Daily Herald opinion: Candidates should be required to provide email addresses

From our experience, most candidates from the suburbs who run for a local, state, and federal office take their campaigns seriously.

They want to get their message out and educate the voters on how they would govern if elected.

Of course, some people running for public office believe they don’t need to speak to the traditional media and refuse to answer questions from newspaper editors. That’s unfortunate, because we want to provide as much information about the candidates as possible so our readers can make educated decisions in the voting booth.

The questionnaires we prepare for elections allow candidates to communicate their views directly to the public. The answers they provide are often published unedited on our website for anyone to see.

However, the challenge for us during every election is figuring out how to get those questionnaires to all the candidates.

In a time when nearly everyone is carrying a smartphone, the most efficient way for us to send candidate questionnaires is through email. Unfortunately, candidates are required to provide only their names and mailing addresses when filing their nominating petitions.

With the March primary just a few months away, we checked online to look up the Republicans and Democrats running for county board or countywide seats throughout our area.

Most county clerk websites publish only a candidate’s name, political party and the position they are seeking. Kane County also releases mailing addresses.

And even though the Illinois State Board of Elections gave state and congressional candidates the option to provide an email address, many of them, including incumbents, did not.

One bright spot came from DuPage County Clerk Jean Kaczmarek, who has long worked to improve how her office runs elections.

When asked, the DuPage clerk’s office immediately sent us the email addresses for all 30 candidates who had filed for countywide, county board and forest preserve board seats.

So, we thank Kaczmarek and her staff for collecting the information in the first place — and providing it without forcing us to jump through hoops to get it.

We have said this many times before, but it bears repeating: There needs to be a state law requiring candidates to list an email address on their statement of candidacy. And that contact information should be available to the public. This is more than just a convenience for the media; it’s a matter of accessibility and transparency for the voters.

In the meantime, our reporters will work in the coming weeks to track down the contact information for scores of candidates. If you are a candidate who wants to hear from us, please take a moment to email us at elections@dailyherald.com with your name, political party, email address, phone number, the office you’re seeking and the county you live in.

Candidates willing to answer questions from the press allow us to educate the voters about them — something we all want.