The Montgomery County Official Voter Guide for November 7th, 2018 elections just made it to my mailbox. While looking it over, I realized that I do not know half the names on the ballot, not to mention different candidates stances on issues that are important to me. Aside from Facebook ads, party affiliations, and political endorsements, there are quite a few other very good resources that allow voters to become more educated about political candidates. Here are my top three that provide more in-depth looks at the candidates:
- www.ballotpedia.org. Great site. One can put in their address and all the candidates for local, state and national office show up. Click on a candidate and you can get such info as primary results, endorsements, and major contributors.
- www.congress.gov. It is much easier to research your representatives’ current record and determine whether their rhetoric is different from their actions.
- www.lwvmd.org. League of women voters’ of Maryland puts out an excellent guide county by county, where you can read how candidates answered questions on economy, health care, budget, etc. This site provides excellent information.
The more resources you use, the more rounded picture of candidate you will get. Watching debates and forums is also entertaining and shows personalities that are missing in print form and staged ads. While getting more informed is important, the most crucial part is actually making it to the polls, which has become easier with early voting and voting by mail. I still like going to the polls on actual election day- to interact with my neighbors and get energized from this great civic exercise. See you all on November 7th!