By Fallan Patterson
Staff Writer

A national project aimed at helping voters make more informed choices at the polls checks into Osceola County this election season for the first time.

The Abigail Adams Project, a product of Homemakers of America, plans to produce a voter’s guide outlining candidates’ values without listing party affiliations, a detail organization representatives said should not determine voters’ decisions.

“It’s really about getting voters to vote on values, not partisanship,” said Mona Somers, Osceola County’s AAP coordinator, who worked to get candidates to respond. “What’s really sad is low voter turnout. We have very few people who determine who will govern us. Combine that with the lack of knowledge of the candidates and we have a recipe for disaster.”

Candidates at the state and local level respond to a questionnaire on AAP’s website and the results will be published online and in fliers handed to voters on Election Day.

Armando Ramirez, a candidate for Osceola County Commission, district 2, said some survey questions are provocative and he hopes other candidates are being truthful when they answer.

“This project is an excellent vehicle. I think it really will be helpful to the people, to voters,” Ramirez said.

The results, which are not yet posted so candidates who haven’t responded cannot look at an opponent’s answers, will serve two purposes: producing the voter’s guide and keeping track of whether candidates vote in correlation with their answers. Results are expected to be posted in time for the Aug. 24 primary election.

“Recently, we’ve all experienced a candidate who has a party affiliation but their voting record does not reflect that,” Somers said. “We want to see if they are just putting answers in a survey and then voting completely different.”

As of Tuesday, only 10 candidates from Osceola County races had responded from 34 requests sent out. This included candidates from city and county commissioners, school board, St. Cloud City Council and state representative for district 79. Some candidates have refused to respond, citing that the questions do not reflect the position sought. However, Somers said many candidates use local races as a starting point to aspire to higher office, which was considered by the organization’s volunteers, who were surveyed to create the questions.

Additionally, some candidates have not responded to the survey request, which will be reflected in the voter’s guide. However, those who do not respond to the request before the Aug. 24 election but move on will be given another opportunity to respond before the general election Nov. 2.

“We look at this as something we can build. We plan to do this every year,” Somers said. “Hopefully, it will gain momentum and be looked at as something with a little more weight.”

Somers is the sole volunteer in Osceola County and is looking for others to help coordinate with candidates, publish the voter’s guide and hand out the pamphlets on Election Day. If interested, contact Mona Somers at msomers@hansonwalter.com.