How do you decide who to vote for?

[Uptosnuff]

Elections
I am curious has to how people determine who to vote for in elections. Please feel free to comment.

 

[Pinky]

I vote according to the person's record.

 

[Lavinia]

I'm pleased to see that those who bothered to answer say they do research on the candidates. The worst sort of voters are those who copy others.

 

[Alligatorob]

I often don't vote for all offices and initiatives on the ballot. I won't cast a vote for someone or something unless I feel like I understand what I am voting for.

I do almost always vote, but often just at the top of the ballot.

I suppose I should do more research before voting, but all too often I don't.

 

[Aunt Bea]

I try to do my own research and choose the best candidate.

I listen to the opinions of others and sometimes tweak my vote based on their observations.

I'm sorry to admit that sometimes I vote against a candidate, not for a candidate.

If I honestly don't have a clue about the candidates for a specific position I skip it and don't cast a vote.

 

[ronaldj]

I pick the best candidate for what I believe. one thing and it is not popular on here is pro-life.

 

[oldaunt]

After gathering all the info I can, I try to pick the one likely to do the least damage, as well as the best for the job. Hard to balance. I am also a FIRM believer in term limits.

 

[Uptosnuff]

I try to do my own research and choose the best candidate.

I listen to the opinions of others and sometimes tweak my vote based on their observations.

I'm sorry to admit that sometimes I vote against a candidate, not for a candidate.

If I honestly don't have a clue about the candidates for a specific position I skip it and don't cast a vote.

This is pretty close to how I decide on a candidate. This year there were 7 candidates running for governor in this state for my party and I researched more than I normally do. Because of my research, I did not vote for the top two candidates who were endorsed by other politicians in the party. I voted for the candidate who was not a career politician and the one who was doing her own research into important issues.

Sometimes, I discuss candidates with family members and learn their insight on certain issues.

 

[Colleen]

I've always been good at discerning people. I can tell immediately if they are lying and I'm not a "follower". I look at their past and what they've done (or haven't done) for other people. Is this election going to profit them or you (me)? Are they trying to preserve democracy or trying to tear it down? What's their REAL agenda? There are so many wolves in sheep's clothing these days that finding an "honest" politician is almost impossible but we must pay attention to WHO they are as a person and not be lead by the nose. Remember what Hitler did to Germany? They believed he was (also) a savior. Look how that turned out. Be wise and diligent.

 

[oldman]

I am a Libertarian, but I seldom vote for my party’s candidates. That voting for one party is passé. We should be voting for the most qualified person. My mom and dad often voted for opposite candidates, which as far as I can remember never caused any arguments. I remember when my mom voted for Kennedy and my dad voted for Nixon. Dad asked mom why she voted that way and she told dad that he was much better looking. My dad told mom that’s like going to the race track and voting for a horse because of their name. My mom said that she has bet that way when they would spend the day at the track, which was maybe a handful of days per year.

 

[Gary O']

I vote for the candidate
Takes some research, but I think it's worthy

I'm also big on initiatives, especially local ones.

 

[Knight]

Local for council or lawyer for judge positions or sheriff I try to look into past experience. For in state those seeking office I check for agenda for spending on issues related to what I think are important.

For president or congress again the agenda & the potential to get some of what is proposed actually passed.

 

[Murrmurr]

Almost all candidates have a website, and congress-people up for re-election have a record of how they voted in congress and any committees, initiatives, and programs they are or have been a part of. I read up on all that, pay attention to their campaign ads, and poke around online for whatever I can find.

 

[ElCastor]

I vote for the party, not the candidate. If it's a primary and two or more candidates, one party, I base my vote on record first, and proposals second. If non-partisan, it's all record and proposals.

 

[Warrigal]

We are in the middle of a campaign period and there will be an election at the end of this month that will decide the government of Australia for the next 3 years. I get to vote for my local MP and for the senate representatives for the next 6 years (half senate election)

It is not a 2 horse race. The current government is a coalition of two conservative parties that are not always in agreement on every issue. They have been in government for the past 9 years and are seeking another three. Their record is what I judge them by. Their main rival is a centre left party that is eager to be elected so that they can bring in a number of reforms but they are so scared of being rejected that they are supporting most of the current government's policies making it difficult to see what would change if they do win office.

