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Bring the facts back to Election 2016

SIMONE CAROLYN ROY

State College

Can you believe this election?

It seems like none of the issues are being talked about, everything is being over-sensationalized and the whole purpose of covering a story now is for the shock-value it brings.

As a first-time voter, I’ve quickly became aware of how overly difficult it is to navigate through the false information and find out what my candidates are actually saying. The “boring” issues are swept aside and candidate analysis is superficial at best. The important things inevitably become lost behind the dramatic headlines. On top of that, none of the candidates will tell us how they really feel! The lack of transparency in politics is very frustrating, and with the way the media is constantly spinning information, it’s nearly impossible to get the facts, plain and simple. I found myself wishing there was some resource I could go to, to find unbiased information and a comprehensive list of where candidates stand on the issues that matter to me.

Well, believe it or not, such a thing does exist.

Vote Smart’s mission is to provide free, factual, unbiased information on candidates and elected officials to all Americans. All staff, interns, board members, and volunteers at Vote Smart are sworn to non-partisanship, in order to provide unbiased information to voters. We do not care who citizens cast their vote for. We do not support any candidate or political cause. We just want voters to have the candidate biographies, public statements, issue positions, voting records, special interest group ratings, and campaign finance information that they need in order to cast an educated vote. This is what democracy looks like. I, myself, have traveled over 22 hundred miles to our research facility in Montana because I truly believe in this mission, and so do our upwards of 26,000 paying members who come from all across the country and cover all corners of the political spectrum.

By being a regular user of Vote Smart, and now becoming an intern here, I’ve taken complete control of the information that goes into this brain. I am no longer letting the media tell me how to feel. Vote Smart is the best tool for any voter who wants to be informed about their candidates, on local and federal levels. If you are planning on voting in the 2016 election, take 5 minutes out of your day and visit votesmart.org to find out the facts about your candidates. While there you can use our candidate matching tool, VoteEasy, to find out which candidate you match best with and also find out how to register to vote in your state.

The Founding Fathers built our country to be better than dodged questions, click bait, and false information. As a nation, we have a chance to elect leaders based off non-partisan facts, instead of the latest attack ad. It is time to take back our vote, and bring the facts back to election 2016.

Join us today and be a part of the information revolution. Visit www.VoteSmart.org.

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