Candidate Profiles

In Sunday's Stow Sentry, there was a section that listed the profiles of candidates who will appear on the November 2nd election ballots. The Record Publishing Co. mailed out questionnaires to these people asking them questions that might inform the reader more about the candidate they might vote for. The candidates are running for Summit County Council At-Large and Ohio House of Representatives. Included in these candidates profiles were their home addresses.

This struck me as odd at first, that a newspaper would publish the home addresses of these candidates. After thinking about it a little, I assume it is to show proof of residency. However, I do not see what other good this information does for the reader. Is it ethical for a circulation newpaper to print home addresses of government candidates? To me, it is like printing the address of Paris Hilton or Will Smith. There has to be some privacy statute involved?

I do not mean to think in a negative manner about this subject, but as soon as I saw the home addresses of the candidates running, I really wasn't concerned about the rest of their profile. I am thinking, what if someone who reads this goes to their home to vandalize it? Or worse, to hurt them or their family members? If I were running for a government position (which more than likely will not happen, but for the sake of argument, just go with it) I would feel very uncomfortable with printing my home address to a news circulation, especially if I wanted to protect myself and my family. Let's face it, there are some strange and scary people in this world. Anyone could now just show up at a candidates' house, for whatever reason it may be.

Does the newspaper need to print that information, even though it was accessed by a third party? Furthermore, does the home address of the candidate sway voters in one way or another?