Once again, the First Presidency of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has issued its election-year statement urging church members to "study the issues and candidates carefully and prayerfully."

Given the large number of LDS Church members in Utah, you would think such counsel would lead to thoughtful voting at election time. But think again.

If this election is like past ones, about 40 percent of Utah voters will go into their polling place and vote a straight-party ticket. It is hard to imagine that such acts involve much study of the issues or careful and prayerful consideration of candidates. Instead, these voters -- the vast majority of whom are Republicans -- will mindlessly accept all the candidates who the party offers up to them.

Is it the case that the Republican Party always offers people who are worthy of our votefi That is absurd on its face, even without recent scandals involving Republican officeholders.

Perhaps these straight-party ticket voters aren't LDSfi Not likely. The vast majority of Utah is LDS. And an even higher percentage of the electorate is LDS since LDS Church members typically vote.

How can LDS Church members best sustain the First Presidency's counsel on votingfi

We can begin by ignoring the straight-party ticket option. We need to think for ourselves and not let the party do our thinking for us.

We should take the time to examine the candidates on the ballot before you vote. Most candidates now have Web sites or at least e-mail addresses. Candidate Web site and e-mail addresses are available at the party Web sites or at the Utah County elections office Web sites.

When we go down the ballot, we still shouldn't consider party to be the exclusive guide of how to vote. Republicans sometimes offer candidates who, because of their character or extreme issue positions, are not worthy of our vote. Democrats do the same. At the same time, there are candidates from both parties who are the best individuals on the ballot and deserve our vote.

Again, as members of the LDS Church, we will soon face the ballot box. Now is the time to decide what will we do -- take a few seconds and mindlessly vote a straight party ticket, be it Republican or Democratic -- or "study the issues and candidates carefully and prayerfully."

Richard Davis is a political science professor at Brigham Young University.

This story appeared in The Daily Herald on page A5.