Opinion

Voter education is more important than ever before

Gerald Sastra/The Cougar

Gerald Sastra/The Cougar

The 2020 presidential election is coming up and as voters, our voices have a right to be heard. It’s important that we vote and act based on facts over opinions so that we can accurately vote and make a decision that will benefit us and our country in the long run.

The best way to do this is to educate ourselves on politics, the voting process, the candidates and the issues surrounding the election so that we know what we are getting ourselves into when we show up to vote.

This is called voter education and it is a vital step in voting because when we vote, we are ultimately deciding the future of not only ourselves, but our country and those around us.

Facts over bias

Yes, voting is ultimately making a decision based on your specific opinions or bias, but oftentimes, people have preconceived opinions about certain topics and issues in which they only pay attention to how they as an individual will be affected.

In reality, it’s the whole country and a large population of people who are affected.

This is why it is crucial that every voter makes an effort to educate themselves on politics. It doesn’t hurt to listen to differing opinions from yours, unless they are truly discriminatory and destructive. 

Going out of your way to explore different opinions on varying issues can often be eye opening because you get the opportunity to learn why some people have certain beliefs.

Additionally, you can have very insightful conversations with others in which you can see things from new perspectives.

However, just listening to other perspectives as well as your own isn’t enough to be an educated voter. This is where the internet, teachers and even textbooks come into play.

Being an educated and successful voter calls for some background knowledge on the voting process and the issues surrounding the election.

This means that people should take some time out of their days to simply search, “things I need to know about the 2020 election” or even just “things to know before I vote.” 

Opening a textbook or reaching out to professors won’t hurt anyone, in fact, it will most likely help you and the people around you because it allows for people to become enlightened so that everyone can make educated and well thought out decisions for something as important as the future of our country.

2020 Presidential Election

It is important to be an active voter and participate in every election, or as many as possible, but it’s no secret that voter turnout is typically higher when it comes to presidential elections.

This year on Nov. 3, our presidential election is to be held. 

Although time is running out to both register to vote and to educate yourselves on the different aspects of politics and voting, it definitely is not too late to do either.

Politics essentially run our country and as eligible voters, it’s important that people take advantage of their right to vote and make the most out of it through educating ourselves and those around us.

Kimberly Argueta is a political science freshman who can be reached at [email protected]

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