Parker: Local election guides now online

The November election is approaching quickly, and we believe it is crucial for voters to know is on the ballot — especially in the local races.

This year, we’ve created special online election guides for the Daily Pilot, Huntington Beach Independent and Coastline Pilot websites, which we hope will help readers be more informed come election day.

The sections, which can be accessed through the top navigation bar on all three websites, feature a few different elements for readers to get acquainted with.

Most importantly, we’ve aggregated all of our election-related stories, columns and letters to the editor and put them into one place so they’re easy to find.

Second, we’ve created a mini ballot for all of our coverage areas. It’s a quick look at various races, candidates and local measures that will be on the actual ballot.

Finally, in our Meet the Candidates section, we’ve compiled short bios for all the candidates in key races that we’re covering. Here you will find out information like the candidates’ ages and occupations, the three issues they described as being most important to them, and links to their campaign websites.

We tried to keep the sections as local to our cities as possible — which means most statewide races are not represented — but we did include the races for the 72nd and 74th assembly districts. We also did not request bios from Newport Beach City Council candidates, as all three are running unopposed.

We hope you find our information useful when making your voting decisions Nov. 6.

For even more comprehensive information on all of California’s races, we also recommend checking out sites like smartvoter.org and the secretary of state’s website, sos.ca.gov/elections.

KELLY PARKER is the web editor for the Daily Pilot, Huntington Beach Independent and Coastline Pilot. She may be reached at (714) 966-4682 or kelly.parker@latimes.com.