The Madison County Electoral Board is sponsoring a Candidate Forum.
The non-partisan forum will be held o Thursday, Sept. 22 in the auditorium at the Madison County High School, 68 Mountaineer Ln, Madison, VA 22727. The forum will begin at 6 p.m. and will last about three hours. We have received confirmation from each of the local candidates for the board of supervisors and the school board to join the forum and their fellow citizens.
Candidates for board of supervisors will respond to questions during the first hour, 6:30-7:30 p.m., followed by a break. Candidates for school board will have the opportunity to respond to questions from 7:45 to 8:45 p.m.
The purpose of this forum is to give the candidates the opportunity to address issues that affect the community and for citizens to learn about the candidates’ positions on issues. Citizens can submit handwritten questions for consideration from 6-6:15 p.m. at the event or via email to madcova.candidate.forum@gmail.com. A panel comprised of the Electoral Board and others will review questions and edit those of a similar focus for presentation to the moderator to ensure that the citizens questions/issues are addressed.
The forum will be moderated by the honorable Clarissa Berry, Madison County Commonwealth’s Attorney, and there will be a timekeeper. Question screeners will compile questions pre-submitted by the public. There will be no questions from the floor. All candidates will be asked to answer the same questions for their particular office. Candidates must appear themselves and may not send a surrogate.
No demonstrations or signs will be allowed in the meeting room and there will be no distribution of candidate literature in the meeting room, but tables will be provided in the lobby (or porch) for candidates’ use.
The format for this forum will include a two-minute opening statement, one minute to answer each question, and a two-minute closing statement. If a candidate is mentioned by name by another candidate, the referenced candidate will be entitled to a 30 second rebuttal. A drawing will be held to establish the order of the opening and closing statements. The first candidate to answer questions will be rotated.
