February 10th, 2010
Candidates to meet at league forum on Thursday

SUBMITTED REPORT

Candidates for contested offices included on the ballot for Hays County’s March 2 primary election will participate in the San Marcos Area League of Women Voters Candidates Debate Thursday, Feb. 11, at 7 p.m. at the San Marcos Activity Center.

The debate will feature candidates for the 45th District State Representative, Hays County Judge, County Court at Law Place 1 and Hays County Sheriff. Candidates who are running unopposed in the primaries will be introduced and will have campaign literature available but will not be asked to speak. Early voting starts Feb. 16 and runs through Feb. 26.

The league’s Voters guide will be published on the San Marcos Mercury’s and Hays Free Press’ Web sites on Feb. 14. Video of the debate will be starting Feb. 12 at sanmarcosmercury.com and haysfreepress.com.

The league’s Voters Guide will be included in the Sunday, Feb. 14, 2010, San Marcos Daily Record and will be available on-line as soon as possible there after. Both local and state Voters Guides will be distributed at the debate. State Voter Guides are available at www.lwvtexas.org.

The debate, open to the public without charge, and the Voters Guide are two of the San Marcos Area League of Women Voters’ key voter services and voter education projects.

Open to men and women, the league’s guiding principles focus on belief in the representative form of government and individual liberties established in the Constitution of the United States. A nonpartisan organization, another guiding principle is that “democratic government depends upon the informed and active participation of its citizens and requires that governmental bodies protect the citizen’s right to know by giving adequate notice of proposed actions, holding open meetings and making public records accessible.”

The organization’s nonpartisan stance, which members take very seriously, will be evident in both the debate and the Voters Guide. All candidates for each office will be asked the same carefully crafted questions, with each having the opportunity to be the first to respond to one question. As a matter of fairness, time limits will be strictly enforced.

Long-time league member Kaylene Ray will serve as moderator for the debate. For more information, call 512-353-2872. The San Marcos League will host the state League of Women Voters convention in April of 2010.