This November there’s an important election, and if you don’t know what I’m talking about you probably live under a rock. For many college students, this is the first presidential election that they can vote in. I felt like there was so much information out there and I knew so little. So how could I make an informed decision? We’ve all heard that phrase “informed the decision,” but how do we know when we count as informed. Does simply knowing the candidates’ basic policies make us informed? Do we just need to know their names? Should we just vote what our parents vote and call it a day? These are all valid questions that most of us are probably asking ourselves but not asking each other.
Just about six months ago one of my friends posted this quiz in a group message and suggested we all take it. The quiz asks you your opinions on government policies and how important these policies are to you. I took the quiz and it got me thinking. What do I need to know in order to vote? Well, the answer is whatever you feel comfortable with. The most important thing is going and registering and then actually voting. Here are some ideas of what you should do to become an educated voter.
Decide what issues are important to you.
Everyone has issues that are personally important to them. For me, it’s changing our education policies to require secondary language education in elementary schools. Now that’s not one of your top issues I’d bet, it’s definitely not the most important issue in America today either, but it is something that’s important to me. When you’re researching candidates pick a few issues that you believe are pressing nationally and then pick a few personal issues. Research all of the candidates’ positions on these issues and their plans to make a change. This is a great way to start your political research and keep it interesting because the issues you’re studying are already important to you.
Look at both sides.
When looking into candidates look at their policies, their political experience, and their successes/ failures. Don’t just look at one side, though. I get that it’s easy to do. If your parents are Republicans, you probably grew up watching mainly conservative news so it could be easy to only read articles from conservative news sources when you’re researching candidates. When you do this you’re really hurting yourself, because you’re not seeing the whole picture. Look at what MSNBC, CNN, BBC, Fox, and the Huffington Post are saying about the candidates. Don't just look at one source. There will be bad things and there will be good things but you should know both in order to truly be an educated voter.
You don’t have to know everything.
I used to feel like if I didn’t know every candidate’s entire life story, their past positions, and their policies on every single issue then I wasn’t qualified to vote. This simply isn’t true. Yes, you should read at least one or two bios about them. You should definitely know their policies on the issues important to you, but you don’t need to know everything. Spending just 20 minutes a week reading about politics will educate you more that you ever expected. Keeping up to date on what the candidates are saying just takes a few minutes out of your week.
Don’t let those with more knowledge make you feel stupid.
Many of my friends are political science majors. They spend their days scrolling through hours and hours of political news. In their classes, they debate policy and discuss what being a member of a certain party really means. If politics isn’t your passion don’t feel stupid for not knowing everything. Being an educated voter doesn’t mean knowing every bill passed during Obama’s second term and having an opinion on it. It doesn’t mean knowing every candidate’s plan to fix every problem in America. Honestly, I don’t think anyone has the time to learn all that before they head to the voting booth. Be secure in the fact that you’ve done your research and be open to learning new things.
Don’t forget third-party candidates.
Just about a year ago I had no idea that third party candidates were a real thing. I honestly thought that you were either a Republican or a Democrat, end of story. This isn’t the case (shocking, right?). There are hundreds of smaller political movements across the country. There’s the Libertarian party, Green party, and the Constitution Party. Then there are some really small ones like the United States Pirate Party (yes, that’s a real thing), or Veterans Party of America. While these parties may not have strong candidates every election cycle this election cycle there are some notable third-party candidates. So don’t forget about the little guys and do some research on the popular third parties this election cycle.
Start talking about it.
Political discussions can be awkward but they can also be informative. So talk to your friends. I’ve learned so much from having open-minded discussions with my friends about politics. While I’m an extremely opinionated person, I also like to hear other people’s opinions. Each person’s political views are influenced by what they’ve been through in their life. So stay open-minded and engage in a conversation. When someone says something you don’t agree with asking questions like, why do you think that? Or tell me more about that? Usually, they’ll explain their thought process and it can really help you in the way you think about those political issues. An open discussion also reminds us that politics are important because they impact our future.
Lastly, it’s not OK not to vote. There are a lot of reasons people choose not to vote. I’ve heard people say, there aren’t any good candidates so I’m not voting. Well, there has to be one that’s better than the other so pick one and vote for them. Another common excuse is that you don’t know enough about politics or the candidates. Most people are required to take a U.S. government class in high school so you at least have a basic knowledge of the government. If you read this article, then you know that it’s not that hard to become an informed voter. Some people say it’s too hard to register to vote. If you’re going to an out of state college you can register to vote in your home state or in the state of your college. If you choose to vote in your home state, they can mail you a ballot that you fill out and send back. It took me just 20 minutes to register to vote and get on the mailing list.
The next president of the United States will change our lives whether we want them to or not. We are blessed to have the freedom to express our opinion through voting, and it hurts me to see that voter turnout is going down rapidly. It’s easier than ever to register to vote so go out there and vote. As young people, we are the future of our country and we should care out who's leading it. Do what thousands of people have fought for over hundreds of year and use your voice, go vote.
