Voting

If you live in a country that allows you to vote for your government leaders, it is very important that you make sure you are registered, do your research on the candidates and issues, and then VOTE!  In the US, the process can start nearly a year before a major national election. Primary elections or caucuses choose the candidates that will appear on the ballots, so if you want to affect which candidates get onto the ballot, you need to get involved early.  Do your research on the candidates and don’t rely on what the 30-second TV commercials tell you.  Remember that the local government officials also have a big impact and give the local candidates and issues the same scrutiny.  Some things to consider:

• What does this candidate stand for?  What changes does this candidate plan to make?
• Do the candidate’s proposals seem practical and logical?  Some candidates make promises that cannot be implemented.
• Have you researched the issues behind the candidate’s promises?  Sometimes when you research an issue you end up with a different idea of what should be done. 
• If you can vote on a new law or a change to an existing law, learn all you can about what the change means and how it will be implemented.   Some proposed changes are very well thought out and some proposed changes are so vague it’s hard to tell what will really happen.