Opinion: Lack of Candidates’ Night participation unfortunate for voters

The League of Women Voters of Centre County (LWVCC) hosted a nonpartisan forum on Oct. 10, as we have prior to each election since our founding in 1953, with few exceptions. This nonpartisan event benefits all voters in Centre County.

Candidates’ Night provides voters with information to make decisions about who will represent them, in a face-to-face format. We give equal time for each candidate to answer the same question and to present their position and potential solutions for significant issues of concern to our community, such as the economy, farming legislation, school vouchers, election laws, climate change, rural broadband, political contributions, public health mandates, tax reform, education funding and more. Candidates’ Night offers a glimpse of how candidates present themselves, and how they might work in a respectful and bipartisan manner on residents’ behalf. Serious candidates welcome this opportunity. They know the ability to compare views in the same space is invaluable.

Elected officials represent all of the public and, therefore, bear the responsibility to make themselves available to all of the public when given the opportunity, not just members of one party. With that in mind, we invited local candidates in four opposed races six weeks prior to the event on Oct. 10 to give them ample time to plan. We coordinated Candidates’ Night to avoid conflict with legislative sessions.

The Federal Election Commission (FEC) governs federal candidate forums and requires that federal contests must have at least two parties represented for each office at candidate forums. This is referred to as the “empty chair rule;” a single candidate is not permitted to attend. LWVUS and LWVPA policies strongly recommend we apply that same standard, and we strive to do so.

The following candidates were invited via email on Aug. 29 with a reply deadline of Sept. 26. Their responses:

PA 15th Congressional District

Zachary Womer (D): accepted

Glenn Thompson (R): unavailable

PA State Senate (25th District)

William McGill (D): accepted

Chris Dush (R): despite multiple assurances that he would get back to us, no response

PA State House (77th District)

Scott Conklin (D): accepted

Marie Librizzi (R): declined

PA State House (82nd District)

Paul Takac (D): accepted

Therese Hollen (R): accepted

We sincerely thank each of the candidates who chose to participate on Oct. 10. It demonstrates their commitment to engaging with all of their potential constituents and presenting their positions side-by-side, so that voters can better understand their choices.

Questions were submitted by the public and vetted by the LWVCC for appropriateness for the race, for duplication, and for respectfulness. No candidates received any of the questions, or topics, in advance. It is unfortunate that Candidates’ Night included only one of the four local races due to Republican candidates not attending. We would hope to engage non-attenders about any questions they have over format or process in the future.

In the meantime, we urge every eligible voter to learn about candidates’ positions and records prior to casting their ballot on Nov. 5. Our LWV Voters Guide is prepared with the candidates’ unedited information that they provide. The guide is published by both the CDT, and more recently the Centre County Gazette, in print and online prior to each election. The guide is on our website at lwvcentrecounty.org and on Vote411.org, along with other voting information.

LWVCC thanks the Centre County Commissioners for their permission to hold this nonpartisan event and C-NET for live coverage. C-NET will rebroadcast the forum on Channel 7 several times before the election and the recording of the event will remain available to view online at cnet1.org and at lwvcentrecounty.org.

If you would like to see more candidates participate in community based forums such as the LWVCC Candidate’s Night, please contact them and express its importance. Government is by the people, for the people and of the people; make your wishes known!