It’s time to dig your red, white, and blue out of the closet, for election season is now upon us! After last Wednesday’s presidential debate, Americans were left with a number of questions still unanswered. For example: What type of economic climate will each candidate create? How will they each address issues related to energy and the environment? And, for the 12% of Americans who have yet to decide, which candidate am I going to support?
This year is the first presidential election in which many Tufts students – myself included – will be eligible to vote. As the November 6th election date approaches, the first thing we must do is to make sure that we are able to vote! Only 19% of the Tufts student body is from in state, which means that the remaining 81% have two options: either registering to vote in Massachusetts, or requesting – and submitting! – an absentee ballot.
The voter registration process is surprisingly quick and painless. “Sign here”, “Agree to this,” and you can be a Massachusetts voter in no time! However, if you hail from a swing state or would simply prefer to vote as a resident of your home state, you may decide to go the absentee route, which means that you have deadlines to meet. In addition to listing registration deadlines by state, the user-friendly website longdistancevoter.org has all of the resources you could possibly need, ranging from an absentee registration widget to an electronic absentee application.
Registering to vote, however, is only the first step. Next, you must decide which box you are going to check on the ballot, an important choice which absentee voters are quickly running out of time to make. As was previously stated, the vast majority of American voters have already made up their minds and pledged their loyalty to either Governor Romney, President Obama, or one of the three lesser-known third party candidates. Many first-time voters, however, are still developing their political views, and thus it is even more important for us each to scrutinize the candidates’ policies independently, and not simply vote for the candidate who our friends or relatives are supporting.
Whether you lean right or left, or fall somewhere in the middle, your vote should be influenced by the candidates’ policies – both domestic and international – and their plans for the country’s future. Remember, the right to vote is a privilege, and every vote counts, so lets get out and vote on November 6th, and make our own little piece of history! Happy voting, Tufts!
Photos courtesy of: kstp.com, conference.unavsa.org, politicalprogress.com