Think you’re ready to head to the polls and cast your vote? Ask yourself these questions first to find out if you’re all set to have your voice heard. Many people go into Election Day unprepared, and as a result, they may encounter issues with their registration, or even worse, they may cast a vote for a candidate who doesn’t have their best interests in mind. Quiz yourself and make sure you aren’t going to be one of those ill-prepared people with these eight questions.
- Am I eligible and prepared to vote?
All the research and enthusiasm in the world isn’t worth much if you’re not even registered to vote. So, before you do anything else, check and make sure that you meet the requirements to vote and have completed your voters registration paperwork. If you’ve voted before and you haven’t moved, you should be fine, but it doesn’t hurt to double check. Once you confirm your registration, figure out the voting rules, when election day is, how you can cast an absentee ballot, and if your state has an online voting system so you can vote online (you can’t cast an online ballot for every election, but for some, you can). You can also check out your state government’s website to familiarize yourself with voting software and other voting info. - Has this candidate gone back and forth on issues before?
Look up each candidate and see if they actually feel strongly about an issue or if they started expressing opinion closer to the election just to gain votes. You can look up past speeches, articles, and if they’re an incumbent, how they voted on said issues in the past. Flip flopping on important issues could mean that right after they are elected, they may change their opinion on it again. - Does this candidate have evidence of their support/opposition for a certain issue?
Some candidates say they feel very strongly about trying to stop climate change or about decreasing the student loan debt in the country, but do they really act on those beliefs? They can say just about whatever they want in their advertisements, but you need to look for evidence that they’re willing to back up those claims instead of just flaunting their opinions. - Is this candidate open to input from the public?
If you can’t find any research on this topic, email the candidate or the candidate’s team yourself with some questions or comments and see if/how they respond. If they don’t respond or don’t take your suggestions into consideration, how likely are they to listen to the public when they’re in office? Not very. - How will this candidate’s position and their political decisions (if elected) affect me?
If someone is running for mayor of your town, you should really do your homework to figure out who would be best for you (and turn out to vote) because whoever gets elected will affect you directly. State and national-level elections will affect you as well, but probably not as much as the local ones. - Is this candidate honest and fair?
Honest politicians are a rare (possibly nonexistent) breed, so even if you can’t find a completely truthful one, find one that is at least honest about the important stuff. Everyone gets all up in arms if an otherwise good candidate has a personal scandal (and we’re definitely not endorsing that kind of behavior), but would you rather have someone in office who lies about where they got donations from, what issues they care about, and what they’re going to do if elected, or someone who is primarily honest, but made a mistake or two in their personal life? What will actually matter when it comes to making decisions for the whole country/state/city? When it comes to being fair, take a look at the candidates’ campaigns. If they’re running a smear campaign against their opponent, that’s probably a red flag. - Will this issue affect my life? How about the lives of others?
When voting on issues themselves, such as medical marijuana legalization, think about how it will affect your own life and the lives of others around you. Will you benefit from the medical use of marijuana? Could others benefit? Even if you are not directly affected by something (and if you are), you need to use your best judgement and vote in a way that benefits the highest number of people. - Have I done enough research to make an informed choice?
If you know the platforms of each candidate in the race and the details of each of the propositions that are being voted on and could accurately tell someone else about them, you’re good to go. Encourage your friends to do their homework as well, but don’t pressure them into coming to the same conclusion as you.
