The Clanton Advertiser will cover next week’s election like it has covered no election before. No less than 13 staff members will visit Chilton County’s 18 polling sites (plus absentee ballots). We’ll be there as soon as the totals are printed, we’ll report those numbers back to the office, and results will be posted on our Web site as soon as possible – and, of course, in the newspaper the next morning.

But we’ve done all that in the past. This year, those who depend on the Advertiser for coverage of the election, before and after, will be in for a treat.

Www.clantonadvertiser.com now features a special Election 2008 section, where all stories about national, state and local races will be grouped. You can already read stories about today’s deadline to apply for an absentee ballot, the state reaching the 3-million mark for registered voters and a mock election held at Clanton Intermediate School (John McCain won in a landslide).

The best part of the section is that it allows readers to view a picture and biographical information of each candidate for each state and local office that will be on the ballot, plus the race for President of the United States.

We’re still in the process of gathering information and photos for each of our local candidates, but once that information is up, county residents will for the first time have an easy way to compare candidates. When all the results are in the night of Nov. 4, the winners will be indicated on our site.

We’re excited to be able to offer this opportunity to our readers and hope you all take advantage of it. The election section can be reached by typing the URL www.clantonadvertiser.com/news/election2008/ directly into the address window of your Web browser or by clicking on the “Election 2008” link that drops down under the “news” heading on the site’s home page.