Matt’s right.

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Because my last post urged every eligible American to vote, and because a dear and wise commenter reminded me that there is a desperate need for educated voters, not just people who punch out all the chads on one side or the other, I offer this:

A quiz that lets you express your opinion on an issue and rate its importance to you. Then the software tells you which candidate most closely aligns with your opinions.

For undecided voters, for those voting based simply on party affiliation, and for those who default to recommendations from someone else, this is a great tool for finding out whom you really should elect.

Check it out. (There are more quizzes like it out there. If you prefer another one, let me know in the comments. There’s a righteously simple one here.)

Instead of being daunted by all the information out there, or letting one of the candidates tell you what to belief, rate your own issues and beliefs. And let the computer tell you which guy is closer to what you want.

THEN GO VOTE!

17 thoughts on “Matt’s right.”

  1. I am hoping we can get back to actually vote. Power out now until at least the 9th. We bailed. 50 degrees in our house last night. On our way to my mom’s. We will drive back the 3 hours on Tuesday, but with no power in most of the town, not sure how that is happening.

    • Can’t you vote provisional in your mom’s place? Or is she out of state?

      Is any of your county going to be powered up for Tuesday? Because provisional works in any part of your county, perhaps in any part of the state.

      Too late for absentee, right? I know Jersey has other things going on, but what does the registrar of voters say? Is there somewhere to vote on your way to mom’s?

      • Looking into it. My mom is in ny. I have an interview on Wednesday so we will have to come back to both vote and for that. Heat or no heat. We are voting for sure. I’m just concerned about others who don’t have the means or resources to do the same. The cynic in me makes me wonder if pse&g is involved in some sort of conspiracy. I’m sure that is just delusion thinking caused by 3 full nights of no sleep.

        • Don’t forget the numbed mind from having no heat.

          Hang in there. You will get through this. You were already pretty freaking tough before, so I actually think they need to invent a new adjective for you after this.

  2. HA HA HA…I took the test and got my results. It worked! I actually knew who I wanted before I took the test but I was surprised at the result because candidate isn’t on the ballot. Maybe I’ll write him in. ;)

    • I was surprised how closely one aligned with me in the first quiz, and surprised that I had never heard of the one much closer to my ideologies. Who is, of course, not on the ballot.

      Ain’t it always the way…maybe *we* should get on the ballot. We totally agree with us. ;-)

  4. Interesting quiz. Thanks for sharing. Looking forward to exercising my right to vote next week. At my house, we have been having a lot of conversations about how important it is to take the time to research those you elect into local and state offices, too. We have even been looking at the voter newspaper from the library together. Trying to teach them that they don’t have to agree with their parents about politics, but they have to be informed and know why they would make the choices they would if they were old enough to vote.

    • Awesome. We always talk about one or two initiatives on the ballot and let our oldest debate both sides with us. And we talk about basic differences in social and fiscal policy. Not too many specifics.

      I really like the idea of introducing them to the *ways* in which you can hgt info on issues: voter guides, internet, newspaper, radio, t.v. We talk about ads and trustworthy resources. But I’ll do a bit more about tje library. Great technique!

    • What you hear and read is certainly a lot.

      I lose readers when I post about civic affairs, so I have to throw in a toddler tantrum or family absurdity now and then…

  6. An important post!

    But I’m still trying to figure out how in the hell we hold an election when such a populous part of the country is without power, transportation, communication, and quite possibly identifying paperwork – or even places to vote!

    I have no idea if there are precedents for this, but I don’t get it…

    (I like your description, “righteously simple.”)

    • I really don’t know.

      I wish everything were paper ballots, and then each sandy-damaged polling place would need one generator for lights and a ton of volunteers. Now that political partisans write proprietary software code to count votes…I don’t know.

      I wish everyone on the eastern seaboard had voted absentee…unrealistic, but ideal.

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