Find Out About Your Local Elections Now so You Don’t Fake It in the Voting Booth
The presidential race is just one of dozens put up for a vote this November. The House of Representatives and Senate are open to capture, and there are local elections for everything from school boards to justices. Your voice is likely to matter at these levels, and the results are likely to have a direct impact on your life. Don’t wait until Election Day to figure things out.
While presidential news has a way to find you, whether you like it or not, local elections take some effort to stay on top. Here are some ways to find out what’s on your ballot and figure out who to vote for.
Find out what’s on your local ballot paper
It also means that there isn’t really a single central database that can be checked to see who is working for what. Fortunately, there are several sites that can give you an overview.
- Ballotpedia is a wiki site with information on elections across the country. The homepage tool allows you to enter your address to see a “sample bulletin” with all the races in your bulletin. Click on any candidate to see a variety of unbiased information about them with links to additional resources.
- Vote411 offers an online voter guide that you can use by entering your address or sharing your current location. Rather than presenting you with a list of candidates, this tool allows you to compare candidates and fill out a sample ballot, which you can then print for future use or take with you to polling stations.
- National Conference of the legislative assemblies of states (NCSL) offers a database of ballot measures for each state, allowing you to know what questions to voters will decide directly. And that’s a good thing, because the aforementioned two services tend to skip voting initiatives.
These services offer a great starting point, but there is always the chance that your newsletter will contain a few things that are not on any of the sites. The best place to check is the paper voter guides that your local voting body sends out ahead of elections, usually in October. These books are mostly paper copies of the information offered on the above sites, but they are usually more complete and up-to-date.
Even so, there is a chance that something in your newsletter will not be in the directory. For this reason, it is recommended that you register for early or absentee voting so that you can see your entire ballot at home and research everything before making a decision.
Learn more about local candidates
Your ballot will feature all sorts of names that, depending on your media diet, may not be familiar to you. With a little research, you can understand how these politicians stand on the issues that matter most to you. Here are some places to start your research:
- The official websites of local politicians almost always include a list of political positions. Reading them is a great way to get a general idea of what a politician stands for and what he will try to achieve if elected.
- Social media is another great way to find out where candidates are ranked. Scroll through the Facebook or Twitter timeline to see how a candidate is reacting to the latest news and events. You can even follow the politicians to get regular updates from their point of view, but this is not necessary.
- A quick search for a local candidate on Google News is another way to find out what public statements a candidate has made.
These are all quick ways to get a general idea of the position of candidates on issues. If you have more time, consider some of these apps and websites to help you do some more digging.
Keep up with your local races
Of course, a lot can change from today to November, so you’ll want to be aware of what’s happening at your local races, or newly approved voting initiatives that come up late. The national media will most likely not cover local races, except for occasional articles that are likely to link them to the presidential race, so if you’re curious about the controversy or any twists and turns the race might take, you’re on your own.
Find a few local media outlets and start checking their websites regularly. Newspapers are a good idea at first, but local TV and radio stations may also offer relevant information.
If you can’t (or don’t want to) visit local media sites regularly, consider finding a couple of journalists covering local politics and following them on Twitter or Facebook. Get connected to the local news once or twice and they’ll probably display their Twitter tags on the screen, or you can visit the local news network website and find them there. This way, you only get periodic updates on what’s happening in the campaigns and random links to articles, and you don’t have to follow the nightly news.
It makes sense that the national media focus on presidential politics: this is important and the only thing everyone in the country can vote for. But it is easy to feel that these politicians are distant figures who have very little to do with your daily life. Local elections are different. Take time to educate yourself about the rest of your ballot, and you will feel better about politics – and perhaps learn a lot about your community in the process.