Elections, uranium and the national debt in today’s letters to the editor.

Pick of the day: Facts still matter in elections

Regardless of how you may feel about the outcome of the 2012 elections, it is hard to find any American who loved all those campaign ads on television. Initial analysis from the Sunlight Foundation “can find no statistically observable relationship between the outside spending and the likelihood of victory” when looking at candidate races as a whole. Many political strategists have already reported that because there were so many ads, voters stopped paying attention to them.

What did matter, on the other hand, was factual, meaningful discussion of the issues. For this reason, we at the League of Women Voters of Montgomery County worked hard in this election year – through candidate forums, voter registration training and voter guides – to ensure that residents of Montgomery County and Radford had the information they needed to be knowledgeable and engaged voters. We believe an informed electorate is key to a vibrant democracy.

But we remain concerned about the deluge of misleading ads financed by unaccountable sources. Even though political pundits and analysts will continue to question whether the $6 billion spent on the 2012 elections was wasted, what we know is that this deluge of money and the flood of campaign ads will not be going away any time soon.

JUDITH SNOKE

Co-President, League of Women Voters of Montgomery County

BLACKSBURG