and attorney general positions will all be limited so that one person may only stay in each office for two terms.

Constitutional Amendment 3 This amendment would counteract one passed by voters in 2018.

The 2018 amendment, which received 62 percent of the vote, called for the creation of a non-

Proposed by the 100th General Assembly (Second Regular Session) (SS 3 SJR 38)

Shall the City of St. Louis levy an additional tax of six cents per each one hundred dollars ($100.00) of assessed valuation as authorized by Section 210.860 R.S.Mo. for the purpose of providing additional funding for community children's services, in particular early childhood services for children aged five years and under, in addition to the current levy of nineteen cents per each one hundred dollars ($100) of assessed valuation?

Shall the Missouri Constitution be amended to: * Ban gifts from paid lobbyists to legislators and their employees; * Reduce legislative campaign contribution limits; * Change the redistricting process voters approved in 2018 by: (i) transferring responsibility for drawing state legislative districts from the Nonpartisan State Demographer to Governor-appointed bipartisan commissions; (ii) modifying and reordering the redistricting criteria.

partisan state demographer responsible for redistricting within this state. The current amendment would reverse this measure, putting redistricting back into the hands of a bipartisan commission appointed by the governor. This amendment would also change the threshold for gifts from lobbyists from $5 to $0, banning them completely. Furthermore, the amendment would lower the campaign contribution limit from $2,500 to $2,400 for state senate campaigns.

Proposition D

PROPOSITION R

CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT 3

YES - FOR THE PROPOSITION NO - AGAINST THE PROPOSITION PROPOSITION T

PL

E

State governmental entities expect no cost or savings. Individual Should Chapter 23 of the Revised Code of the City of St. Louis be local governmental entities expect significant decreased revenues of a amended to impose a gross receipts tax of seven and one half percent total unknown amount. of the gross receipts obtained from Telecommunications Providers, YES - FOR THE AMENDMENT which are and include every entity now or hereafter engaged in a general telecommunication business in the City, providing NO - AGAINST THE AMENDMENT telecommunication, telecommunications exchange, or local, toll, or long distance, telephone service to its customers with a service or billing PROPOSITION D address within the St. Louis City limits; and Fiber Networks Providers, Proposed by Initiative Petition which are and include every entity now or hereafter engaged in providing fiber networks, built whole or in part in the City's public right Shall the City of St. Louis adopt an ordinance to: of way, which are not internet or service providers subject to franchise * establish an open, non-partisan system for elections to the fees, to customers and other users of fiber networks? offices of Mayor, Comptroller, President of the Board of Aldermen, and Alderman YES - FOR THE PROPOSITION * enable voters to choose all the candidates they wish in the open, non-partisan primary NO - AGAINST THE PROPOSITION * allow the top two candidates to then compete in a runoff general election?

YES - FOR THE PROPOSITION

If passed, this proposition would allow candidates to run for the offices of mayor, comptroller, president of the board of aldermen and alderman, without having to file under a particular party. It will also allow voters to select as many candidates as they choose in the primary election, voting for all those they approve of. The two candidates who receive the most votes will then compete in the general election to determine who receives a majority of the votes cast.

Proposition 1 This proposition would allow nonresidents of the city to still be employed by the city of St. Louis.

This comes after Governor Mike Parson signed a law on Sept. 21 that exempted police and firefighters from the residency requirement. This proposition, if passed, would expand this repeal to all civil service employees.

Proposition R

M

Proposition R would raise property taxes at a rate of six cents per $100 of property valuation to fund early childhood education services. This would be added to the current rate of 19 cents per $100 of property valuation, for a total of 25 cents per $100. On a large scale, this would mean a $60 increase in property taxes per every $100,000 in assessed value.

NO - AGAINST THE PROPOSITION PROPOSITION 1

Shall Section 2 of Article VIII of the City of St. Louis Charter, which requires all officers and employees of the City of St. Louis to reside within the City's boundaries, be amended to permit the employees of the City of St. Louis except for City agency and department directors appointed by the Mayor to reside outside of the City's boundaries?

