Down Ballot Decisions: Making Sure You’re Prepared To Vote
When I received my absentee ballot in 2018, I was ecstatic. This was going to be my first time voting, and I was certain I knew how to vote and who to vote for. But when I opened the ballot, it wasn’t as glorious and effortless as I thought it would be. There was no big arrow pointing to who I should vote for, no “click here for the right answer!!” And while I had read about my senators and representatives, many of the names were people I had never heard of. Having barely missed the cutoff back in 2016, I had mentally amped up voting to feel like I would check off the one correct box and all the world’s problems would be solved. I was a little bit bewildered, but more than anything I was embarrassed. I considered myself to be an informed voter and yet the importance of the down-ballot candidates and measures had not crossed my mind.
Most times, the focus is on the top of the ticket: the names listed first on the ballot, who the next president or senator will be. But underneath those well-known names are other important offices like the state legislature, who can have the same impact on people’s day-to-day lives — and they’re especially critical this year. Every decade, following the results of the census, states redraw their congressional and legislative district maps in a process known as redistricting. And while some states have non-partisan committees to fairly draw these district lines, there are still many others where the party in control of the state legislature controls the process. Many people on the ballot this year, from Texas to Florida to North Carolina, will be responsible for redistricting after the election. By making informed decisions about who to support for the state legislature, you can vote for people who will draw maps so that voters pick their politicians instead of the other way around.
It might be easy for us to forget the true importance of our own communities over the nation’s as a whole, but we must hold ourselves accountable for what happens in them.
Further down the ballot, in nearly every state and county, there are local positions up for election. These positions range from judges to sheriffs to school board members. All of these people are not just essential to keeping the community running, but often the smallest decisions can have a big impact. It’s important to make sure that the people you support share your values, even for local offices.
Many states will also elect state Supreme Court justices this November. These candidates are often officially non-partisan, so there is no indicator on the ballot as to which way they lean. But judges can be just as partisan in practice, and many times, candidates are endorsed by parties, so it’s important to do your research before voting. And at the very end of your ballot (sometimes on the back!), are any constitutional amendments and proposals. Many times these measures are written with perplexing wording to try and confuse people, so it’s important that people take the time to research what they mean. These proposals and amendments can be just as important as the offices on the ballot, ranging from infringements on voting rights through discriminatory photo ID requirements to propositions to enact rent control. And once a ballot measure is passed, it could take another ballot measure to overturn them, raising the stakes.
It might be easy for us to forget the true importance of our own communities over the nation’s as a whole, but we must hold ourselves accountable for what happens in them. If we don’t make informed decisions, we’re leaving it up to those who might not have our best interests at heart.
This is the first presidential election that I can vote in. But I’m not just voting for the next president. I’m voting for the next sheriff, the next state representative for the 6th district in the General Assembly, and the next soil-and-water conservation supervisor. And I am doing my research to make sure that I vote for who I think will be the most beneficial for my town, my state, and my country. Yes, my vote will have influence over the electoral college outcome, but more importantly, my vote has a lot of power in deciding the fate of my community.
Visit IWillVote.com to find your polling location and absentee ballot return options.
