Voting is one of the inherent rights that our nation gives each of us as adult citizens. Voting allows us to take the opinions of the everyday man and woman and make them equal to the opinions of the millionaire and billionaire. And while voting issues around presidential elections are often controversial and disdained, voting for congressional, state, and local positions are often underrated and overlooked.

I firmly believe that straight-ticket voting is one of the worst developments in America's voting system since citizens were given the right to vote. Straight-ticket voting is defined as the act of voting for every political candidate that a single party has on a ballot, and is often offered in the form of one checkbox at the beginning of a ballot, which will select all of the candidates for whatever party is chosen.

Essentially, an individual can walk into a voting booth, check one box, not see even a single name on any of the ballot sections, and submit their vote. That is dangerous.

We live in a world of partisan voting. People identify as one party — Republican, Democrat, Libertarian, Green, etc. — and blindly follow any individual that claims to be a part of that party. What most people fail to realize is that the political stances of most politicians do not follow a single track. Someone who is conservative in economics and military operations might be moderate, or even liberal, in social issues. Someone who identifies as primarily Libertarian might also believe in laws against abortion or the use of marijuana. People are diverse, especially in their personal views.

So what does straight-party voting do to this diverse mindset that most voters have?

- It enables them to easily slide into partisan voting, where they vote according to party rather than according to the views of the individuals they are voting for.

- It decreases the chance of individuals researching their candidates before voting.

- It increases the chance of re-electing incumbents, which can be dangerous if they are in positions without term limits, i.e., Congressional positions.

- It could facilitate faulty voting, since the individual is not directly and individually choosing their candidates, and instead trusting a machine and its software to choose the correct candidates.

Overall, straight-party voting hurts more than it helps. If an individual chooses to vote entirely for one party, then they are able to: by purposely selecting each individual candidate for that party one-by-one, which forces the voter to be more conscious about who their vote is going towards. These votes may not matter in some states for Presidential and Vice Presidential elections, which are elected more by the electoral college than popular vote. But these votes are vital for Congressional, state, and local positions, which directly impact the lives of the everyday person.

Be smart. Be educated. Do not fall into political traps and do not fall into partisan, straight-ticket voting. We've been given the privilege of voting for and electing our leaders, and we should not abuse or neglect that privilege.