However, Australia is far from being a 2 party system. There are a number of minor parties ranging from progressive to ratbag to choose from. We have a preferential system of voting and for my local member I have 7 candidates to vote for by numbering them 1 to 7 in order of my preferences. If none of them get 50%+1 of the votes the preferences start to be redistributed until a candidate reaches a majority of the votes. Voting is compulsory so it is really impossible for anyone to be elected without being well supported by the voters. Preferential voting just eliminates the need for run off elections.

I have already decided on my vote for the House of Reps with numbers 1 to 3 allocated to the three sensible parties and 4 to 7 to non viable and ratbag candidates. However, I expect the incumbent to win because he is well known and well liked. I like him too but I'm not very happy with his party's performance. He won't get my #1 preference.

For the Senate we have a system of proportional representation. Five senators will be elected for each state and two for each of the territories.
To be elected a candidate must secure 20% of the total vote for a state and 50% for a territory. This is where it gets very complicated. I won't go into the details but preferences are very important when it comes to electing senators.

Most people just follow the how to vote cards handed out to voters by party representatives waiting outside the voting places.
I like to allocate my preferences myself and I have already decided my senate order of preferences and my first preference this time is going to an Independent. I really hope she gets the necessary 20% after preferences are distributed. She would be an asset in the house of review.

 

[Lara]

I don't vote for who has the most likable personality nor who the media favors.

If we're talking about the leader of the whole country, I vote for the person who is the most capable of fixing our country's biggest issues, is a fearless leader and commander-in-chief of our military, and one who serves the people...not himself.

I vote for who is not crooked, not a puppet, not kissing up to the biased media, is smart, a great negotiator, good with foreign relations, understands our country's finances, is strong and healthy, focused on the people, works for the people, loves the people, is all about the people no matter what class they're in.

And I vote for someone who has a record of accomplishments that has served our country well and works day and night.

 

[Sassycakes]

Over the years my husband worked for many Politicians so I always study each candidate and try to vote for the one that is the best,no matter what Party

 

[Jules]

I never vote for the party, it’s the candidate. Sometimes it’s right up to the minute I walk into the voting booth.

 

[chic]

I don't vote often and will probably never vote again, but when I do vote it's about issues and who I believe would be able to solve them.

 

[Don M.]

As the elections near, many of our State and Federal House/Senate candidates hold public forums. If there are any within a reasonable driving distance, I try to attend them. It's often very interesting to hear the comments they make, or answers they give to the voters questions....quite often in contradiction to what they say in their campaign literature, or TV news interviews. Personally, I wouldn't trust many of them....as ultimately they seem to "bow" to the wishes of their biggest campaign donors...and the Only time they seem to present Any concern for the average people is in the weeks leading to election....and, that holds true for Both Parties....IMO.

 

[dseag2]

We are in the middle of a campaign period and there will be an election at the end of this month that will decide the government of Australia for the next 3 years. I get to vote for my local MP and for the senate representatives for the next 6 years (half senate election)

It is not a 2 horse race. The current government is a coalition of two conservative parties that are not always in agreement on every issue. They have been in government for the past 9 years and are seeking another three. Their record is what I judge them by. Their main rival is a centre left party that is eager to be elected so that they can bring in a number of reforms but they are so scared of being rejected that they are supporting most of the current government's policies making it difficult to see what would change if they do win office.

However, Australia is far from being a 2 party system. There are a number of minor parties ranging from progressive to ratbag to choose from. We have a preferential system of voting and for my local member I have 7 candidates to vote for by numbering them 1 to 7 in order of my preferences. If none of them get 50%+1 of the votes the preferences start to be redistributed until a candidate reaches a majority of the votes. Voting is compulsory so it is really impossible for anyone to be elected without being well supported by the voters. Preferential voting just eliminates the need for run off elections.

I have already decided on my vote for the House of Reps with numbers 1 to 3 allocated to the three sensible parties and 4 to 7 to non viable and ratbag candidates. However, I expect the incumbent to win because he is well known and well liked. I like him too but I'm not very happy with his party's performance. He won't get my #1 preference.

For the Senate we have a system of proportional representation. Five senators will be elected for each state and two for each of the territories.
To be elected a candidate must secure 20% of the total vote for a state and 50% for a territory. This is where it gets very complicated. I won't go into the details but preferences are very important when it comes to electing senators.

