Have you ever been told that the way for you to make meaningful political change is by voting? Although this statement is true a lot of people don't follow this statement with advice and information about how you should vote and what smart voting looks like. The truth is that smart voting is informed and researched voting based on someone's comprehensive political belief system.

Yesterday was one of the primaries for the 2020 election day. I was trying to figure out if I should go and vote because I had only looked into the candidates for about half an hour the night before. Ultimately I decided that I didn't feel comfortable to make the best decision so I stayed home. Some people might criticize me for that decision, especially considering all of the important things that are happening right now with the black lives matter movement. However, I do think that I did make a meaningful change by staying home - Here's why:

The worst thing that you can be is an uninformed voter. If you don't look closely into the people that you are voting for you are likely to make a mistake that could cause someone under-qualified to win an election. But, when voters look deeply into the qualifications and beliefs of the people that they are considering to vote for they are able to make the best decision.

Had I voted yesterday without knowing the full platforms of the people that I was voting for I would have likely just voted based on one single issue that I care about and where those people stood on that issue. And although that would most likely effect that issue long-term I would be failing myself because all political issues effect us. That is why we need to figure out exactly what we believe and why. That way we can make the best most informed decision.

Ultimately I stand by the decision I made yesterday. That being said, in the future I will make it a priority to research ahead of time so that I can engage in political changes both locally and nationally.