It’s election time. Your voter pamphlet has now arrived. Your ballot needs to be returned no later than Tuesday, Nov. 4, by 8 p.m. You can either make sure it is dropped early enough in the mail so that it gets a postmark before that time, or put it in one of the local ballot boxes. This ballot does not have very many issues on it, so it should be fairly easy to complete. Getting the ballot in early makes sure that if there are any problems, they can be satisfied.

So how do you prepare to be an informed voter?

• You can read the voters’ pamphlet to see the qualifications and the statement of what each candidate proposes.

• If they are an elected official or have been an elected official, you can get their voting record. Many organizations put out voter analysis that you can compare. The voting record also tells you about their attendance, so you know if they are actively participating in representing you.

• In the vote reports, you can see how often the candidate voted along party lines only.

• You can go to events where they are speaking and see what topics they bring up. Be aware that sometimes a candidate will bring many of their friends so that the questions are all from one particular viewpoint. If you see that happening, speak up and say that you would like to hear the opposite opinion so that you can make an educated decision.

• If you are at a debate and the questions are all directed to one candidate first, or if their one-minute rebuttal is cut off, or if the questions are not pertaining to that level of government, then you need to be aware that this debate is slanted too. Again, speak up. I am thankful that both debates recently from the Seattle Chamber and Issaquah were very well done. These will assist in getting a very good insight into each of the candidates that participated.

• In the legislative bodies, it is important to have people with a variety of talents, experience and skills. One of the important skills is how well do they get along with people with various different ideas. The extreme partisanship and aggressive bullying that we are seeing now is not healthy. In the 1999 Legislature, there were an equal number of 49 Republicans and 49 Democrats. It was one of the most productive legislative sessions. We all had to work together. The parties were more open to working together and one committee continued to have co-chairs even after the 1999 session. You unfortunately don’t see that happening today. But we can get back to that kind of collaborative environment if we elect people who are willing to end the divisiveness and get to work for the mutual good. We need to state that we are looking for this as an expectation we hold.

• Do you know about an important tool to have your voice heard in our state? When the public is not happy with a law that is passed, one option they have is to write and collect signatures for an initiative. Two years ago, nearly 500,000 people signed an initiative to the Legislature known as I-2081 on parental notification known as the “Parents’ Bill of Rights.” The Legislature, in a wide bipartisan vote, voted it into law. At the time I was concerned that the Legislature did that for political reasons. If the Legislature adopts a law, they can change it the next session. If the people vote to pass a law, then the Legislature must wait longer to change it.

Unfortunately, the next year, the legislative majority wrote SB 5181, which they said added clarification to the initiative. However, it removed many of the provisions that the citizens who signed the initiative were hoping to have put back into law.

We need to be aware of which legislators are putting up barriers to using this tool. Respecting the rights of citizens to be able to write initiatives is important, and recent regulations have made this tool more difficult and expensive to use.

Also recently, as citizens are again collecting signatures for initiatives, the signature gatherers are being attacked, yelled at and have had initiatives stolen from them and ripped up. These behaviors in interfering with initiatives is a crime.

• Another way to be informed is to go and observe that person either in person or on the videos of their public meetings. Pick two or three meetings so you can see a general way of how they participate. Are they prepared? Did they show up with the wrong paperwork? Did they ask any questions or just accept what staff told them? Are they looking at their cellphone? Is what you’re observing worthy of that person getting your next vote?

I once took a man named Andy Hill to testify in Olympia. The current legislator was so poorly behaved that Andy asked me if this was normal. That was the beginning of Andy later becoming Senator Andy Hill (R-District 45). He was a beloved senator who made many important contributions to the state, including bringing the budget online and forming a bipartisan committee that worked together. Members from both political parties came to his funeral and gave not only their respects, but also talked about his integrity and how wonderful it was to work with him. So you can get a very informed impression from watching your legislators in action.

• Next you can talk to other elected officials to get their insights on what it is like to work with each candidate. The criteria I use is what is the integrity of the person, what is their background experience, what is their dedication to the hard work of being properly prepared in this role? What is your criteria?

• Remember that Election Day is Nov. 4 and the voting deadline is 8 p.m.

Kathy Lambert is a former member of the King County Council who represented the Snoqualmie Valley area.