Most people just follow the how to vote cards handed out to voters by party representatives waiting outside the voting places.
I like to allocate my preferences myself and I have already decided my senate order of preferences and my first preference this time is going to an Independent. I really hope she gets the necessary 20% after preferences are distributed. She would be an asset in the house of review.

This is very interesting @Warrigal. Admittedly, I don't know much about the Australian political system so it is always good to learn something new. It is especially interesting to hear that voting is mandatory.

 

[Warrigal]

Mandatory voting is not as oppressive as some people think.

It has quite a few advantages. Since everyone over the age of 18 is enrolled to vote, it is pretty impossible to stuff ballot boxes with extra votes - we still use paper voting. When we vote we first go to a desk and state our name, which is then crossed off the roll and we are given the two voting papers which we mark by secret ballot before placing them ourselves in the correct box. If we don't turn up and our name is not crossed off we can expect a please explain letter after the election. Reasonable excuses are accepted but refusal to vote is not. In reality all that is required it to turn up and have your name crossed off. No-one is forced to actually mark the paper. That is the beauty of the secret ballot.

Another advantage of mandatory voting is that it is impossible to suppress the vote. Voting always takes place on a Saturday when the schools are closed, leaving plenty of school halls available for voting and counting the votes. We also have postal, absentee and early voting for people who are either unable to vote on Saturday or who will be out of their electorate on the appointed date.

Scrutineers appointed by political parties observe the count and if the winning margin is close or the count is disputed, a recount can be called for. It is automatic if the margin is less than 100(?) votes and it is the same for every state.

We don't have laws making it illegal to offer food or drink to would be voters waiting hours in line to cast their vote. Our queues are short and move quickly. After voting you can buy cakes from the school cake stall or a sausage sandwich which has become known colloquially as a democracy sausage.

I'm planning to vote early this year if the queue is not too long when I front up.

 

[Uptosnuff]

We are in the middle of a campaign period and there will be an election at the end of this month that will decide the government of Australia for the next 3 years. I get to vote for my local MP and for the senate representatives for the next 6 years (half senate election)

It is not a 2 horse race. The current government is a coalition of two conservative parties that are not always in agreement on every issue. They have been in government for the past 9 years and are seeking another three. Their record is what I judge them by. Their main rival is a centre left party that is eager to be elected so that they can bring in a number of reforms but they are so scared of being rejected that they are supporting most of the current government's policies making it difficult to see what would change if they do win office.

However, Australia is far from being a 2 party system. There are a number of minor parties ranging from progressive to ratbag to choose from. We have a preferential system of voting and for my local member I have 7 candidates to vote for by numbering them 1 to 7 in order of my preferences. If none of them get 50%+1 of the votes the preferences start to be redistributed until a candidate reaches a majority of the votes. Voting is compulsory so it is really impossible for anyone to be elected without being well supported by the voters. Preferential voting just eliminates the need for run off elections.

I have already decided on my vote for the House of Reps with numbers 1 to 3 allocated to the three sensible parties and 4 to 7 to non viable and ratbag candidates. However, I expect the incumbent to win because he is well known and well liked. I like him too but I'm not very happy with his party's performance. He won't get my #1 preference.

For the Senate we have a system of proportional representation. Five senators will be elected for each state and two for each of the territories.
To be elected a candidate must secure 20% of the total vote for a state and 50% for a territory. This is where it gets very complicated. I won't go into the details but preferences are very important when it comes to electing senators.

Most people just follow the how to vote cards handed out to voters by party representatives waiting outside the voting places.
I like to allocate my preferences myself and I have already decided my senate order of preferences and my first preference this time is going to an Independent. I really hope she gets the necessary 20% after preferences are distributed. She would be an asset in the house of review.

Wow, great information. It's always interesting to me to see how countries other than U.S. hold their elections. So voting is compulsory there?


Edited to add: I just saw your second post explaining the system in more detail. Again, interesting!

 

[Raddragn]

I find out what policies they claim to support and what they actually vote for.

 

[Chet]

I'm suspicious of candidates with deep pockets and their millionaire contributors who constantly run adds that add up to millions spent for a job that pays a fraction of that amount. That's one determining factor I use to make a choice.