The 2024 election is right around the corner and the outcome is looking rather unclear. The main ticket presidential candidates are former President Donald J. Trump (Rep.) and Vice President Kamala Harris (Dem.). Both are working around the clock visiting important swing states such as Pennsylvania, Michigan and Arizona, as well as doing several media appearances to rally prospective voters.
While the presidential election receives the most attention, local elections also take place on Election Day, so it is important to know who your local candidates are. On a local level, there are several candidates running for Kansas House and Senate positions with several different viewpoints. Voters can access a list of national, state, and local candidates on the Kansas Secretary of State website.
This election opens up many opportunities for citizens to vote through in-person advance voting, advance mail-in ballots, and the general election on Tuesday, Nov. 5, 2024. In-person advance voting dates and times can be found on the Johnson County Election Office website. In preparation for voting, simply bring a government-issued photo ID to the voting location. These include Drivers Licenses and United States Passports.
Voters have specific rights and responsibilities at the polls. Review them in this pdf provided by the state of Kansas. An example of a responsibility that all voters have is reporting and refraining from illegal activities such as fraud and electioneering at the polls. Electioneering includes attempting to persuade prospective voters to vote for a specific candidate at the polls. The most common example of this is wearing clothing or accessories with a candidate’s name on it. A general rule of thumb is to wear what one would wear at school or in a work environment.
Another way young voters can be prepared to vote is to review a sample ballot to know what to expect once arrived at the polls. Registered voters can visit the VoterView website to request a sample ballot online and locate polling locations.
It is equally important to stay educated as it is to vote, and part of staying informed is consuming information that is unbiased and can be corroborated across media sources. As Olathe West seniors head to the polls, it is especially important that young voters understand political bias and where their information is coming from.
Surprisingly, many of Americans’ news sources are politically biased. In fact, political bias is seen equally on both sides of the political spectrum. Notable examples of biased news sources are MSNBC and FOX News. To find out more on the political biases of other news sources, as well as fact check biases, visit the AllSides website. This website provides media bias charts, fact check bias charts, and walks the reader through the bias analysis process.
By staying informed on the facts and taking steps to prepare themselves to vote, voters can better advocate for themselves at the polls and inspire change in our nation.
