SARASOTA, Fla. — Sarasota voters are already making their case for or against Amendment 1. It's one of the major state constitutional amendments on the ballot that asks voters to decide whether school board elections should be partisans.
If it passes, political parties could nominate candidates who could list their party affiliation on the ballot.
In Sarasota, where the school board has frequently been in the national spotlight over one political rancor or the other, the amendment could have big impacts as both parents and board members have questioned whether politics is already playing a role in policy decisions.
While supporters of Amendment 1 say having the candidates' party affiliation on the ballot allows for transparency, critics against the amendment cite the happenings at Sarasota School Board meetings and say it takes the focus away from who has the best policies for children's education and instead places that focus squarely on partisan conquest.
"Amendment 1 is good for no one. It is essentially an attempt to put partisan politics into our classrooms into our school board and that is something no one has been asking for," Zander Moricz, Executive Director of SEE Alliance said.
In addition, those calling for a no vote on Amendment 1 say if it passes, it would unfairly restrict decision-making for school boards to just voters with a particular party affiliation
"In a lot of districts where one party is very dominant over the other, the whole school board elections are going to be decided in that closed primary. So families that don't affiliate with that party aren't going to be able to vote, they aren't going to be listened to, they aren't going to be talked to and they will not have a say in their students' education that they deserve," Moricz said.
However, supporters of Amendment 1 say voting yes on the ballot measure takes care of the transparency issue, which they say comes up every election cycle.
"Non-partisan candidates are a long gone in Florida and Sarasota County," Jack Brill, Chair Republican Party of Sarasota County said. "At this point, the great majority is in favor of knowing what party their candidates are and who they represent. We want to have the voters know. Exactly you know what their candidates represent what their party is, and I offer more transparency and that I'll solve a lot of questions that a lot of voters have about these non-partisan races."
In Sarasota, around 96,000 vote-by-mail ballots have been returned and around 121,000 people took advantage of the early voting to cast their ballot.
Election officials and advocates urge that before going to the polls to cast your vote, make sure you've weighed the pros and cons, do your research, and are informed on what the issues are in relation to all the ballot measures and the candidates.