SA

al

NO

YES - FOR THE PROPOSITION

Proposition T

NO - AGAINST THE PROPOSITION

INSTRUCTIONS TO VOTERS: To vote for a candidate, darken the oval to the left of the name of the candidate of your choice. To vote on an amendment or proposition, if you are in favor of the amendment or proposition darken the oval to the left of the word "YES". If you are against the amendment or proposition, darken the oval to the left of the word "NO". To vote on a judge's retention, if you are in favor of retaining a judge in office darken the oval to the left of the word "YES". If you are against retaining a judge in office, darken the oval to the left of the word "NO". Do not try to punch through the ballot. Use only a pencil or blue or black ink to mark your ballot. If you tear, deface, or make a mistake and incorrectly mark your ballot, notify an election official to obtain a new ballot.

YOU HAVE NOW COMPLETED VOTING

Proposition T would authorize a 7.5 percent gross receipts tax, or a tax on the total revenue of a company, on telecommunications providers and fiber networks providers. This would act as an incentive to encourage fiber optics expansion.

Sources pertaining to each candidate’s position, as well as each proposition or amendment, are: campaign websites, campaign Facebook and Twitter pages and ballotpedia.org.

Everybody will be talking about the 2020 Election long after ballots are cast, Card 5dx

We’ll keep you informed.

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@thealestle

The Alestle

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What you need to know about your rights, responsibilities and procedures at the polls Q. Do I need an ID to vote?

A: If you have voted in Illinois before, you do not need identification.

If you are a first-time voter, and/ or you registered by mail and didn’t provide your driver’s license number or other government document when you registered, you will need to provide one of them before you can vote. In Missouri, you will be asked to show ID, which can be a driver’s license, U.S. passport or military ID. In both states, if you forget your ID and you need it, you can vote on a provisional ballot and it will be counted if you can provide proof of your right to vote within a certain time limit.

Q: I’m not all that sure about voting in person because of COVID-19.

What are my options?

A: Early voting is available up until Nov. 2 and you do not need a reason to vote early in Illinois. (You do need to be a Madison County resident to vote early in Madison County.) You can find a list of all the early voting locations in the various counties of southwestern Illinois online. In Missouri, voters could have requested a mail-in or absentee ballot, but it must be notarized and had to be requested by Oct. 21. For more information on your voting options, visit the Missouri Secretary of State’s office.

Q: I’m totally not excited.

Can I just write in Mickey Mouse for president?

A: Nope. In order to be valid, a write-in candidate must have submitted a declaration of intent form at least 61 days before the election.

Unless Mr. Mouse filled out the form, your vote will not count.

Q: How can I find out Q: I forgot to register, or who’s running (other than my address changed since for president)?

I registered. Can I vote?

A: That depends in which county you live. We have included the sample ballots for Madison County, St. Clair County, St. Louis County and St. Louis City. These ballots can be removed and accompany you at the polls.

A: Yes – if you’re in Illinois. You should go to the polling location for the address where you currently reside. You must have two forms of identification, one of which has your current address in this jurisdiction.

You will need to complete a registration form and show your identification to the judges. If you’re not sure of your new polling location, call your county clerk. Missouri does not offer Election Day registration.

Q: I showed up to vote and my polling location is closed! What do I do?

Q: Can I wear my MAGA hat on Election Day?

A: In the event that an emergency prevents a polling place from opening, the emergency polling location for Madison County is the Madison County Administration Building at 157 N. Main St. in Edwardsville.

This is also where the Madison County Clerk’s office is located, in case you need to deal with a problem. It is also an early voting location.

Q: When can I vote?

Q: What are my rights at the polls?

A: You have the right to vote as long as you are a U.S. citizen age 18 or older. You have the right to request assistance or bring someone to help you. You do not need to speak English or pass a test to vote. You can bring notes, a sample ballot, newspaper endorsements, etc. into the booth with you, but you must take them with you when you leave. You have the right to request a new ballot if you make a mistake or change your mind. For more about your rights, check out the fact sheet from the American Civil Liberties Union.

Q: I’m totally excited about my vote. Can I take a selfie at the polls?

