Letter: Star Should Publish Candidate and Petition Information

This letter by Greer Warren was published on June 24, 2022, in the Arizona Daily Star.

Greer Warren is a PC in Precinct 107 in LD18.

Many thanks to Art DiSalvo, the letter writer who wrote to suggest that the Star provide information about primary candidates in list format. As the premier news source in Southern 

Arizona, the Star is the logical place for readers to access information that empowers them to exercise their civic responsibilities. I would also suggest that the Star could further civic participation by publishing not only candidate information, but also information about other types of civic engagement.

For example, citizen initiative petitions are currently being circulated — a list would be helpful of where and when they can be signed; or what, where and when public hearings are occurring. These are the activities that allow citizens to have a voice.

Arizona has more avenues for direct democracy than any other state. But sadly, there is no easy way to discover how to participate. Perhaps the Star could fulfill its own civic responsibility by publishing this type of information in list format on a regular basis so it can easily be accessed by the voting public.

Art DiSalvo’s letter, published on Jun 7, 2022, says:

I would like to respond to the call for voters’ comments on the Opinion Page in the May 29 edition.

My suggestion is that The Star publish a complete list of all candidates for every state and local office in Arizona as soon as possible. The primaries are coming up soon and there are many candidates, some with a shady records. There are only a few candidates that are advertising on local TV. I have no idea of the qualifications, or lack thereof, of most of these individuals. If we had a list we can monitor the various comments in newspaper articles and letters to the editor about them. We can then make better-informed decisions during the primaries. By the time of the general election, we uninformed voters may have already selected duds for the general election.