What I have desired to do is to make the people of Boston realize that the most important office, and the one which all of us can and should fill, is that of private citizen. The duties of the office of private citizen cannot under a republican form of government be neglected without serious injury to the public.
Learn About Candidates and Issues
When an election approaches, it is important to think critically about the candidates and issues you are voting on so you can make an informed decision that reflects your values and priorities.
We recommend:
- Look up what’s on the ballot.
- Research candidates and issues.
- Evaluate your media and opinion ecosystem and think critically about the information you are seeing. Seek alternate perspectives to consider.
- Reflecting on your values and priorities.
First up: What’s on the ballot?
To start with, look up what is on the ballot. The city of town where you are registered to vote will post sample ballots to their website that will show all the positions up for election and who the registered candidates are. In some elections, there will also be other issues to decide in addition to choosing among candidates for office. These may be called “propositions” or “ballot questions” or something else. These can be on things like whether to increase or decrease taxes, build a new high school, change the town charter, or pass other laws.
You can also look up what’s on your ballot on the Ballotpedia Sample Ballot Lookup and from Ballot Ready.
Research Candidates and Issues
Once you know what’s on your ballot, you can research the candidates for office and the other issues on the ballot.
Steps you can take to research candidates and issues:
- Review what the candidates say about themselves and their positions.
- All candidates for federal and state office and some for local office will all have campaign websites and social media channels that you can review.
- Google the candidate – You can watch speeches they have given, read op-eds and other policy positions they have taken.
- You may receive letters and postcards, emails, or other direct outreach from campaigns.
- If you’re interested, you could attend a rally or campaign event where the candidate is going to be.
- Check out news coverage of the candidates.
- Have there been debates, town hall forums, between candidates?
- Oftentimes, particular in local races, news outlets ask candidates to complete standardized questionnaires so that you can compare the candidates’ responses to the same question side-by-side.
- Check out reputable news articles about things the candidate has done that are relevant to the position they are running for. See below on news sources.
- Consider issues other than candidates.
- Check out nonpartisan sources of information analyzing the pros and cons of each choice. For example, the Center for State Policy Analysis at Tisch College evaluates all ballot questions in Massachusetts.
- There are typically campaigns on both the “yes” and “no” side of each ballot question. Read the websites for both the yes and no campaigns to get an understanding of the arguments and perspectives.
- Consider what organizations and groups are supporting each side of the questions and why.
- Check out How to Research Your Ballot: An Explainer by Rock the Vote.
- Check out on-campus events.
- Check out the political and advocacy student organizations on campus. You can find them on Jumbo Life; search by category. These organizational all welcome new members. In addition, they host events on campus designed to raise awareness of issues and topics important to them.
- The Tisch College Solomont Speaker Series often invites leaders and experts in a variety of fields relevant to elections.
- Jumbo Vote is a student organization that promotes voting among Tufts students. They produce and provide educational resources and materials related to elections.
If you don’t find information you are looking for, you could write to the campaign or the candidate directly and ask about their position on issues that matter to you. Candidates are often excited to interact with voters and are typically eager to write you back.
Accessing News
There are a variety of news sources that are available free to the public or free to Tufts students due to subscriptions the university maintains:
- Tufts students get free digital subscriptions to the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and Washington Post via Tisch Library.
- Daily Chatter, a brief daily summary of international news, is offered free via Tisch College.
- The Boston Globe offers a deeply discounted subscription for college students and its articles are available for free from Tisch Library.
- NPR, PBS News, ProPublica, Politico, and the BBC are free for the public and no subscription is required.
- Students who live in the residence halls have cable TV access, which includes news channels CNN, Fox News, MSNBC, and C-SPAN.
- Tisch Library maintains access to many other domestic and international news sources. Check out their guide to available news sources.
Given all the resources out there, you have the responsibility of curating the news feed that you get. How might you weigh the credibility of various publications? How might you curate your “feed” of news?
- AllSides publishes a “Media Bias Chart” that categorizes popular media outlets as left, center, or right. They also have a website about misinformation and disinformation, including a service that will fact check claims or media coverage for you.
- Forbes: 10 journalism brands where you find real facts rather than alternative facts
- You can learn how to spot media bias
- Ground is a website that aggregates media reports from many outlets and presents you with both a conservative and liberal take on the same story, so you can think about and consider arguments from all sources. They also have a feature called “Blindspot” that points out stories disproportionately ignored by either liberal or conservative media outlets so you can see if there are things you are missing.
If you find that the news you consume (e.g., from social media, websites, etc.) is slanted toward one perspective, be intentional about seeking alternate views so that you have a sense of the full range of positions and arguments.
Reflect On Your Values and Priorities
Ultimately the decision of who and what to vote for is up to you. You should reach your own decision. As you learn about the candidates and issues, it can be useful to consider your own values and priorities and factor those into your decision. You can prompt yourself to reflect on these things with questions like:
- What are the priorities that are most important to me in this election? Why?
- What does society need most right now from the government? Why?
- What is exciting or attractive about each candidate’s positions? What are the biggest hesitations I have about each candidate?
- Are there areas where what I think or value is different from what family, friends, and others around me think or value?
- Voting is a way that I participate in society. How could my choice impact others?
- How does this election make me feel? What are the emotional reactions I have to issues, candidates, and topics in this election?