If you’re like me you’re sick and tired of all the political advertisements, debates, events, stories, spin, pivots, and bloviating about Tuesday’s election in the United States. The good news is that it’s almost over. The bad news? It’s time to make sure you know who you want to vote for, and to make sure you consider all the elections and ballot questions on your local ballot.
Hopefully you made sure you’re registered to vote, and if you need to make sure of where to go to vote you can find your state or local election office to find your polling place. The website Can I Vote? is an easy to use website to make sure you’re registered to vote and to find where you need to go to vote. They also link to Project Vote Smart, a nonpartisan site that has information on the various candidates in all the races across the country.
When you go into the voting booth make sure you double check to make sure you’re voting in every campaign, especially the local races. Some of the cast members of The West Wing created this video for Bridget Mary McCormack, a candidate for the Supreme Court in Michigan that points out how important it is to check a box for more than just the presidential race.
Also don’t forget the ballot questions that may be on your local ballots. Some of these questions could have a direct impact on your life and the lives of those you care about. You can use the Can I Vote? website’s where to vote function to get to your state’s election office and see what the questions are in your state.
As I say every time there’s an election, decisions really are made by those who show up. Some people will tell you that if you don’t cast a vote they don’t want to hear any complaints about the results of the election. I say that too, but I know there may be races on your ballot where you honestly don’t like any of the candidates. The presidential race is one of those for me this time. I was in Massachusetts when Mitt Romney was governor and I saw how he tried to destroy the safety net for families in need, and if it weren’t for our state legislature fighting to override his vetoes folks who are poor or disabled in Massachusetts would be in a lot worse shape than they are in already. As far as President Obama goes I voted for him four years ago but I hate how long it took him to grow a backbone so I don’t want to vote for him again. I had really hoped Americans Elect would have fielded a bipartisan ticket for president and vice-president but none of the suggested candidates had enough support for even a first round of voting by their delegates. So while I’m going to my polling place Tuesday morning I’ll probably leave the POTUS section of my ballot completely blank rather than writing someone in. And yes, I know I’m waiving my right to complain about who gets elected, and I can live with that.
Whoever you want to vote for, or which sections of your ballot you feel you need to leave blank, please go to your polling place Tuesday. Surely there’s some races you care enough to vote in.