A: Nope. Electioneering is not permitted at the polls. That means A: Pocket that phone. Technically hats, T-shirts, masks, signs, etc. posting a pic of your filled-in ballot that support a candidate cannot be is a Class 4 felony in Illinois and worn or carried within 100 feet of a could constitute a violation of the polling place (25 feet in Missouri). privacy of other voters. The constiIf you show up with a hat or a shirt tutionality of this policy is still being supporting a candidate, you will be argued, but best not to risk it. Take asked to remove the item or cover your “I voted” snap at least 100 feet it up. Before you ask: No, it’s not a away from the building, just to be violation of your First Amendment safe. rights as far as the courts are concerned. Also: that campaign-free zone extends 100 feet from the door of the polling place, or at least to the outside of the building if it’s a church or school, even if it’s more than 100 feet to the entrance of the polling room.

Q: Someone is interfer- Q: Can I vote on campus? ing with my right to vote.

A: Yes, you can. SIUE is an early What do I do?

A: In-person voting begins at 6 a.m.

Nov. 3 and runs until 7 p.m. As long as you are in line before 7 p.m., you A: You can talk to the election judgcan vote, no matter how long the es or poll watchers at the location – line. there’s usually at least one from each political party present to observe.

You can call the county clerk’s office for your particular county: for Edwardsville, it’s the Madison County Clerk at 618-692-6290. You can also call the ACLU Election Protection Hotline at 866-OUR-VOTE or the U.S. Department of Justice voting rights hotline at 800-253-3931. Voter intimidation is a felony, so be sure to report it if anyone is threatening or harassing voters on their way to vote.

voting location, with voting available 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays in the Willow Room at the Morris University Center. On Election Day, it is a polling location and voters will be streaming in and out of the Meridian Ballroom all day. However, on Election Day, only those who live in Precinct 21 will be able to vote on campus.

Sources: law.cornell.edu, account.bnd.com, wsiltv.com, sos.mo.gov, bnd.com, aclu.org, stlcogis.maps.arcgis.com, & apps.co.madison.il.us.

frida y, 10.3 0

LIFESTYLES According to The Presidential Pet Museum, President Andrew Jackson had a parrot named Poll. Jackson was known to swear often and his parrot apparently picked up on his language. According to Volume 3 of Samuel G. Heiskell’s “Andrew Jackson and Early Tennessee History,” Rev. William Menefee Norment said the parrot’s language was so bad that it interrupted the President’s funeral.

First Lady Grace Coolidge kept a pet raccoon named Rebecca at the White House, according to a Washington Post article. The animal was originally gifted as a Thanksgiving dinner, but Coolidge decided on turkey instead.

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President John Quincy Adams kept an alligator in the White House bathtub, according to The Presidential Pet Museum. The animal was a gift from French Revolutionary Marquis de Lafayette.

Text by John McGowan Illustrations by Jordyn Nimmer Frames by Summer Bradley

How social media changed this election — from misinformation to campaigning strategies DALTON BROWN copy editor

The COVID-19 pandemic has led to increased social media usage during an election year, creating a perfect storm for misinformation. As tech companies blur the line between information and entertainment, voters are left to piece together what is true and false — at least, to them.

In October 2019, Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey announced the platform would ban all political advertisements. A few weeks ago, Facebook announced it would do the same, but only after the election on Nov. 3.

Andrew Theising, a professor in the political science department, said that while these decisions leave moral questions to be answered, they also show signs of progress.

“If somebody wants to smear the other candidate, they could put out something that’s full of lies,” Theising said. “Does

the platform have an obligation to censor those lies? … Have they made the right decisions? I don’t know. But I’m glad that they are considering it, because you know what? A few years back, they weren’t even considering it.”

However, this approach doesn’t help candidates looking to get their word out to young voters, according to political science professor Laurie Rice. “[Banning social media ads] might not be actually the best solution,” Rice said. “Campaigns still need to reach voters … if they stick just to traditional forms of advertising on television, that is going to miss most young people, who are more likely to rely on streaming services than they are to actually turn on a standard television channel.”

Even outside of advertising, misinformation is a global problem that certain countries have dealt with more effectively than others, according to associate applied communications professor Sarah VanSlette.

“The U.K., for example, and the EU, are doing a much better job of regulating social media,” VanSlette said. “Even things like our personal information as social media users, [you] have rights to that if you’re a European citizen.

In America, we haven’t gotten that far yet.”

