So you’re turning 18, and we all know what that means — It’s time to vote!
Here’s what you need to know to get ready…
First of all, U.S. citizens who will be 18 years old by November 4 are eligible to vote. There are other rules that vary by state. To vote in Minnesota, you may vote provided
- You have established residency in Minnesota for 20 days prior to the election.
- You have not been convicted of a felony.
Once you know if you’re eligible, you can register to vote. It depends on the state that you live in for how to register. Luckily, the Web site DeclareYourself.com provides all that information.
Declareyourself.com has a downloadable registration form and can tell you the eligibility rules for all of the states. It also has links to the Myspace pages for Hillary Clinton, Barak Obama and John McCain.
In Minnesota, you can register at the polls when you show up to vote, provided you have the right document with you. These guidelines and more can be found at the secretary of state’s Web site.
Once you register to vote, you need to know the candidates’ backgrounds, positions and what you’re going to base your on. Jade Moreau of Minneapolis will turn 18 before November and is already thinking about her choice.
“I think the major deciding factors will be about who shares my beliefs and ideas, like who supports gay marriage, pro-choice and is anti-war,” she said.
Here are some places (other than the main candidate sites) that give information about the contenders.
- One of the best sites out there for updates on the presidential election is www.CNNPolitics.com This branch of the CNN Web site gives updated information that appears balanced and unbiased. There is equal coverage on all of the major candidates and it does not seem to glorify or derogate anyone in particular. It focuses on the issues and what the candidates have to say about them.
For example, there is a section with issues such as abortion, economic stimulus, education, energy, environment, taxes, security, housing, and more. If you click on the section it will tell you about each of the candidates’ positions. There are articles and videos pertaining to recent debates and updates in the presidential campaigns. There is also a section that lets the viewer know how many delegates each candidate has, as well as polls measuring who is ahead in the race.
- A lesser-known site that gives a fair overall view of the race and is worth checking out is www.factcheck.org Here, journalists working for Annenberg Center in the University of Pennsylvania analyze what the candidates say and check to see how much of it is true. This site is also updated daily. It is a bit easier to follow and navigate.
There are recent postings that cover current updates on the elections such as: debates, quotes, and advertisements. There is also a weekly “Vid-Cast” dealing with issues and questions. For example, Obama supporters accused Clinton of appealing to racism by purposely changing Obama’s skin tone in one of her ads.
The “Vid-Cast” for March 7 checked and found the accusation to be “unsubstantiated.” Also, site-viewers are allowed to ask questions of fact checkers.
Candidates network with young voters
On the candidates’ own sites, it is obvious that they are trying to appeal to the new voters as well as the younger voters. Hillary Clinton, John McCain, and Barack Obama all have MySpace pages—which will hopefully allow for networking with a younger audience. It seems as if the MySpace pages are all about support. Each of the candidates has a message board that allows their supporters to comment. There are also URLs for banners that people can copy and paste to put on their MySpace to show support. These sites also have basic personal as well as campaign platform information.
Here is what is good to know about each of the main campaign sites.
- HillaryClinton.com One thing that helps her page is a section called The Hillary I Know. This part of her site contains videos of people who explain how Clinton has affected their lives. This is good for learning about Clinton because it allows voters to gain more information about how she deals with people. One thing that seems to lack is networking. Compared to the other candidates, she has considerably fewer links to other sites such as MySpace, Facebook, and YouTube.
- JohnMcCain.com The first thing that stands out on McCain’s site is his desire to gain supporters. There are links all over the home page asking people to join him and help his campaign. The next thing that is pretty noticeable would be the boxed link that says See John McCain’s Picks! Here, viewers can click on the link and see McCain’s NCAA basketball bracket. Really?! It’s funny how he puts something unrelated to his campaign on the homepage. McCain’s 23-year-old daughter Meghan and two friends also have a blog from the campaign trail at mccainblogette.com
- BarackObama.com One thing that is appealing about Obama’s site is that right away he puts emphasis on the fact that he’s a “family man.” A picture of him with his family pops up before the main site. When viewers go to the main page, they can see a quote, “I’m asking you to believe. Not just in my ability to bring about real change in Washington…I’m asking you to believe in yours.” One thing that his site could probably do without would be the slams on his opponents. It seems like every chance he gets, he puts down McCain and Clinton (Clinton more so than McCain). It’s like he’s constantly trying to prove that he is better, without saying enough about why.
Many teens today still have yet to participate in any political activity. Of four people I interviewed, only one participated in a caucus in February. Carly Erickson, 18, of Minneapolis caucused for Obama, but is still undecided who she’ll vote for. She says, “I only went to the Obama caucus because he was the one I would’ve voted for at the time…But my vote is susceptible to change.”
Now it’s up to you. There are dozens of sites for opinion or balanced information. Talk to parents and previous voters. Research more sites. Find out what you need to do so that you can make a difference.
If you see any sites that would be helpful to others, post them! It would be great to hear your ideas!
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