Building a Voter’s Guide

We thought you might find it helpful to understand the process we undertook to produce the Voter’s Guide.
To begin, questions were drafted for the candidates based on information we thought would be helpful for voters to know. Then we sought contact information from the chairmen of both political parties. Final edits were made and all candidates were emailed the questions and allowed ten days to respond.
The volunteer production staff at the Observer spent numerous additional hours preparing this month’s edition for 40 pages in order to fit the Voter’s Guide and ballot into the paper.
A common misunderstanding is that you must vote for the number indicated. To the contrary, you can vote for fewer candidates.
While we are from different political parties and of sometimes opposing politial beliefs, we admire and respect other’s passion to do a good job. Knowing that we have the common goal of doing what is best for Suffield makes discussions civil and compromises easier.
It is our hope that all newly elected officials can find the same working relationships.