After over half a year of stayat-home orders and quarantines, Americans have become isolated not just physically, but politically, according to a Pew Research study. VanSlette said Netflix documentary “The Social Dilemma” highlights how social media companies have affected the way users reach — or don’t reach — across the political spectrum.

“In ‘The Social Dilemma,’ all these people who built these social media platforms … who at the outset were so hopeful that it would be a bringing together of people … agree that it’s actually had the opposite effect — that it drives people into these silos of thinking where you … only hear what you want to hear,” VanS-

lette said.

Rice said this has also been true in prior elections, through prior technologies.

“It’s certainly a contributing factor, but I think polarization began long before the advent of social media,” Rice said. “Polarization began to be driven by cable news networks and talk radio shows … social media just might amplify it some, but it certainly hasn’t been the spark that created this.”

Not all tech companies are contributing to this trend — in fact, some are fighting back. Mozilla, best known for its Firefox web browser, recently launched an “Unfck the Internet” campaign, giving people tools to protect themselves against misinformation and data mining at the hands of social media companies.

VanSlette said we can change our social media habits without becoming disconnected from our friends.

“I have not deleted my Facebook account, but I’ve logged

out and I deleted the app from my phone,” VanSlette said.

“That act alone has kept me off Facebook for weeks ... it’s forced me to reach out in a more tangible way — texting, calling, driving by people’s houses. People who I really want to see, I will still connect with.”

The best tool we each have to fight falsehood is critical thinking, part of which is evaluating our information intake, according to Theising.

“I think that we all have a burden to think critically and be responsible for our decisions,” Theising said. “We are so careful about what we put into our bodies — what we eat, the chemicals, … but we don’t always think about what we put into our brains.”

To learn more about how to stay aware and properly informed this election cycle, visit Mozilla’s “Unfck the Internet” webpage, or watch “The Social Dilemma” on Netflix.

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LIFESTYLES

‘It wasn’t just about it being a protest:’ Amy Coney Barrett protesters celebrate pop-up marriages DAMIAN MORRIS reporter

Many members of the LGBTQ+ community are worried that their right to marry hangs in the balance with newly confirmed Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett.

This fear comes from her refusal to say the Obergefell v. Hodges case, which legalized same-sex marriage, was correctly decided.

Lot’s Wife Trans & Queer Chaplaincy led by Pastor Tori Jameson from St. Louis, organized an event in front of City Hall in St. Louis to marry couples at the same time as the Amy Coney Barrett confirmation hearings on Oct. 12-15. This was done in protest of her confirmation.

However, Hunter Rinati from Maryland Heights, Missouri, who was one of the officiants at the event, said this was more than just a protest.

“I understand that what we were doing was a protest, but it wasn’t just about it being a protest,” Rinati said. “It was about helping make sure these people don’t lose their rights to be married, and I know for myself, and I know Tori as well, that if we have any people who reach out to us currently and say ‘hey, I want to get married, I wasn’t able to make it to these pop-ups,’ we’ll make it happen.”

One of the couples that got married during the event were Macklan and Silas King from St. Louis, and Macklan said while their wedding day was not at all what they expected, it really was perfect.

“It’s weird, it’s like being non-binary, but assigned female at birth and being socialized as a girl growing up, you get all of these socialized expectations about your wedding day,” Macklan King said.

“The way I ended up getting married did not remotely reflect what I expected my wedding day to be like as a kid, but it was really just perfect because it was all about love and joy, and support, and about community.”

Jameson said they ended up doing 14 weddings and two vow renewals total at the event, which was more than expected.

“I was expecting that we were going to have a couple of sign-ups, because you could sign up to talk with us in advance … but I was expecting a couple of sign-ups, a bunch of walk-ups and a bunch of vows renewals, but it wasn’t like that,” Jameson said. “I ended up with dozens and dozens of volunteers.”

Another officiant at the event, Pastor Krissy Avise-Rouse from Columbia, Illinois, said they were impressed with the amount of community support the event gathered.

“There were so many wonderful volunteers involved and just lovely couples,” Avise-Rouse said. “Being very visible on the side of City Hall, and having people stop and ask questions, and kind of share support, almost uniformly, was really, really wonderful.”

They said they found support when they weren’t expecting it.

