Are you overwhelmed?
You probably have received your voter information guide in the mail by now. And you know who you want for the big ticket items, maybe you even know who you want down ticket for senate, etc..
And now you’ve come to the hard part, the props and measures. They can seem confusing, the language is hard to form an opinion from, one section is very facts and figures and hard to wrap your head around, one section is the pro, one is the con, and then there’s the arguments for and against the opposing view.
It’s okay, take a deep breath. I can help.
The easiest way to navigate them is just a series of steps. You don’t have to do all of them or do them in order, but if you do, it will help you come to a conclusion that you can live with.
First things first, take a look at them and separate them into two groups.
Group one consists of things that will affect you or could in the near future affect you. DIRECTLY.
Group two is things that can HELP or HARM your fellow humans. These things affect you indirectly.
Once you have both groups sorted, Deal with Group one like this:
Read through each prop and measure, just the cut and dried, meat and bones of the legislation, does it sound like it will benefit you without harming others? Is there a fiscal impact, and does the benefit outweigh the amount it would cost you? Will it make your life better or harder?
Now look at the argument for and the argument against. (pro and con)
Ignore the text, it’s all going to be biased partisan marketing nonsense,
Instead, look at the bottom where it tells you who WROTE each position and then go look that stuff up on Wikipedia, or using a non tracking browser.
“Citizens for a more enlightened approach to animal welfare who also love soup” might turn out to be a bestiality club,
Or you might find the person who is listed as an “educator” is a person of dubious moral character who occasionally teaches phrenology in a tent outside of the evangelical church.
Or you might not recognize the senator’s name and you find out it’s because this is not a person you ever in a million years would vote for.
Plus if any of the argument authors are corporate “citizen” front groups you’ll be able to find that out, since they do not have to disclose that when they write these up.
Next pick an organization you affiliate or agree with, like a Union you belong to, or one you trust. (for instance if you work retail or service industry, even if you workplace is not organized, you can go to the UFCW or SEIU websites and find voter information guides (not all UFCW’s have them up anymore, so you can also check the AFL-CIO website)
If you belong to a fraternal organization (or their sister organization) and you feel they have your community’s best interest at heart, check their website for a voting guide.
Often these guides will have a breakdown, a simple explanation of the measures, and what they recommend and endorse.
I like the SEIU guide, but you need to choose a guide based on what you want to accomplish with your vote. Worker’s rights? Strong benefits? Clean energy? Equality?
Here’s some helpful ideas on where to look (I am not linking or endorsing anyone, you gotta do this part yourself cause everyone is different and I don’t have that kind of time, also this is not everything, just enough places to give a general idea)
Lion’s club International
Southern Poverty Law
League of Women Voters
Human Rights Campaign
Charities you give to will sometimes have guides
Professional organizations such as Women in Animation or Science Voter Guide.
Or your college/university/ or campus groups will also often have guides
The party you belong to, and the guide for the party you align with.
They aren’t always the same thing, if you wish you could vote green party, vote green party ON THE PROPS AND MEASURES, don’t vote on their people.
We can’t afford it this time, but if you philosophically mesh with their views, follow their lead on the measures and props, you can have a little green as a treat, (and you will accomplish more impact for good change with that than with your whoever-is-the-“jill stein so you can vote for trump without voting for trump” this-cycle-vote.)
your most trusted newspaper will also have endorsements, but since the press is very seldom unrestricted and often has shareholders to not piss off now, I’d skip that.
The union or trade guild you would join if you worked in the industry of your dreams... trying to become a writer? Lay some groundwork for your future... use the WGA guide, wanna be an actor or a director? SAG and DGA will have your best interests. Wanna work in the video game industry? Game Workers Unite is hard at work making sure you eventually have some bargaining rights and a fair workplace... see what they have to say.
Now, none of these guides is going to cover EVERY prop and measure, you may have to look at a few guides, or you may have to just use the “who actually wrote the pro and the con?” trick.
This is downticket voting, this is voting for the stuff that most closely impacts your community.This is how you make it better.
Oh and those things in Group Two? Use your empathy, put yourself in Group Two’s shoes and do the exact same thing as you did for group one. Because your community is made up of ALL the people, so you have to vote for everyone to have a better life.
Not just you.