Picking a Candidate

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You should now be able to find which candidates are a better fit for you by simply ranking the candidates by how many of your issues they address and to what extent they do so. Try to take their track record into account when ranking your candidates. If they have been in office before and made important promises that they could not or did not keep then they should be ranked lower accordingly.

 

Learn about the candidates' leadership abilities

 

This can be difficult to do. Mainstream media, marketing, campaign committees and PR firms are designed and implemented to display and sell a very specific image of a candidate. Usually as a strong or impressive individual. The best thing you can do is to evaluate their performance history and background experience. Have they been in a leadership position before? How did they perform? Do they welcome a challenge or do they embrace popular opinion? When you select a candidate they are ideally supposed to be representing you and your beliefs when in office and will have to be able to stand strong in the face of opposition or outside pressure. If a candidate often hides behind a popular opinion to gain approval or rarely takes a stance when need be then they will likely be a poor leader. Their track record will be a good predictor for their leadership abilities.

 

Review your selection

 

Continue to learn more about the top few candidates that are on your list. You never know, you might find out something that you really don't like about them or something they have done (or haven't done) that makes you change your mind at the last minute. Try not to let this get personal, they are human and have human flaws -negative facts about them that may make you want to change your mind should be about policies, track record, reform or action not about race, gender, family-life or otherwise. If the candidate you have as your top choice gets eliminated, don't give up. This is why you made a list! Move on to the next candidate on your 'best candidate list' and never fully commit yourself to a candidate or party until the day you have to vote.

 

NEVER restrict yourself to a certain party

 

This has to be the biggest, most ignorant mistake people make - they will support a political party regardless of who the chosen nominee is. This blind and mindless party support is the reason why many times a popular political party will come into power even when they have a horrible politician nominated or worse yet, a horrible plan. If you are voting a politician in for a position of power you should make sure you want to give that power to that politician. Parties change overtime. Their platform, beliefs, policies and principles all change with the new members that come to make up that party, and as the parties change the party you support should change as well. An election is time for change, so vote for the person who you believe can bring that change.

 

Cast your ballot!

 

Don't make the mistake of not showing up to vote on election day, not after you spent all that time researching the candidates and the issues. In all democratic countries, it is illegal for an employer to stop you from voting. So even if you have work, you should be legally entitled to a couple hours off work just to vote (and a couple hours off is always nice). Voting is more of a responsibility than it is a right, so don't waste your vote. Some countries don't get that right so aside from being grateful it is our responsibility to impact change by peaceful means.

 

Try not to be concerned with how other people view a candidate or what they believe will be best for the country. Voting is a personal thing and it should remain that way. It is hard to separate yourself from media sway but do attempt to do so. The only way you can pick a candidate that is best for you is to evaluate yourself and your beliefs and match those principals to your candidate choices. Always keep in mind that just because a candidate receives less publicity does not mean that they are less qualified or that they should be ignored. Only you can, and should, choose who gets your vote so make a fair and informed decision.

 

 

 

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