“There was in particular a guy who appeared to be unhoused, who stood on the sidewalk a really long time staring, and the look on his face was really hard to read, but it appeared to be potentially hostile,” Avise-Rouse said. “Well, he was trying to read our sign, he didn’t want to get close and scare anybody, but he wanted to read our sign.”

Avise-Rouse said they weren’t just impressed by the support of the community, but from City Hall as well.

There is a recount

“Blue wave”

Celebrity offers their thoughts

News “Historic elecnetwork calls tion” race too soon

Senate flips blue

MAGA hat

Long lines at polling locations

Landslide

Democrats are accused of voter fraud

Democrats blame third-party voters

Political figure gets COVID-19

“Too close to call”

China is blamed for election outcome

Yelling at TV

“Breaking News” that isn’t

Someone is crying

“Red tsunami”

Hunter Biden

Trump tweets at lighting speed

The media is blamed

Protests

Quoting Twitter users

On-air profanity

Supreme Court gets involved

(From left to right) Silas and Macklan King from St. Louis weren’t expecting to be married at a pop-up event, but it was still everything they had hoped for. | Photo courtesy of Lot’s Wife Trans & Queer Chaplaincy

“The fact that City Hall was support- married and helped to set up decorations. ing us was a really nice change for many Callahan said she was just excited to in our community,” Avise-Rouse said. be able to get involved and do something “Especially for trans and genderqueer to help out. folks, we’re not “I lived in often supported Boston for a “If you are an LGBTQ[+] by government, couple of years student, what I want to say so to have the and there I was city marshals able to get super to you is, yes, there is reachecking on involved, and our well-beson to worry … but there is a then I moved ing, to have the out here and giant queer community there there’s just not mayor’s office sending someto welcome you and there to as much to do, one to check on so I get excited support you, and to help you whenever I see things every day to make sure Calnot only survive, but thrive. anything,” we were being lahan said. taken care of She said Tori Jameson was really, really while all marPastor at Lot’s Wife Trans & Queer Chaplaincy nice.” riages are emoJameson tional and excitsaid the slow periods gave the volun- ing, this one felt very different than the teers who wouldn’t normally spend time average wedding. together a chance to do just that and al“There was definitely a different feel lowed it to work as a community building to it, just because hearing some of their event as well. stories, and some of them hadn’t felt the “For some of our volunteers, they need to really get married until all of this don’t spend a lot of time with other started happening,” Callahan said.

LGBTQ[+] people, or there were just a Jameson said that even though these lot of intergenerational people,” Jameson are scary times, there is still support out said. “We just had all these different peo- there. ple … so I think that building community “If you are an LGBTQ[+] student, was just a really beautiful benefit of the what I want to say to you is, yes, there event too.” is reason to worry … but there is a giant Another one of these volunteers was queer community there to welcome you a member of Free Mom Hugs Missouri, a and there to support you, and to help you group of parents who are dedicated to sup- not only survive, but thrive.” porting the LGBTQ+ community though For more information about this event educating the community and volunteer- and future events go to Lot’s Wife Trans ing at events, Amber Callahan from Bour- & Queer Chaplaincy’s Facebook page and bon, Missouri who cheered those getting to donate visit their Patreon page.

LIFESTYLES

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International students give their opinions on the upcoming election GABRIEL BRADY reporter

Differing opinions and views are important during elections, and at SIUE, many international students have formed strong and diverse opinions on the matter.

Sophomore computer science major Stephano Hoang, from Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, is still living at SIUE, and he said he hopes former Vice President Joe Biden emerges as the winner in the election.

“I’m definitely going for Biden and [Kamala] Harris all the way. Let’s say I’m someone who’s not into politics at all, and just look at their social media, for both candidates. Joe Biden is posting about what he’ll do for the people, and talking about Black Lives Matter, and fighting for workers. But [President Donald Trump’s] Instagram is about him and his lack of social distancing, and complaining about the [Centers for Disease Control and Prevention],” Hoang said. “It’s like … you’re the president, but you’re arguing with the CDC during [a pandemic], and that makes everyone confused.”

Another reason Hoang is

dissatisfied with Trump’s presidency is the way he presents himself, and, in turn, the country.

