Having recently turned 18, I think it is awesome being able to vote. At the same time, I feel a bit overwhelmed. There are so many opinions being thrown around and whenever politics come up in a conversation, voices get a bit louder and more personal.

With advancements in technology and communications, we would expect it to be easier for politicians to communicate to voters. But that’s not the case. Millions and millions of dollars are poured into advertisements and campaigns specifically designed to persuade voters to lean toward a specific candidate and feel a certain way when they see an ad. It becomes frustrating sometimes and extremely difficult to pick apart the truth.

The best advice my Economics teacher gave me and one I really took to heart was to go out there and do my own research and check various sources. It made me realize that I am the voter and at the end of the day, it comes down to me to inform myself. I should not just rely on social media and TV commercials to tell me who to vote for.

To help me determine which candidate I wanted to vote for, I asked myself which issues are the most important to me — short term and long term. After that, I looked up each candidate’s stance on each issue. There are plenty of websites out there that compile charts that are used to compare each candidate (votesmart.org is a great resource). Just make sure they’re accurate and best of luck!
-Harry