This election year is in full swing and it’s time to start preparing ourselves to be informed and educated voters. During the 2024 elections, you can expect to see numerous candidates of all levels from the president down to local school board members up for election. This is a crucial election cycle for believers to make sure their voices are heard loud and clear. With a plethora of important seats up for grabs, it can be easy to feel overwhelmed by the length of your ballot. Don’t let a long ballot or a feeling of unpreparedness be the reason that you stay home on election day. Below we have compiled a quick guide with ideas to help you navigate researching the stances and positions of candidates running for elected offices.
- Visit The Candidate’s Official Website
Just about every candidate, no matter what office they are running for, will have an official campaign website that gives a broad overview of their stances on important issues and their vision for that office. Campaign websites also provide good insight into a candidate’s professional and personal experience. While these websites typically only cover very broad issue areas, it is a great place to start your research.
- Social Media
With the rise of social media’s influence on current events and its relatively low cost for advertising, most candidates try to make sure their campaign has a presence on various social media platforms. Checking a candidate’s campaign social media accounts provides an opportunity to get more details about where a candidate stands on specific and current hot topic issues. Many candidates also use their campaign social media pages to keep voters up to date on campaign activities and events. These posts can alert you to opportunities to meet or hear the candidate speak in person. Looking at a candidate’s social media accounts also allows you to see what other elected officials and candidates this candidate is supporting or collaborating with.
It is also a good idea to see if a candidate has personal social media accounts. Many candidates will make their accounts private after announcing their campaign but for those who leave their accounts public, this is another way to see what groups and organizations this candidate is aligned with either personally or professionally.
- News Articles
The closer we get to election day, the more local news outlets will publish articles and stories about key races in the area. These news stories are another way to get information about candidates that are running. However, when reading or listening to these news stories, it is important to remember that most of these news outlets will be telling their stories with a very clear bias (most times biased against candidates who are standing for righteousness).
News stories are also a good way to see if the candidate has been interviewed or covered for a story personally or professionally. This can provide you with additional information about the groups, causes, and organizations they are affiliated with.
- Voter Guides
Voter guides are a great way to gain information about a large number of candidates quickly. There are many national and local organizations that will provide information on various candidates. Many of these guides are issue-based and will provide lists of candidates that support or oppose specific issues.
There are also many local organizations that will ask candidates to answer survey questions on a range of topics and issues. However, it is important to remember when using voter guides that rely on candidate responses, it can be difficult for candidates to respond to all the survey and interview requests so some of these guides may contain incomplete information.
National voter guide websites:
My Faith Votes: https://www.myfaithvotes.org/myvoterhub
Ballotpedia: https://ballotpedia.org/Sample_Ballot_Lookup
ChristianVoterGuide.com: https://www.christianvoterguide.com/
- Voting Record
For incumbent candidates, a great way to find out their stances on specific issues is to look at their past voting record. Many elected bodies of government keep electronic records of meeting minutes. These minutes can provide insights into how a candidate has voted as well as tell you if they made a point to speak in support or opposition on that specific issue.
Looking at voting records is also a good way to find out information for candidates who have decided to run for a different office. How a candidate voted in a previous elected office is a good indicator of how they will vote if elected into the new office.
For candidates that have held elected office in the past, make sure to look at what legislation they proposed, supported, and opposed. This again will be an indicator of the types of issues they will support and oppose in the new office.
It is also important to note that the lack of votes and proposed legislation is something else to pay attention to when researching candidates. This lack of action could be a sign that they are unwilling to take stances on and defend important issues.
The suggestions listed above are starting points to kick off your research to determine which candidates to vote for. There may be other resources and outlets that are available that may be specific to your local area that can also be helpful.
The important thing to remember during this election season is to take the time to do your research. Your vote can help elect representatives who will boldly stand for righteousness and defend truth.
After you have done diligent research, don’t forget to pray. It is imperative that we intercede for our elected offices and exercise our right to vote in both the primary and general elections because things change when we pray and get involved.