“If we watch the debates, Trump didn’t really have good arguments. He said wind energy is expensive and it kills all of the birds, which doesn’t make sense, as well not wanting to run down all the white supremacist groups,” Hoang said. “Me, as an outsider, I would say ... that’s one of the many reasons I’m hoping Joe wins.”

Arda Çevik, a sophomore in industrial engineering from Samsun, Turkey agrees with Hoang. Çevik said a big concern for him had to do with past political strife in Turkey. According to Çevik, a lot of the U.S.’s future depends on Trump’s reaction if he loses.

“I’m getting Istanbul election vibes from this election. In the Istanbul election, there was an 800,000 vote difference at the end, and the [incumbent] party didn’t want to accept that, and they said they won, and they redid the election. The second time, the new party won by about a million votes,” Çevik said. “I don’t know what Trump will do if he loses, but I want him to accept it. I don’t want that

happening in the [U.S.].”

However, not all international students support Biden.

Hung Truong, a sophomore in mechanical engineering from Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, said he would prefer if Trump won reelection. Truong returned to Vietnam when the pandemic hit, and he said his family — along with much of Vietnam — are in favor of Trump.

“Vietnamese people really hate the Chinese people, and they love to see Trump stand up against China. People don’t usually do that,” Truong said. “I think the majority of Vietnamese people [support Trump], but there’s definitely still some [of them] who don’t.” Çevik chose to return to his home country, like Truong, and said he wants to come back to America to continue his studies, but a second term of a Trump presidency would definitely make that harder.

“I’m hoping Biden wins. I think he will. As an international student, I want the coronavirus to get better, and Biden says he will try to get things better,” Çevik said. “I returned to Turkey earlier than I expected to. I

plan on returning [to SIUE] but if things don’t get better, I don’t want to go back.”

Although he hopes Biden will win, Çevik said he really would’ve preferred if Senator Bernie Sanders (D-VT.) was the Democratic nominee, specifically because of his stance on health care.

“I wish Bernie was the other candidate. I don’t know why Americans don’t want Medicare for All. I will say, Turkey is far from the best country, but we have healthcare for all. It is the least of our problems. We’ve had it since I was born. We pay taxes, and that’s what the taxes are for.

If I break my leg, I don’t want to go bankrupt. In Turkey, if I have a minor problem, we go to the doctor. There’s not a huge waittime, and I get to go in about 15 minutes,” Çevik said. “It’s far simpler than what the Americans have. Also, people are opposed to a free vaccine for COVID, which is crazy.”

Unlike Çevik, Truong said he believes the results of the election wouldn’t impact the future of international students in the U.S. that much.

“I would say the election’s results won’t impact a lot in my [studies], and I will stay and finish all four years,” Hoang said.

“I really don’t want to stay here during another Trump presidency, but I guess that’s not really my choice.” Çevik said being an international student has given him a unique opportunity to look at politics in other countries.

“I’m definitely very interested in politics. I’ve been paying attention. [International students] get to live in two countries, so we kind of have to know what’s happening all around,” Çevik said.

“I watch a lot of HasanAbi. For leftist Turkish people, he’s like our general saint. He’s a Turkish activist who wants Biden to win.”

Above all else, Hoang said the most important thing for people to do is make their voice heard in this election.

“Please go out and vote!

Your votes matter, and it can all impact us in the future, like your kids and grandkids,” Hoang said.

For more information, check the SIUE international students’ Facebook page, or the Study Abroad Program’s website.

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T H E

alestle VIEW

If you have to vote for the lesser of two evils, vote based on policy, not public opinion

THE ALESTLE STAFF editorial board

Your vote matters, and with such a high-steaks election cycle, your vote is especially crucial. You may have to vote for the lesser of two evils, which is okay, but it takes more research than a scroll through Twitter.

Over the course of election history, voters have become increasingly less informed on candidates’ policies and positions. In the 2016 presidential election, 27 percent of voters said they knew only some about President Donald Trump’s positions and 30 percent said they knew not much or nothing at all. In regard to Hillary Clinton’s positions, 32 percent said they knew only some and 18 percent said they knew not much or nothing at all, according to Pew Research.

Over half of all voters are either uninformed, ill-informed or unintentional about how they vote. For this majority of voters, the media, public opinion and party alignment play an important role in shifting their views.

