How I Vote

Step 1: Receive my ballot in the mail

I've voted by mail for 14 years, and it's awesome. It's like having all your tests be take-home, where I can fill it out at my leisure as I go through the info.

Step 2: Read my official voter guide

It might seem like a waste of recycled paper, but my state's voter guide pamphlet's actually not that bad. In CA we have to vote not only for candidates but measures / policies too and the guide usually has a good analysis of the potential costs associated with adopting / not adopting each measure, as well as equal pro & con arguments submitted by the groups that support or oppose it.

Step 3: Pull on my year-round accumulated knowledge

Kind of like how it isn't healthy to cram for your test the night before, it's easier to vote if you're keeping an eye out for issues all the time. I read my Google news feed everyday; I also purposely click on different leaning news outlets (like Fox News as well as The Atlantic) so I get a mix of articles, not just all leaning one way; granted, I still end up mostly Democrat/liberal leaning, but I make sure I end up that way because of how I've interpreted the data, not how the data is presented to me. I also hit up the Associated Press website, get my news straight outta the horse's mouth. Then I'll check out some PBS/NPR closer looks or info series, watch some YouTube videos on different issues, or just have fun digging into the Internet for government fact sheets, nonprofit studies, etc. that pool into my general understanding & decision making. Looking for data rather than listening to diatribe is actually way more fun and enjoyable, even if it takes a little bit more time/digging.

Step 4: Discuss & debate

I have very politically active friends (I know I rant on here sometimes, but I'm literally the laziest political kid in my friend network) and listening to them is very illuminating, especially my friends who don't look like me. Many are involved in grassroots activist movements and they bring perspectives and insight - as well as data, love data - to issues I might miss, especially local issues that don't pop up as much in my news feed (Google has a Local News tab, but it's lacking sometimes). My partner and I also like to debate how we're voting; sometimes we disagree on an issue or a candidate, but we like to discuss why to help us work out what we want to do.

Step 5: Vote!

If I'm feeling lonely (or I forgot) I go walk my mail-in ballot down to my polling station and still get my sticker. Sometimes I'll mail it, and then just walk down with my partner anyway to hang out and breathe in the democracy (technically we're not a democracy, we're a republic, which is slightly different and why we can end up electing a President who doesn't actually get the most votes from voters, but anyway).

I used to think my vote didn't matter much, since my area swings pretty blue and sometimes I only have Democratic candidates to choose from on my ballot (yes - in CA you sometimes have decide which liberal is liberal enough for you). Then I step outside and see a train of unmasked white guys in pickup trucks flying Trump flags and honking up traffic; or I'll read about a 12 year old black kid getting shot by the local cops for playing with a toy airgun in the park; or I'll see the crazy rising stats on infections among Latino farmworkers being forced to work in gang labor conditions through wildfire smoke and COVID-19 breakouts so local wineries can keep making profits during the shelter-in-place alcohol boom. And I'll remember that if I really care about issues, I need to vote.