‘Step out of comfort zone’ and meet the candidates

DIXON – Amanda Norris’ goal is to help educate voters who will make political decisions based on the issues, not just party affiliation.

Last year, Norris and a group of like-minded people form the Sauk Valley Voter Education Committee to give voters a firsthand chance to judge candidates.

“Our purpose is to connect local voters with candidates who are seeking office to elect them,” said Norris, of Sterling. “We really want to get the community more involved in elections.”

Norris, also a Sauk Valley Tea Party coordinator, said the committee’s Voter Education Fair on Sept. 26 is open to those from all political backgrounds.

They have invited all candidates from all November races to participate, and invite and encourage any and all residents to attend.

“All of us that are involved in the committee have very strong political opinions of our own,” she said. “We don’t all agree on everything, but the one thing we really do agree on is the fact that we need to encourage more participation in the electoral process.

We just want to involve people and get them to step out of their comfort zone ... come meet some of these candidates,” she said.

The first voter fair on Jan. 17 gave her a chance to talk to people whose perspectives differed from hers. One issue that arose is the state budget situation.

It will be “interesting to see where each candidate stands as well as what they think we need to do in order to fix the situation that Illinois is in,” Norris said.

Committee member Craig Dusing, of Sterling, is looking forward to challenging the candidates who participate in the fair on this and other issues.

He and the 20 other members have been distributing fliers and sending out news releases, encouraging people to come to the fair and get involved in the electoral process.

“This is all new,” Dusing said of the group’s efforts. “There is no model, there is no organization. This is just people coming together.”