The two-party system in the U.S. continues to further divide the country. Elections have devolved into popularity contests.

Although third-party candidates are an option, they are often disregarded as a ‘waste of a vote.’

Voters are battered relentlessly with talking points during election season — one of which perpetuates the idea that a vote for a third-party candidate is actually a vote for whichever candidate is ‘more evil.’

Voters are discouraged from voting based on their political values if it leads them to choosing a third-party candidate. In the last presidential election, Libertarian

candidate Gary Johnson and Green Party candidate Jill Stein only garnered 3.28 percent and 1.06 percent of votes respectively.

The election often boils down to the nominees in the Republican and Democratic parties. It is rare that a third-party candidate wins a presidential election in the U.S. Fear is often used as a tactic to prey on uninformed voters.

Social media and news outlets perpetuate and capitalize on voters’ fears by denouncing candidates as evil or as a threat to different ideologies. For republican voters, former Vice President Joe Biden is labeled as a threat to individual freedoms/ liberties. For democratic voters, Trump is labeled as a threat to social justice and equality. This mentality contributes to growing dissatisfaction with either

candidate.

When acting out of fear, people seek out any available remedy — regardless of what the remedy is or what it stands for. The elections are no exception. If the fear of losing freedom or equality becomes great enough, voters will choose whichever candidate they view as a solution. For this election especially, candidates’ have been discussing reasons to not vote for their opponent, instead of reasons why you should vote for them. The election rapidly becomes a vote against candidates rather than a vote for candidates.

As we enter into elections, we at The Alestle encourage you to inform yourself on the positions and policies of all candidates. Vote for the candidate who represents your views, even if that has to be the lesser of two evils; however, we should not keep supporting evil in upcoming elections.

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There are more than two sides to every story, so why are politics any different?

ALEX AULTMAN lifestyles editor

Many of my family and friends have viewed the past two elections as voting for the lesser of two evils. With this being such a common sentiment, I think it’s safe to say the two-party system no longer represents the will of the people.

Most of the Democratic Party’s platform the past few years has just been “at least we’re not as bad as the other guy.” When that is the entire basis of your campaign, you’re bound to alienate a few thousand voters. The Democratic Party picked a cop for their vice presidential candidate during a nation-wide movement against police brutality, but at least they’re not President Donald Trump, right?

Joe Biden said multiple times that cops should be trained to

“shoot them in the leg instead of the heart” and the election feels the same. America is choosing where they’d rather be shot, but they’re still taking a bullet.

Politicians are more concerned with pleasing corporate interests and campaign donors than they are with representing the will of their constituents, and this goes for both parties. It’s very obvious our system is broken.

Our nation’s political state doesn’t have to be this way. In recent elections there’s been a stronger push in favor of third party candidates. They represent a broader range of viewpoints than the two dominant parties.

However, there’s been an equally strong push against voting third party, with many saying it is a waste of one’s vote.

The problem is that third party candidates rarely, if ever,

get elected as president. It’s far more common on the state and local levels. This is because a candidate needs more than 50 percent of state delegates’ votes, or 270, to become president. Voters who feel alienated from the Democratic party are more likely to vote third party, but this just splits the vote and causes the Republicans to win.

Recently, there have been many more vocal supporters of abolishing the electoral college.

A Gallup poll from 2019 said 61 percent of Americans support abolishing the electoral college and using the popular vote. In the 2016 election, Hillary Clinton won the popular vote by almost 3 million votes, but she lost to Trump.

The electoral college and its delegates were originally created when the general public had less access to education. The fram-

ers of the Constitution selected wealthy, white, educated men who would ultimately pick the candidate they thought was best suited for the position, regardless of what the public thought.

This was especially noticeable in the 2016 election when seven delegates voted against the wishes of their state, the most in any election.

Now, information is more easily accessible. There are many resources aside from campaign websites that will inform voters on the standpoints of each candidate. It’s easier for voters to make an informed decision than ever before, so we don’t need delegates.

Another reason third party candidates are less likely to win elections is lack of name recognition. During election season, we mostly see and hear from the Democratic and Republican can-

didates. Many people don’t know much about the other options unless they go looking for them.

