How to Question a Political Candidate

Candidates want our vote and most are happy to answer voters' questions as they campaign. You're more likely to be able to question a local or state candidate than a candidate running for national office, but if you follow a few simple rules, you should get a response from any of them.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

1. Know what's involved in the job your candidate's running for. Local, state and national governments have very different responsibilities. Your city council is responsible for fire and police protection, water, utilities, streets and other services in your community. State legislators make rules concerning licensing, operation of everything from vehicles to businesses--anything where coordination of things on a statewide basis makes sense. Members of Congress (the national legislature) work on policy affecting the entire country like foreign policy, national defense and interstate commerce. Executive officers (mayors, governors and presidents) are responsible for administering the organizations (agencies, departments, police, armies) that execute laws. Judges are responsible for interpreting the law (applying the law to situations and determining if the law has been violated) or in the case of supreme courts, whether a law violates the rules in the U.S. or state constitution.
2. After you've made sure that you're asking the right candidate the question, find a way to communicate with her. You may be able to attend a town meeting or candidate "debate" where questions are taken from the audience. Or you may submit your question by mail or e-mail. Most candidates will have local addresses where questions can be sent. Many will be in the phonebook, but use common sense about calling a candidate's home and be prepared to get a member of the family who may not be into taking messages for Mom or Dad.
3. Make sure that your question pertains to something that is relevant to the office for which the candidate is contending. The best way to ask your question is to phrase it in such a way that it can be answered using yes-or-no with a brief explanation as to the why. If you ask a question that requires discussion or a long explanation, you'll get what the candidate--not you--wants to talk about.
4. If you're questioning a legislative candidate, stick to questions about ordinances or laws. Ask a candidate for executive office about administration (most executive officers also develop budgets). Judicial candidates can answer questions only about judicial philosophy, never about how they would rule in specific or hypothetical cases. In other words, ask questions that the candidate can answer. This will increase your odds of getting a reply.
5. If you don't get an answer to your question, try again. Candidates, like elected officials, often answer emails with standardized responses, since they often do not know where the email has originated. If you get one of these, send a letter by postal mail. If the candidate doesn't answer your question to your satisfaction in a face-to-face situation, ask a follow-up question.

Tips & Warnings

• If you're sending your question instead of asking it in person, be sure to include your address so that the candidate or one of his staff can respond. This also establishes your position as one of the candidate's potential constituents (meaning you're one of the voters in his ward/district/state).
• Most candidates have either a campaign headquarters or email address or both. Search online using the candidate's name or call your local newspaper to see if they might have contact information.
• Before you get upset with a candidate who doesn't spend as much time with your question as you think she should, remember that she has to talk to a lot of people, not just you.