Historic Victory

How Do You Vote?

OK, so maybe many of you have already voted since most states now have early voting as an option. But just how did/do you vote? I'm not really asking for whom you vote(d) but rather how did you did/do it? And I'm not asking if you use butterfly ballots, optical scan, or electronic voting machines. What I really want to know is how do you decide who you are going to vote for, who not to vote for, and what criteria do you use? Does gender,race , or religion matter to you? If so how much and why? Do you vote a straight party line, a mixed bag favoring one party, or do you always vote for the candidate and not the party. How much does an individual's charisma, personality or looks count? Are you an issue voter, and if so just one issue or multiple issues?

I don't think that there is any perfect way to vote so long as you feel confident that you have good, well-thought out reasons. I like to do what I can to be a savvy voter so I do do some research before I enter the voting booth. I think that is important to consider all along the campaign season what issues are important to you and do some thinking about how you see and understand the world. I think it is good going into the voting process with at least some ideas and maybe an thought out ideological framework. At any rate, simply knowing what issues matter most to you and understanding some basic things about how government and the world works are important steps before voting.

I discourage people from becoming single issue voters who only care about one thing because that generally means they have not thought about the other issue positions and how it might have real negative impact. When it comes to candidates you've never heard of before or issues you know nothing about, you may choose simply not to vote for these issues or candidates.
Voting a straight party ticket is at least ideologically consistent but to this day I don't think that I have ever entirely done that. I prefer to sit down and look at a candidate's education and professional experience and compare them also weighing other factors such as candidates' specific policy proposals (if any are available), their endorsements, and their answers to surveys and any debate questions (once again, if there are any). Party affiliations do matter to me because they often help identify some basic things that the candidates believe or value. However, I think that a person's political party rarely should be a sole reason to support or oppose a candidate because there can be a great degree of variety within political parties so it warrants that good voters do some independent research. I always like to keep informed all the way up to an election so I watch, listen to, and read news stories in a number of different daily venues. I think it is good to follow the news even in non-election year cycles.

Lastly, I look into what/who will be on my own ballot and do some research. I turn to resources such as Project Vote Smart,Politics1,and other helpful resources such as the Plain Dealers super helpful voter guide. Other resources are your local board of elections, candidates' websites, and local media such as your newspaper's editorial pages (online or in print). Just because a newspaper has endorsed a certain candidate doesn't mean you should take it at face value since they have their own criteria which you may not agree with, however you should at least read it to see their reasoning. Go online and look for any good information you can find because your vote is precious and it does count. You don't need to be an expert, just make sure that you are confident and conscientiously understand why you are or are not voting for a candidate or issue. Just don't give up and don't forget to vote.