Election Letters Policy
Final deadline for election letters is 5 p.m. Oct. 20
Karlovec Media Group welcomes and encourages letters to the editor as well as residents’ opinions and endorsements on the upcoming Nov. 7, 2017, general election.
We reserve the right to edit all submissions for accuracy, taste and grammar. We reserve the right to condense letters for space purposes.
Letters should be no more than 300 words in length.
Letters will be published as space permits. If more letters are received than can be published in any issue, we will publish a representative sample.
Letters pertaining to the election must include an endorsement. Letters attacking a candidate(s) without endorsing another candidate(s), letters repetitive in content or in poor taste will not be published. Accusations made against a candidate(s) that are not easily verifiable will require documentation.
The Letters to the Editor feature is not a battleground for repeated arguing between opposing parties. Rebuttals are welcome; successive volleys are not. No more than two letters by a single writer will be published during the acceptance period.
Political advertisements will concern themselves with the issues of the campaign and/or the experience and qualifications of the candidate to run for office.
Letters to the Editor supporting or opposing a candidate will be accepted. We will, however, not run letters with deliberate or vague negative remarks or references about an opponent or another candidate. Any letter opposing a particular candidate, however, must also contain an endorsement of another candidate.
No letters from candidates will be accepted. This leaves the space open for residents to comment on the candidates as well as non-election issues of community interest. However, candidates are allowed to respond in letters, to editorials, news articles and columns in which they are the primary focus.
In all other cases, opinions of the candidates may be published in a paid advertisement. Candidates wishing to publish paid advertisements should call Sharon at 440-729-7667 or email her at ads@geaugamapleleaf.com.
Letters are due no later than 5 p.m. Friday for publication in the following week’s edition. The final deadline for election letters is 5 p.m. Oct. 20, for publication in the Oct. 26 edition. Candidate endorsement letters will not be printed in the issue — Nov. 2 — prior to the election.
Letters from candidates in response to letters specifically critical of them will be accepted until 5 p.m. Oct. 27, for publication in the Nov. 2 edition.
Writers may submit one election letter regarding an issue and one about a political race, for a total of two letters during the acceptance period. All letters must include the writer’s name, address and daytime and evening telephone numbers. If the letter is published, only the name and town will be used in the paper.
We do not publish form letters or letters written to other publications.
With regards to statewide or congressional races, only letters from Geauga County residents will be published.
These rules apply only to election-related letters. The rules for general, non-election letters are separate and still apply during this period.
Unless otherwise noted, columns on the editorial page reflect the opinions of the writers and do not necessarily reflect those of Karlovec Media Group or its newspapers.
