Please don't yell at me, but I'm not registered to vote. I know. Horrible, right? But honestly, I've never really been into politics and I figured I'd just ask my friends who they are voting for and I'd vote for the same person. I don't exactly think that's the smartest thing to do, so I just stayed out of the picture. But now that I'm getting older, I realize that I really should. I mean, I may give birth to the future president of the United States, and how would that look if his own mother wasn't registered to vote? But my problem is that I was never interested in government or U.S. history when I went to school. So I'm completely lost. Here are my reasons why, and hopefully a friend or someone can help me out!
How do I know if I'm democrat or republican? And I do know that regardless which party I say that I'm in, I can always vote for someone that is from another party in a presidential election. I went online to see if I could take a quiz that would help me out. I thought this would be a bright idea because I distinctly remember taking a quiz just like that in the sixth grade. However, the problems was that the questions were about things that I had no idea what they meant. I raised my hand to ask my teacher, and she said it really didn't matter and to just answer yes or no to the questions because it was really just for fun. (That's the Oklahoma City Public School System for ya!) Well, now when I try to find a test, all the websites say it really doesn't matter since you can vote for either candidate regardless of which party you belong to. Well, it may not matter to them, but it does matter to me. I mean, aren't there seperate elections for democratic and republican candidates before they even decide who the presidential candidates are? Or am I even more confused than I thought I was? So basically if I can just learn some of the fundamental beliefs of each party that would be great. And please, no biased or mean answers, I just want facts!!!
Another question I have is: am I even to late to register to vote in this years presidential election? (I guess that really should have been my first question!)
If not, how do I do it? And do I have to register in the state I "live" in. This one is tricky since my drivers license is OK but I'm currently "living" in CO. I know I can do absentee voting, but it's the registration that confuses me.
Now, let's say that I do get registered and am able to vote in this election. Is there a website so I can read up on what each candidate believes in? I cannot sit through one of those shows they do on TV so please don't say that. I read stuff from different friends on myspace saying this candidate is going to do this and this one is going to do something else. I don't know whether to believe everything my friends write because again I think it's coming from a biased point of view......
I think that about covers my political questions. Like I said, I know, it's horrible that I'm not taking advantage of my right to vote. Let's now dwell on that....and please, just give me some factual answers!!!! Thanks!
Yours Truly,
Confused
9 comments:
Congrats on deciding to register! I believe that each candidate has their own website that you can take a look at to see where they stand on the issues, and their voting history in the past.
As far as registering for a party goes, I would recommend looking at the candidate websites. And check out this site: http://www.votesmart.org/
or:
http://www.lwv.org/Election2008/index.html
Many sites are biased, and silently supported by one party or the other, so check out a few of them.
I'm impressed that you are doing some research and not just following what others say.
Good luck.-Heidi
Thanks Heidi! And Aunt Liz sent me an email telling me to check out the candidates websites as well. I don't know why I didn't think of this before!!! (What did people do before the internet???)
I too wanted to congratulate you on your decision to register. Also, on your dedication to being an informed voter. If everyone took that kind of care I believe we would have better representation in our government no matter which party you were voting for. I agree with Heidi that the candidate sites themselves will have the best info on their positions.
Have fun with the research!
Kathy
I'm going to try and "nutshell" the whole party thing. At least this is what I think, but I could be wrong. If you consider yourself more conservative, choose Republican. More liberal, Democrat. And although it doesn't matter what party you're of when voting for President, it does matter in some smaller elections (i.e. if you're Republican, you can't vote for any Democrats on the ballet, even if you prefer one). There are websites out there to help, but it sounds like you may have had help finding them, so I won't bother looking. Hope you get it all figured out! (If it's even possible for one to do that!)
Felicia you do not have to be a member of a party to vote. I have never joined a party but I vote in almost (sometimes I forget to vote in the smaller ones) every election, even for local dog catcher. Don't worry about the party consider the candidate. Belinda
Thanks Brad and Belinda! I've been trying to find a party before I register, but I've taken advice from everyone and have been looking at their websites. I've been a little too busy and haven't really had time to do hardcore research and I'm getting a little overwhelmed. I'm thinking about registering independent for now so I can focus on the candidates and I can figure out the party thing later....but I'll keep everyone posted!
Glad you are registering. Get out and vote! Love the name of your blog.
Well, if you are going to be registered here in OK I would for sure pick one of the 2 main parties other wise you would run into not being able to vote in most local elections. That's kind of another thing to look into. Iknow we have talked about this many times before and I hope you get to vote this year. I have since I turned 18 and was still in high school. Plus you can't had a voice other wise.
Thanks Schrack!
And Sheila you're right! That's the only reason I'm bothering with the whole party thing b/c I know in OK you have to have a party to vote in local elections. Thanks for the reminder though!
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