Choosing among political candidates can be a difficult task. Here’s what works for us when we have to decide who to vote for.
- Begin by using a critical eye throughout the voting process.
- Know which issues are most important to you and where you stand on them.
- Get copies of the voting ballot you’ll have on election day.
- Research the candidates for those seats where there is a contest.
- Consider the questions or Amendment proposals that are on the ballots.
- Talk to a trusted friend or mentor about the election and voting.
- Make your own decision.
From our family to yours, I hope this article gives you a good understanding of the process of choosing candidates yourself or helps you as you teach your own children.
There are a few terms you’ll want to know before you jump in.
Primary elections are held generally in the springtime of the year. In this election, voters choose one party to cast their ballot for. If you choose to vote on the Democratic ballot in a Primary election, you won’t see any Republican candidates or be able to vote for them during this election…and vice versa.
The winners in the Primary election will have their names put on the ballot alongside the winners from the other parties in the General election held in November.
In the General election, there’s only one ballot, so you don’t have to choose among the parties. You can vote for any of the people for each seat.
For the official definitions of these voting terms and many more, visit https://www.usa.gov/voting-and-election-definitions.
Now, let’s get started!
Use Careful Judgement Throughout The Voting Process
As you undertake this important task, be mindful of people’s motives and intentions.
Campaigns are often filled with broad promises that no one could disagree with.
“Every American should have access to excellent health care!”
“Our senior citizens deserve the best!”
“No American should be treated unfairly in the workplace!”
I think we would all agree with those statements.
So, if a politician says one of those things, does it have any real meaning?
Often declarations are made that if you stop and think about them, they’re things that anyone might say, and it doesn’t give you any detailed information about that candidate in particular.
What you’re looking for in that case is how they plan to make that happen.
Do they back it up with a practical policy?
Is what they’re considering appropriate for our country?
If they have a plan, have they considered who it will help and hurt in the process?
Where will the money come from? Will that take money from another deserving group?
We, as a nation, will have many different ideas about the best way to do that.
Now let’s consider your MPI’s.
Know Your MPI’s: Most Important Issues
Before you start looking into what the candidates believe and stand for, you need to be aware of your own beliefs on those same ideas.
There are so many issues that our society considers important. Recognize that there is bias everywhere, even in the way the issues are named.
So, I’m going to carefully lay out several hot-button issues (alphabetically) that you’ll want to consider where you stand…and I’ll try my best not to put it in terms that slant the idea one way or the other!
- Abortion
- Civil Rights
- COVID-19/pandemic/health
- Discrimination
- Education
- Foreign policy
- Gun ownership
- Health care/Insurance
- Human rights
- Immigration
- Jobs & the economy
- Size and scope of the US military
- Term limits
- The environment
Don’t worry if you’ve never really thought about some of these subjects very much. I believe that some people are more politically or civic or globally minded than others, and that’s okay.
Generally, though, broaden your mind to consider different viewpoints on these topics, and see which resonate with you the best.
If you’re a Christian, seek out what the Bible has to say. Pray about where the Lord would have you take a stand and to guide you in your belief.
National offices such as President, Senate, and House of Representatives may address all of these issues on their websites.
Statewide candidates will likely address most of these issues and any that are specific to your state or region of the US.
Local candidates may or may not address these issues. That is not necessarily a negative thing against that person. If they are running for school board, then they probably won’t include their beliefs about fighting a war in the Middle East on their campaign website.
Action Step: Get a Copy of Your Ballot
If you don’t know where to find your ballot, do these first steps to access it.
Ballots vary based on your registered address and depending on which party you choose when voting in a Primary election.
Google “secretary of state [your state]” and go to the Secretary of State website. This is probably a .gov website.
In Georgia, it’s found at sos.ga.gov.
Once you get to your state’s secretary of state official page, you’re looking for elections or voting tabs.
The page will then ask for basic information from you so that you can see the exact ballot you will see when you go to vote.
If it’s a Primary election, you’ll be able to view both the democratic and republican ballots.
For other elections, there’s just one ballot for everyone to use.
Go ahead and pull those up. Print them if that’s easier for you to reference as you continue with this process.
Research the Candidates
Look over the ballots, and you’re likely to see several offices that only have one person in that contest. For our last election, for instance, no one ran against the Incumbent Sheriff.
Incumbent means that the person already holds that position and is running for re-election so that they can continue working in that same position.
So under “Sheriff,” it only had his name listed.
In this case, you can still research the person of course.
Realize, though, that the candidate is going to win either way.
If it’s a Primary election, then that person will be on the ballot in November when all of the parties’ candidates are listed together.
