By Jim Siegel
Enquirer Columbus bureau

COLUMBUS - Rep. Bill Seitz isn't afraid to express a few opinions, even if his House colleagues won't join him.

Of the 62 Republican members of the Ohio House, Seitz, R-Green Township, stood alone as the only one willing to take a survey designed to give voters quick online access to candidates' opinions on vital issues.

"I hate to be in such a minority of one," Seitz said Tuesday, surprised to hear he was alone in his decision.

"If there was an order from on high that said don't answer it, I never got the order."

Just 11 percent of all Ohio House and Senate candidates, and 54 percent of congressional candidates, were willing to participate in Project Vote Smart's National Political Awareness Test. Given nationally since 1992, the test records a candidate's stance on such issues as abortion, taxes, crime and education.

Adelaide Elm, spokeswoman for Project Vote Smart, said more candidates, especially at the state level, are refusing to answer the survey.

"It does expose them to opposition research and misuse, but they've got to talk to the voters somehow," she said.

"Opposition research is nothing new. You can't keep it from your opponent and still tell the voters."

But Democrat leaders pointed to an Ohio House race in 2002, in which Lori Tyack of Columbus, who had never held public office, was attacked in television ads that labeled her "Tax Hike Tyack." The ad was based on her Project Vote Smart survey, on which she indicated she would support slight increases in some taxes.

Only three of 37 House Democrats filled out the survey this year.

Seitz said he skips many surveys that cross his desk. But he finds the Project Vote Smart survey balanced; and, most important, it now allows a candidate to skip up to 30 percent of the questions.

Some issues, particularly those dealing with budgets and taxes, don't lend themselves to easy yes and no answers, Seitz said.

"I'd like to say, 'Let's lower every tax.' But that's not realistic," he said. "I figured I can probably answer 70 or 80 percent of these without being hopelessly conflicted on the nuances, so I did."

Surveys completed by state and federal candidates from Ohio and across the nation can be viewed at www.vote-smart.org.

E-mail jsiegel@enquirer.com