March's NaBloPoMo topic is NEWS and today's question is "Do you always exercise your right to vote? Why or why not?"
Maybe it comes from my government & politics major, but I think it came even before that, but I always vote. Even if it's not an election for the president, governor, or mayor, I think it's important to vote for our representatives in government, even if it's unlikely our candidates won't win (as is often the case for me in my city, county, and state).
Since becoming more passionate about my Catholic faith, I even more believe in my civic duty to vote. Part of CCC 2240 says that "submission to authority and co-responsibility for the common good make it morally obligatory to pay taxes, to exercise the right to vote, and to defend one's country."
I try to do research before voting by exploring voting guides in the mail or online from the Maryland Catholic Conference and local media websites like the Washington Post. I also read through all of the candidates' websites which I can find for that particular election. What frustrates me the most when deciding who to vote for is that local candidates, such as those for the school board or city councils or courts, do not have that much information out there on them. They don't have websites and may not even have a small biography. How am I supposed to fully inform my voting conscience when I don't have the information? Sometimes I don't vote in those particular parts of an election because it doesn't make sense to vote for someone solely based on gender or party or sound of a name.
I've even taken my children to my polling location before and I've been thankful for fairly short or no lines in those instances. They enjoyed getting the "I vote" sticker from election judges or, if they didn't go with me, fighting over the sticker after I got home.
The next election this year will be a city election in November and I'm planning to be there, probably on the way home from work.
I hear you on the lack of information for local races. My least favorite is the school board.There is so little information on those candidates!
ReplyDeleteOne thing I find particularly useful is seeing the ballot in advance online. We're 100% electronic here, so the state provides a list that looks a lot like the actual ballot. It even customizes it with the races for your specific district, precinct, etc. so you don't have to figure it out using the huge sheets of paper they give out while you wait in line at the polling location. I always see the older people in line struggling with the ledger-size sheets and tiny print. Technology FTW!
...and school board candidates are important (as are other public office positions)!
DeleteWe get the ballot mailed to us in advance here so I usually mark it up and bring it in case I forget who I planned to vote for (or I give it to Chris in case he didn't have time to do research himself).