I have not filled out my ballot yet, but I always research each issue very carefully. The first place to look is your voter's guide. They give a more detailed overview of each issue. Here is WA state's. Pick the one for your county:
But that's just a starting place. A very basic overview. You need to at least make sure you read the rebuttals from the other side, which are also in the voter's guide. Make sure you read those. That's a great place to start.
Then after that, do more research online. Examples include seeing what Dori Monson of Kiro radio agrees with. Take a look at John Curly too. Some other people to take a look at are John Carlson and Kirby Wilbur of KVI radio. Of course I don't advocate following anyone mindlessly, but all of them are generally conservative, and all of them usually post their reasoning behind some of the issues on the Kiro and KVI websites at some pojnt near the elections.
Filling out my ballot properly usually takes me a good day or more of research, and that's coming from someone who is already a pretty politically active person. But that is not usual for most people. It's just how I am. I have never been the type of person that just votes "republican" or "democrat" downballot, although this year, my ballot probably will look pure republican.
It's also ok to leave something blank if you're unsure. The only thing worse than not voting is voting for something you don't understand or without full understanding. That's how you get psychotic legislation passed, nutjobs in office, and awful incumbents re-elected year after year. You should have a reason why you are voting for someone or something. If you don't know, don't do it. If push comes to shove, just fill out the the things you do know and send it in as is.
The sex ed issue sounds good at first, but I would not support it. It's 100% supported by democrats. Planned Parenthood is a major supporter of it. It opens the door for them to push sexual education early in a child's life. It starts as early as Kindergarten with teaching them how to "make friends", and later on, a course on LGBQ issues, etc. We already have sexual education in Washington State schools. I remember because I went through it several years ago. This bill doesn't add anything necessary. it just adds more liberal fluff. The wording of the bill is also vague. "Science and medically based". We've all seen what that can mean ("Little Johnny is a girl and needs to take estrogen therapy because... science"). So I would vote against. I want the government out of education, not more blanket liberal policies from Olympia forced into all WA schools. Let the local school boards come up with the curriculum (which is how it is now), not bureaucrats in Olympia.
Regarding the Advisory Votes on the front of the ballot, you can ignore those and leave them blank if you want. Basically an initiative was passed years ago that makes it so that certain tax increases by the legislature are put on the ballots, and voters can say whether they agree with them or disagree with them. They are non-binding and in many cases, they are not necessarily bad. Some are, but it just depends. You can still find local newspaper opinion columns/blogs that go over them for you and you can decide if you agree or disagree with them. I always do.
Pro-tip: Wait until November 2nd to put your ballot into the mail. This makes voter fraud much harder. But DO NOT miss the election. Also, ideally, put your ballot directly into a voter drop box for your county, not the USPS mail system. Even harder for voter fraud because it never enters the mail system. But the bottom line is, make sure you vote. Do not miss the election.
Washington state is my voting state too. If you ever have any questions feel free to ask me.
I have not filled out my ballot yet, but I always research each issue very carefully. The first place to look is your voter's guide. They give a more detailed overview of each issue. Here is WA state's. Pick the one for your county:
https://www.sos.wa.gov/elections/voters-guide/2020/2020-voters-pamphlet-pdfs.aspx
But that's just a starting place. A very basic overview. You need to at least make sure you read the rebuttals from the other side, which are also in the voter's guide. Make sure you read those. That's a great place to start.
Then after that, do more research online. Examples include seeing what Dori Monson of Kiro radio agrees with. Take a look at John Curly too. Some other people to take a look at are John Carlson and Kirby Wilbur of KVI radio. Of course I don't advocate following anyone mindlessly, but all of them are generally conservative, and all of them usually post their reasoning behind some of the issues on the Kiro and KVI websites at some pojnt near the elections.
Filling out my ballot properly usually takes me a good day or more of research, and that's coming from someone who is already a pretty politically active person. But that is not usual for most people. It's just how I am. I have never been the type of person that just votes "republican" or "democrat" downballot, although this year, my ballot probably will look pure republican.
It's also ok to leave something blank if you're unsure. The only thing worse than not voting is voting for something you don't understand or without full understanding. That's how you get psychotic legislation passed, nutjobs in office, and awful incumbents re-elected year after year. You should have a reason why you are voting for someone or something. If you don't know, don't do it. If push comes to shove, just fill out the the things you do know and send it in as is.
The sex ed issue sounds good at first, but I would not support it. It's 100% supported by democrats. Planned Parenthood is a major supporter of it. It opens the door for them to push sexual education early in a child's life. It starts as early as Kindergarten with teaching them how to "make friends", and later on, a course on LGBQ issues, etc. We already have sexual education in Washington State schools. I remember because I went through it several years ago. This bill doesn't add anything necessary. it just adds more liberal fluff. The wording of the bill is also vague. "Science and medically based". We've all seen what that can mean ("Little Johnny is a girl and needs to take estrogen therapy because... science"). So I would vote against. I want the government out of education, not more blanket liberal policies from Olympia forced into all WA schools. Let the local school boards come up with the curriculum (which is how it is now), not bureaucrats in Olympia.
https://nypost.com/2020/09/29/sex-ed-mandate-sparks-bitter-washington-state-ballot-fight/
Regarding the Advisory Votes on the front of the ballot, you can ignore those and leave them blank if you want. Basically an initiative was passed years ago that makes it so that certain tax increases by the legislature are put on the ballots, and voters can say whether they agree with them or disagree with them. They are non-binding and in many cases, they are not necessarily bad. Some are, but it just depends. You can still find local newspaper opinion columns/blogs that go over them for you and you can decide if you agree or disagree with them. I always do.
Pro-tip: Wait until November 2nd to put your ballot into the mail. This makes voter fraud much harder. But DO NOT miss the election. Also, ideally, put your ballot directly into a voter drop box for your county, not the USPS mail system. Even harder for voter fraud because it never enters the mail system. But the bottom line is, make sure you vote. Do not miss the election.
If you have any more questions let me know
Yep, your voter's guide. Cheers