With all of the negative advertisements and accusations being thrown around, it can be difficult to decipher that for which each candidate truly stands. It is essential that voters know where candidates stand on the major issues in order to make the most informed decision for the future of this country. So I have decided to list the presidential candidates and their views on the major points of contention for the election of 2016.

HILLARY CLINTON

Abortion: She believes it is the woman's right to choose and supports public funding for contraception.

Economy: She wants to lower taxes for small businesses and the middle class, raise the minimum wage and close loopholes that give the wealthiest taxpayers tax breaks.

Immigration: She supports a pathway to citizenship for undocumented parents to get citizenship with their children.

Gun Control: She wants to expand background checks, repeal laws that protect gun manufacturers and ban assault weapons.

Climate Change: She supports climate change reforms. Her plan is to increase renewable energy usage, so it could one day completely power homes.

Syrian Refugees: She backs allowing up to 65,000 Syrian refugees into the United States with careful screening.

Health Care: She supports the Affordable Care Act but wants to build on it by reducing out-of-pocket drug costs.

Death Penalty: She would like it to be used in very rare cases. Although she does not support complete removal, she believes it has been used too often and in a discriminatory way.

ISIS: She believes that regional military in Iraq and Syria should provide the ground troops to fight ISIS. The U.S. could provide air strikes and implement a no-fly zone to assist in the operation.

To find out more about Hillary Clinton's platform, visit The New York Times, PBS NewsHour, and OnTheIssues.Org.

TED CRUZ

Abortion: He opposes public abortion funding and also wants to end public funding of Planned Parenthood.

Economy: He supports a flat tax for all businesses and wants to eliminate five government agencies to help trim government spending.

Immigration: He is against a pathway to citizenship for undocumented immigrants and is in favor of much tighter borders.

Gun Control: He is a staunch supporter of gun rights.

Climate Change: He does not believe that climate change is man-made and has alleged that politicians have changed the numbers to impose more restrictions on Americans.

Syrian Refugees: He only supports giving refuge to Christian Syrians in the United States and claims that Muslim refugees should be given safe havens in Muslim countries.

Health Care: He wants to completely repeal the Affordable Care Act and replace it with a flat tax and health savings accounts.

Death Penalty: He supports it fully.

ISIS: He is a proponent of air strikes and carpet-bombing, as well as sending weapons to Kurdish troops there. American ground troops would be a last resort situation but would be on the table if local troops could not eliminate the threat.

To find out more about Ted Cruz's platform, visit: The New York Times, PBS NewsHour, and OnTheIssues.Org.

JOHN KASICH

Abortion: He supports banning abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy with the exception of the mother's health being in jeopardy. He also opposes public funding for Planned Parenthood.

Economy: He supports lowering corporate and income taxes and eliminating some tax loopholes for corporations.

Immigration: He would like undocumented immigrants who follow the law to gain legal status but prefers that not to be through citizenship. He would compromise to allow a pathway to citizenship, but that is not his preference.

Gun Control: He believes that mental health legislation is more effective than gun laws and supports gun rights.

Climate Change: He acknowledges climate change, but he does not support threatening jobs with regulations based on climate theory.

Syrian Refugees: He is against allowing Syrian refugees into the U.S. for fear it would threaten the safety of Americans.

Health Care: He supports repealing the Affordable Care Act but keeping federal Medicaid expansion.

Death Penalty: He supports it, because "it's about justice."

ISIS: He believes that only U.S. ground troops can defeat ISIS but is also a supporter of establishing an international plan to combat the group.

To find out more about John Kasich's platform, visit The New York Times, PBS NewsHour, and OnTheIssues.Org.

MARCO RUBIO

Abortion: He supports banning abortions after 20 weeks with the exceptions of the life of the mother, incest, or rape.

Economy: He supports cutting corporate taxes to 25 percent. Individuals making over $75,000 a year would pay 15 percent for their income tax and anyone above that would pay 35 percent. He would eliminate capital gains taxes and impose a tax credit of $2,500 for each child in the family. Rubio is against the growth of federal economic regulations.

Immigration: He would address strengthening borders first, followed by legalization of undocumented immigrants. The pathway to citizenship would be the last step in the process.

Gun Control: He believes that gun laws are useless.

Climate Change: He does not believe that climate change is entirely man-made and refuses to support legislation that would destroy jobs based on it.

Syrian Refugees: He does not believe it is feasible to accurately background check all of the potential refugees, so he is against letting them into the United States.

Health Care: He would repeal the Affordable Care Act and replace it with "consumer-centered health reforms that expand coverage and lower costs." He also aims to update Medicare and Medicaid.

Death Penalty: He supports it but feels that it needs to be streamlined.

ISIS:Rubio is a proponent of air strikes and assembling an international coalition. He would provide weapons and training to Kurdish forces in Iraq and Syria to lead the fight as to not increase anti-American sentiments.

To find out more about Marco Rubio's platform, visit The New York Times, PBS NewsHour, and OnTheIssues.Org.

BERNIE SANDERS

Abortion: He is pro-choice and supports funding for contraceptives.

Economy: He is a proponent of breaking up big banks and raising incomes taxes for those making over $250,000. His tax plan would be a progressive tax system, where those making more would pay proportionately more.

Immigration: He supports a pathway to citizenship and more restriction of deportations. However, he is skeptical about guest-worker programs.

Gun Control: He supports removing laws that protect some gun manufacturers and banning assault weapons.

Climate Change: He is committed to addressing climate change through taxing carbon emissions and eliminating tax breaks for fossil fuel firms. He also opposes the Keystone Pipeline and drilling in the Arctic.

Syrian Refugees: He feels that the U.S. has an obligation to help the refugees.

Health Care: He supports a more extensive version of the Affordable Care Act, which would be universal, government-provided health care. He is a proponent of Medicare-for-all, a single-payer system.

Death Penalty: He believes the government should not support "the murder of other Americans," so he is against it.

ISIS: As an anti-war activist, he believes the U.S. should take a backseat in the fight against ISIS. Muslim nations should lead the fight and supply the ground troops.

To find out more about Bernie Sanders's platform, visit The New York Times, PBS NewsHour, and OnTheIssues.Org.

DONALD TRUMP

Abortion: He believes that abortions should be limited. He is not completely against federal funding for contraceptives.

Economy: He would shrink the number of tax brackets from seven to four and reduce income taxes for most Americans.

Immigration: He supports deporting all undocumented immigrants and freezing all green cards. Also, he is a proponent of banning all Muslims from entering the country at this time and plans to build a wall along the whole Mexican border.

Gun Control: He believes that there should be a longer waiting period to purchase a gun and that some assault weapons should be banned. However, he is still a strong supporter of the Second Amendment.

Climate Change: He does not believe in climate change and fears that the theories will destroy jobs. Regardless, he does advocate taking care of the environment.

Syrian Refugees: He does not support the admission of Syrian refugees.

Health Care: He would repeal the Affordable Care Act and replace it with universal healthcare similar to the government-run healthcare service in Canada.

Death Penalty: He supports the death penalty for the worst of crimes.

ISIS: He supports sending U.S. ground troops to target oil-rich regions held by ISIS. Trump is quoted as saying, “I would bomb the hell out of ISIS.”

To find out more about Donald Trump's platform, visit The New York Times, PBS NewsHour, and OnTheIssues.Org.

Hopefully, this clears up some of the misunderstandings about candidates and their views. Like any election, this one is very important. With so many major issues on the table, it is essential that you make yourself heard. Get out there, and vote.