Welcome back again readers! In the third issue of our monthly In Focus, we will be focusing on the local elections – the candidates, the issues and the wonderful world of electronic voting.

It seems everything these days is done electronically. First it was the automated teller machines, then pay at the pump, then automated checkout at the grocery and now the most important symbol of this nation’s freedom, the ballot, will be cast electronically.

Even though I am very familiar with computers, I chose to pursue a career in journalism because they are too frustrating.

But, then again, the automated teller machines built by Diebold, the company that manufactures the new voting machines, have never failed me.

But when I went to the Wood County Board of Elections two weeks ago to demo the new system, my experience was less satisfactory than expected.

It took the elections board’s deputy director, another staff member and a Diebold technician approximately 30 minutes to get the machine to work. It was expected to perform immediately.

Media reports of the system’s demonstrations have been overwhelmingly positive and numerous systems of this nature have been used across the country, but my experience is worth noting.

If such a thing happened on Election Day, would a voter get left behind? I don’t think so. Even if the machines weren’t working at first, there will always be absentee ballots and other methods.

To tell you the truth, it is not the machines themselves that I am worried about, but who will be using them.

There are around 20,000 students in Bowling Green. It begs the question, who should be on city council?

An examination of these issues and profiles of candidates from wards one and two are contained herein.

The coverage this month is so in-depth that we had to cut a story. Dear readers, for the greatest story ever written on the issue of zoning, tune your little eyes to The BG News over the next week and learn why it is so important to stay on top of the city’s zoning decisions.