In an effort to reach as many Montgomery County voters as possible, the General Election Meet the Candidates Forum, will take to the local airways in a modified version on Monday, The forum begins at 7 p.m. on radio station WCDQ 106.3FM and WCDQ Facebook Live. Candidates for Montgomery County Commissioner – District 1 and Montgomery County Council At-Large will be featured.
The primary and general election forums, sponsored jointly by the League of Women Voters of Montgomery County, the Crawfordsville/Montgomery County Chamber of Commerce and the International Federation of Business and Professional Women of Montgomery County, have become a community staple over the past several years.
“With the ongoing concerns of COVID-19, the forum for the fall election will again be broadcast over the radio and Facebook Live with no in-person interaction,” said S. David Long, LWV forum coordinator. “While there have been a few local gatherings, we still felt it best for the community to be on the safe side, especially since it would be an indoor event.”
Dave Peach, general manager of the local Forcht Broadcasting stations, said they normally broadcast the forums live and consider them an important outreach to help inform and encourage citizens to get out and vote.
“That’s one of several benefits of a smaller community having access to a truly local radio station,” he said. “Conducting six individual interviews over a couple of days and putting it all together is a little more work than the in-person forums but it will hopefully provide voters with information on the candidates concerns and their positions on certain issues.”
Every effort was made to keep the structure of the program as close as possible to the normal forums.
The big differences were that there is no audience and the candidates are interviewed individually as opposed to the normal group setting to comply with COVID-19 best practices. As in the past, all candidates were allowed to have an opening statement, answer two questions furnished from the sponsors in advance, plus several unknown questions followed by a closing statement, all with time limits.
“All of the groups and individuals involved in this effort believe strongly in the importance of citizen involvement in the election process,” Long said. “This has been a very difficult time for the candidates, especially those newer to the process, with the mandated in-person contact restrictions. Hopefully this will provide the voters with more information on those seeking office. Thanks again to Dave Peach and his staff for helping us provide this important, timely and informative event. Stay safe and don’t forget to vote.”
