Tips on Voting

Here are some tips on voting to help cut through the thick of it and more quickly make a wise decision in the voting booth. 

Unless you’re a political junkie, studying political candidates can be tiresome or even irritating – what with all the salesmanship that goes on around him/her. Nevertheless, it is a citizen’s duty to be an informed voter.

Remember that all candidates are only human.

• Watch for signals that indicate a candidate’s most basic, most important values and how they do or don’t align with yours. The candidate’s choices on most other issues will most consistently be influenced by his/her basic beliefs.

• Don’t expect to agree with everything a candidate represents. It would be ludicrous to find anyone – even your spouse, clergy, or best friend – who agrees with you all the time on everything.

• Let others help in your decision. Few voters have time to examine each candidate minutely. Consult trusted friends and trusted local leaders who have more information about a candidate than you do.

• Consider the source. Where you get your information about a candidate is always influenced by the basic values and perspectives of the people delivering the information.

• Remember that all candidates are only human. But expect good candidates to set a higher standard for themselves.

• Does a candidate use doublespeak – words that are constructed to disguise actual meanings. If a candidate does this, a red flag should go up in your mind.

• Watch for consistency. Does a candidate speak for the same principles to every audience? Does a candidate say one thing, but vote for legislation that contradicts what he/she has said?

• Look for the statesmen/stateswomen. Vote for candidates who promote good things rather than promote themselves and their political career.

• Be suspect of any candidate who promises to solve all problems. That’s impossible and also not their job. The candidate should promote his/her basic principles more than specific legislation.

• Actions speak louder than words. What a candidate says is very important, but what he/she actually does or has done is usually a better proof of his/her basic principles.