What’s your voting plan?

Are you registered to vote? Do you know where your polling place is? Even if you aren’t prepared yet, there is still plenty of time to get ready to vote on or before November 5. The following resources from the Michigan Voter Information Center can help you get out and vote:

• Check your voter registration status, polling location, and more
• Online voter registration (up to 15 days before election)
  • You can register to vote in person anytime on or before election day at your city clerk’s office with proof of residency
• Request an absentee/mail-in ballot (up to 15 days before election)

The presidential election is not the only item on the ballot this November. If you are voting from a Mt. Pleasant address, your ballot will include elections for the following:

• US Senator from MI
• US Representative for MI District 2
• 2 seats for Michigan State Board of Education
• 2 seats for Michigan State University’s Board of Trustees
• 2 seats for University of Michigan’s Board of Regents
• 2 seats for Wayne State University Board of Governors
• MI Representative for District 92
• 2 races for the MI Supreme Court
• 2 races for MI Court of Appeals for the 4th District
• Numerous local positions

With so many races and candidates, it can be tough to keep track of what each candidate stands for. Ballotpedia is an online encyclopedia of American politics and has up-to-date information on all state and federal elections, candidates, and more.

CMU also has many resources dedicated to encouraging voter participation. The Central Civics program is run by the Mary Ellen Brandell Volunteer Center and helps CMU students become engaged citizens. If you are a student and are passionate about non-partisan voter education, Central Votes is a registered student organization that is always seeking out new members and volunteers. WCMU, the public media outfit affiliated with CMU, also has an excellent website full of resources for Michigan voters.

Voter misinformation/disinformation

These resources can help you become a more informed voter and counter the false information that poses a clear and present danger to our democratic institutions. Misinformation is usually defined as false information that is spread unintentionally, while disinformation is false information that is created intentionally to deceive and divide a population. Mis/disinformation can be spread by political campaigns, state-sponsored troll farms, or media organizations. The firehose of falsehood is a propaganda technique, which aims to undermine a population’s ability to determine what is true or false, divides the population and impacts its ability to make informed decisions for its democracy.

It is important to be aware of the existence of mis/disinformation to limit its spread. When false information is spread, divisiveness follows. Rather than working together to find solutions to shared problems, false information diverts the national dialogue towards attacks and disagreements. This in turn causes political polarization, extremism, and political violence.

As information consumers and sharers of posts on social media, it is up to us to identify, fact-check, and not spread false information so that we can limit its reach and impact. To identify false information, you should always be skeptical and aware of what it is you are reading. Keep checking your own biases and be sure not to fall into echo chambers, an environment in which outside information is limited and confirmation bias runs rampant. Always investigate the sources of information to determine their credibility. If you think you have encountered false information, librarians at California State University – Chico developed the CRAAP Test to evaluate the reliability of information.

Giving up and believing that all information is unreliable is not just dangerous, it plays into the hands of those deploying the firehose of falsehood to erode our democracy. Informed voters are necessary for the success of a democracy and reliable information is out there waiting to be found. To help get your search for credible information started, we have compiled this list of CMU Libraries’ resources:

• International Newsstream: Access to over 1,300 of the world’s top news sources from outside North America
• Newspaper Source Plus: Full-text digital access to the world’s major news content
• Newswires: Real-time access to top world-wide news from the previous 30 days
• US Major Dailies: Access to the five most respected national newspapers in the US
• US Newsstream: Recent premium US news content and a large collection of local and regional newspapers
• Opposing Viewpoints: Highlights the pros and cons of social issues and political topics
• Points of View Reference Center: Resources that present multiple sides of controversial issues

Your vote counts

With so much dis/misinformation swirling about elections and voting, it is easy to tune out and fall into the trap of believing that your vote does not count. But nothing could be further from the truth. Throughout history, elections in the US have come down to fractions of a percentage point. In some cases, the courts needed to step in to resolve the dispute. In the most extreme cases of a tie, it all came down to the flip of a coin.

There are two very important things to remember about close elections:

• Close elections are fair. When voters cast their ballots in favor of one candidate, even by the slimmest of margins, the winner is the person who received more votes, and the outcome is fair.
• Your vote matters. In our elections, people do not get more or fewer votes based on their demographic identities, wealth, or status. Every person who is an eligible voter has exactly one vote. And every vote counts. In a close election, your vote could be the difference.

If you need proof of how important any individual’s vote can be, just look back in history:

• In the contest for Michigan’s governor in 1950, G. Mennen Williams defeated Harry Kelly, 1,154 votes out of a total of 1,817,000 votes cast – a margin of 0.06%.
• In the 2000 U.S. presidential election, George W. Bush defeated Al Gore by 537 votes in Florida with nearly 6,000,000 votes cast in the election – a margin of 0.009%.
• Florida was not the only close state in the 2000 presidential election. Al Gore won the state of New Mexico by 366 votes out of nearly 600,000 votes cast.
• In 2006, the primary for a seat in the Alaska House of Representatives was a dead heat between Bryce Edgmon and Carl Moses, 767-767. Per the local rules for what to do in the case of tie, they held a coin toss and Edgmon won. One additional vote for either candidate would have been the difference!