It’s common practice to call every presidential election our most important ever, but how often do people say that about a midterm election? Not often, until now, regarding the upcoming state-level November midterms. It feels strange to think that our democracy is at serious risk, but in-the-know members of both major parties and 71% of American voters believe it.
In Maine and all other states, this midterm will be extraordinarily consequential: control of the Senate and House plus state-level results that will determine the future of Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security; climate change action or inaction; conflicts involving the United States and other superpowers, when the world is more volatile and at risk than at any time since World War II, and much more.
So, we’d better get elections right — we need to “vote correctly.” As political scientists describe it, voting correctly means casting votes consistent with your preferences if you know who and what you will get from your candidates. Ideally, your vote reflects your beliefs, and your candidate will do what you hope and expect.
It’s regrettable, then, that we often don’t know what we’re getting. Even in presidential elections, when voters assume they “know” the candidates better than in other elections, about one in four voters later admit they voted incorrectly. They mistakenly voted for a candidate who didn’t support their beliefs or meet their expectations. After every election, many people regret that they didn’t get what they wanted.
Why do so many voters choose candidates who later disappoint? One manageable reason is that voters make assumptions based on hearsay and various forms of dishonesty rather than accurate information about candidates and their intentions.
So, here’s a worthy goal: Make sure now that you won’t regret your votes later. That’s not to say don’t vote; that could lead to even more regret.
I hope the following ideas might help votes become more “correct” and lead to less future regret:
• Know how critical midterm elections can be. With Congress often deadlocked, the states have become centers of critical political activity. For more on state power and civic action, check out David J. Toscano’s 2021 book “Fighting Political Gridlock.”
• Judge by valid information, not gossip, misleading labels or fame. Do what you can to ignore biased or unreliable information. Sound bites, canned lines, name-calling, and false accusations are not the best sources of accurate information. Credible solutions to real problems and track records of tangible positive accomplishments — for causes broader than candidates’ self-interest and pre-politics careers — matter most. Labeling people — progressive or liberal or conservative, socialist or communist or fascist — encourages stereotyping and ignores details that make one individual different from another. Try not to assume things about candidates without evidence. Far better than labels, you can learn truths about how close candidates’ opinions are to yours at VoteSmart.org and OntheIssues.org.
• Vote for competence and character, not charisma or personality. In striving to vote correctly, it doesn’t help to choose a candidate based on personality and likability or orchestrated public image. Instead, try to learn each candidate’s vision for the future and how constructively they intend to work with others to achieve it. Also consider how they got where they are, how they use power and what they seriously care about most and least.
• Channel negative emotions — anger, fear, disappointment, frustration — into productive action. Don’t refuse to vote because you don’t like politics or the contestants. If you feel a vote needs to go to the lesser of two evils, so be it. Voting for the candidate you view as the least dangerous is better than not participating at all.
As people get older, they regret not just some things they did, but things they didn’t do. As crucial as November’s state-level election is, the coming months and years are no time to regret not voting, not giving it essential thought or not voting correctly.
Send questions/comments to the editors.
