From Vol. 90, Ed. 08 May 2, 2024
Politics are messy – that is the name of the game.
Educating oneself on how the government functions and which offices do what can negate the messiness of politics.
The election process is complicated, and many names get thrown around. This can stress voters and even deter them from participating in the elections.
Alexandria McCormick, a senior at WCU, has been deterred from paying attention to races because of the complexity of politics.
“Politics often seem overly complicated for no reason,” McCormick said. “There are so many different factors that people have to consider while voting.”
Developing healthy civil habits can help wade through the complexity of politics and counteract the stress that comes along with getting involved.
McCormick finds it hard to find out what people stand for when they are on the campaign trail.
“It’s difficult to see where people stand, especially with all the promises people make just to get into the office,” she said.
There are ways to research candidates and their platforms while avoiding the noise.
To start the education journey, voters need to know which positions on the ballot impact them.
The North Carolina State Board of Elections website is a great starting place for voter information. On the website, voters can enter their registration information to see what offices are up for election in their district, and view sample ballots once primary results are finalized.
From there, voters can Google search any of the offices listed and see who is running for each.
Typically, Ballotpedia compiles a list of candidates for each office race and provides links to the campaign websites. This is where you can find the platform the candidate is running on. This can become time consuming.
Another option for looking into candidates is to view a “voter guide.”
Some news outlets or organizations dedicate time to publishing a breakdown of candidates and their platforms.
An example at the local level is The Sylva Herald’s publishing of a quick look at the Jackson County Board of Education candidates. This cuts down on the time needed to look into the candidates because someone has already compiled the work for you.
Looking at more nationally recognized races, the non-profit organization guides.vote produces voter guides for national and state elections. The guides break each candidate down by policy topic in alphabetical order.
These are only some of the resources available for voters to research candidates that could impact their community.
Finding time for this can be a tricky endeavor. Spacing out the research is a great way to get familiar with the offices over time.
There are 17 offices predicted to be on the Jackson County ballot in November. Voters still have time to dedicate an hour or so over the course of the next few months to investigate the function of each office and the candidates running for those offices.
Voting does not have to be a big scary monster that people fear every two to four years. Education is the key to many things, including politics.