I think third party candidates should be able to participate in the presidential debates with the Democratic and Republican candidates. It would give them more of a chance to reach undecided voters and inform them of their policies. Obviously debates with more than two candidates can be done, considering the Democratic primaries this year had 10.

W h i l e third party candidates may not be a viable option this year, it is possible to repair our broken electoral system.

Social media poll results: Voting How do you feel about voting third party?

How do you plan to vote?

If you identify with a specific party, would you ever consider voting outside said party?

|Charts created with Datawrapper

T H E

alestle ASKS: Who are you voting for and why?

“Joe Biden because Trump is a racist, has children in cages, and doesn’t have a plan for coronavirus. It’s his fault because he fired the whole team that would have stopped the coronavirus – but that’s just my two cents.”

-Peyton Gamble, freshman mass communications and media studies major of Chicago

“Trump. I think he just makes a better argument with everything.”

-Lexi Davis, freshman elementary education major of Valmeyer, Illinois

“I will be voting for Joe Biden. Personally, I do not agree with how Trump puts himself into the world and a lot of his sayings do not agree with my beliefs.

His beliefs are not what I believe, and Biden... is more my envision of a better president in a way. Overall... I can see Biden being a better president than Trump is currently.”

-Krystin Polhemus, junior biological sciences major of Peoria, Illinois

“Joe Biden. I don’t know why.”

-Rasheed Crump, freshman psychology major of Chicago

“I am going to be voting Biden/Harris.

I agree with his viewpoints more than I agree with Trump’s, and I don’t think that I could handle another four years of Trump in office.

I believe that he has a stronger chance of helping America even.

Neither of them are fantastic but I do think I will for sure be voting for Biden and Harris.”

-Amanda Moore, sophomore pre-nursing major of Peoria, Illinois

“Trump. I just feel like he is the better of the two poisons.”

-Alex Diaz, freshman exercise science major of Chicago

just in case you need a little something to

No matter your candidate of choice, election night is always nerve-wracking. Don’t worry though, we have put together a list of liquid courage concoctions — from bitter to tart — to help get you through. We’ve also included a drinking game to add a little fun to the night. Remember, everything in moderation; please drink responsibly.

Take a sip every time: a state is called someone says this is a “historic” or “unprecedented” election the anchor says it’s “too close to call” the polls close in another state or time zone

THE PATRIOT

stars and stripes forever Muddle strawberries in a glass. Fill a cocktail shaker with ice and add 1.5 oz of red berry vodka, 2 oz of lemon juice and 2 oz of lime juice and mix. Strain into glass and top with a splash of blue curacao.

you’re scared for the future of the country Trump tweets someone says “Breaking News”

Take a shot every time : Kamala Harris is shown wearing Converse a state flips from red to blue or vice versa

MUDDLED REBUTTAL

the drink that sums up the debates Muddle 5 raspberries in a glass with one teaspoon of sugar. Add ice and 1.5 oz citrus vodka. Top with lemonade and garnish with a lemon wedge.

they show us how a candidate spent their day

And at the end of the night ... take 2 shots if your candidate loses finish your drink if your candidate wins

MANHATTAN

a classic reference to the (current) commander-in-chief Combine 2 oz of bourbon or rye, 1 oz of sweet vermouth, 2 dashes of Angostura bitters and 1 dash of orange bitters in a glass and stir until combined.

Garnish with a cherry.

WHITE RUSSIAN

a little interference with your sobriety Add 1.5 oz of Baileys, 0.5 oz of vodka, .25 oz of coffee liqueur and 2 oz of milk into a glass and combine. Garnish with a maraschino cherry if you’re feeling fancy.

ELECTION BLUES

this election cycle has us feeling some kind of way Pour 1 oz of gin, 1 oz of raspberry liqueur, 1 oz St. Germain, 0.5 oz lemon juice, 0.5 oz simple syrup and a splash of dry vermouth into a cocktail shaker with ice. Shake until chilled and strain into a glass.

SWING STATE you never know which way it’ll go

Mix 0.5 oz of sweet and sour mix, 1.5 oz of cranberry juice, 0.5 oz of blue Curacao, 3 oz of vodka and 0.5 oz of 7-up in a blender or food processor for 20-30 seconds on high. Salt the rim of a martini glass and pour.