If it’s the General election, that person will win the seat they’re running for. The election is just a formality.
So, all of that to say that if you’re feeling overwhelmed by the process {or if you’re short on time!}, then save this group for last…or not at all!
OK, now you’re really ready to do some research on the ones who do have competition.
- Start with a google search of the candidate.
- Check out their website, if they have one.
- Look for newspaper and other news articles about that particular race.
- Search for the candidate on Ballot Pedia. This is a non-partisan, neutral site that provides information for voters. Some candidates have completed a Ballot Pedia survey which might give you information not found anywhere else, especially for state candidates.
As stated earlier, don’t go into this naively. Use a sharp eye as you’re researching.
Look for biased language (words like always and never or words that seem overly emotional: ridiculous, fantastic).
What to Look For
Find out where the candidate stands on your hot-button issues…and notice what their hot-button issues are. That gives you an idea of their thinking, or at least what they believe is important to their voters.
News articles often make comparisons among candidates. This can be really helpful, as long as you remain mindful that the source may not be completely unbiased.
See who is endorsing them. Often, candidates will list this on their website. Endorsements can be from individuals (other political leaders, celebrities, business leaders, even church leaders) or from organizations.
If the NRA is endorsing them, then you can expect this person to have taken a stance that fits the beliefs of their members. If Planned Parenthood is endorsing a candidate, then you can expect this person to have taken a stance that supports the same principles that organization holds.
Not having endorsements is not necessarily a bad thing. It may mean that the person is new to politics. Or, it may simply be an office that doesn’t usually receive endorsements from people or groups.
Skim over their background and education. Sometimes, this is helpful and sometimes, not so much. A law degree from Harvard is prestigious, but I personally wouldn’t find it more favorable than a law degree from UGA.
Other individual factors may give you some insight, such as where they grew up or what their family is like.
Look into their experience as it relates to the office they seek. If it’s the Incumbent Senator, what committees did they serve on? What bills did they help to pass that they’re most proud of?
If they’re not the incumbent, have they worked in a related field? How many years of related work experience do they have?
Experience is usually a plus, but not 100% of the time.
Recognize that sometimes a lot of experience is great, and sometimes you may see that the position needs a fresh face.
Personally, I find the Judges to be the most difficult to examine. They frequently don’t have websites and are required to be non-partisan.
In their case, you’re going to depend heavily on news reports, experience, endorsements, background, and education.
Consider the Other Items on the Ballot
Would you believe there’s more?!
Ballots frequently contain opinion questions, usually yes or no types of questions.
Recognize a few main points about these questions:
- On the primary ballot, they are written from the perspective of that party and are often very biased toward that party’s core beliefs. Don’t be surprised by questions like, “Should Georgia voters get rid of the wasteful spending on absurd things such as…”
- These questions don’t directly become law or anything like that…they’re used by the political party for their own purposes.
- You can leave some, all, or none of them blank.
- If you really short on time, then don’t vote on these. I’m assuming that if you’re not that into it, you probably don’t care too much about giving the political party any information, lol.
Constitutional amendments (can be state or federal) are different and will be stated as such.
For these, you’re going to want to go through a similar research process as before.
The wording here will be more legalistic, and it’s often helpful to read from 2 or 3 different sources their interpretation of what the proposal is asking.
I have been confused before as to whether the question was worded so that yes meant agree or disagree!
Be sure to look at more than one source on this. You want to get at least a couple of points of view.
Get Input from Trusted Advisers
You’re almost there!
You might want to talk to family members, but I would encourage you to also reach out to neighbors and friends who are enthusiastic about politics, voting, or elections in general.
Try to talk to someone who owns a small business, someone who works for a large corporation, someone who’s unemployed, and someone who works for the government such as a teacher or law enforcement officer.
In other words, seek out people from all walks of life.
Their unique perspectives will help you
- consider issues you’ve never had to think about before
- learn of new perspectives to issues that you are familiar with
- solidify your own beliefs
Make Your Own Decision
Armed with a ton if information, you probably have a sense of which party ballot you’re going to choose when you vote. In Georgia, you can choose a different party at every primary election if you want. Other states may have a different process.
Pray about it and make your decisions.
If you’re completely overwhelmed, back up and focus on one particular aspect of the voting process.
Or you may decide that you will start with a local election and only choose the city council or county commission representative for your area.
You may decide that you will only decide on who to vote for President.
Or you may decide that you will determine which issues are the biggest to you and to our country and begin by voting based on that singular issue.
Ultimately, though, it’s now up to you.
You’ve got this!