One of the few things that divides America more than anything (if you haven’t already noticed) is the presidential elections normally held every four years. In these elections, we the people decide who is going to be our next Commander-In-Chief. Candidates from all across the board, from Congress, State Governments, Local Representatives, and even non-political candidates who have high party influence/support (i.e. Trump, Carson, Florina, etc.) all come to make their bid to the ever-expanding masses of the people of the United States. To help narrow down these candidates, states have their local primaries/caucuses that award candidates delegates based on popular vote and other factors. Throughout this process, we begin to see who the front-runners are for candidacies and who is likely to survive (and thrive) in the brutal election process. In these primaries, the two main parties (Democrats and Republicans at this point), decide who is going to be the frontrunner to represent their parties in the main election. One the two frontrunners are decided, both engage in several debates, rallies, and battles against each other to decide who is going to come out as the next president. This time, both candidates compete for the popular vote and for electorates in the electoral-college, and will compete against one another until someone receives the most votes/electorates. Once that process is finish, the winner will be inaugurated in front of the entire nation putting their hand on a bible and proclaiming oath claiming that they will protect the nation, and just like that, we have a new president.

Now, for a good deal of you who read this last paragraph, what I just wrote might come off as a complete waste of time for you because you probably already understand this, as you probably are well-educated U.S. citizen who has a basic understanding of government. You probably know who all of the candidates are for this year, as the Republicans and Democrats are now left with a few people to choose to be the frontrunner for their party, and you probably get how this process works if you have been following the elections closely.

Now, if you have no idea of what I’m talking about and are interested in voting and are of age, then what I am about to write about in this article will be extremely valuable to you. Whether you understand politics or not, something that is incredibly important to do if you plan on making a trip to the ballot box is that you need to be educated on the candidates who are on it. While voter turnout is important, it is not a good idea to come to the ballot box voting willy-nilly on whatever candidate you think “sounds cool” or whichever candidate you just so happen to “like”. When you cast your ballot into the box, you are making a statement about what you think the future of this country should look like. While voter turnout is highly encouraged and is vital for a healthy political process, its also incredibly important that the voters vote for who they think is the best possible candidate. While there are a lot of factors that goes into the presidential election, the popular vote is one of the most important parts of the Presidential Elections, and voting in the elections is something that is(and should be) highly encouraged by

Keeping that in mind, here are several ways that you should educate yourself about voting in the elections.

• Look up the candidates on NON-BIAS websites

One of the biggest tools that allows voters to learn about candidates and decided on candidates is the internet. With thousands upon thousands of political websites and reviews, you are able to access any information about the candidates that is available to the public at any given time. All you really need to do is go on google and type in “2016 or whatever year elections” and you will get results on the candidates faster than the blink of an eye. The issue with this however, is that it is very easy to get sucked into websites that are completely bias toward a particular candidate, and might make them sound worse or better than they actually are. Even mainstream media places like Fox and CNN have stories/ information that clearly tends to support liberals/conservatives and denounce other candidates on much bias information. If you really want to get educated on the candidates, go to websites that have basic information on each of the candidate’s policies. It’s also important to evaluate each piece of information you and see if the information covers the whole picture, and describes candidates on an equal level. There are too many social media websites that include articles, videos, and pictures that make some candidates see worse than others, and often times judges them on an unfair basis. I see this a lot in the current 2016 election, as Trump, Clinton, and Sander’s supporters are coming at each other like armies and are using Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and other websites to literally trash their opponents. While this is all meant to sway public opinion in their favor, it is pointless to read/watch it if you want to make an informed decision. Now, while this isn't true about all sources on social media, there is a lot of bad stuff out that that will suck voters in and cause them to turn against candidates for poor reasons. The best thing you can to do avoid this, is to watch general news or videos online about candidates that follow the events of the election and are able to give you the full perspective on each candidate.Avoid headlines that say “Donald Trump Is The Next Hitler” or “Clinton is a lying, scandalous women who is cheating the country out of its misery”, and make sure you look at ALL of the pros and cons that each candidate has to offer. Regardless of whether these headlines seem true to you or not,you need to make an informed decision when you vote, and paying attention to bias-lobbyist crap isn’t going to help you do that.

• Actually watch the Debates/Live Primary Results, or watch replays of them online.

Ladies and Gentleman, you may not realize this, but the Democratic/ Republican debates are literally some of the most important events that happen in the political calendar. Here, candidates speak in front of a national television audience with a couple of moderators to help stage the event, and they have to interact with one another on several policy issues. They talk about healthcare, social security, foreign policy, public policy, education, and several other key issues that are involved in this country. While debates can be LONG and BORING, they will tell you the most about a candidate and what kind of person they would be as president. As you watch them interact with other candidates and debate on issues, you can see the kind of person they are and what are their core values under the bright light. While candidates often times ‘stretch the truth” (and all of them do this to some extent, sorry to burst your bubble), it is much easier to tell if they are genuine by watching how they act in public versus if you just read a scripted speech on some website. Candidates who struggle in the national debates tend to struggle more in the polls than those that succeed, and watching these debates will give you an idea of who the most legitimate candidate might be for the presidency.

• Don’t vote for a party just to vote for a party

One of the biggest issues with party politics, and this will happen no matter what party, is that people get so deep rooted on a side that they forgot about having a fair evaluation. I’ve heard people say “Oh, since I’m a Democrat, I will vote Democrat” or “I’m a Republican, so I will vote Republican” and won’t even give the other candidates from other parties a fair chance to sway their opinion. To me, saying you are going to vote for a particular party just to vote for them is liking saying you’re going to eat a hamburger over a salad just because its tastes better. It may be a true statement in many instances, but that doesn’t meant that you are choosing to eat healthy and eat what your body really needs. In terms of how this relates to party politics, voting for a certain party may seem like the more favorable opinion, but in all reality could be detrimental in deciding the best quality candidate as president. What you should do instead, is vote for the candidate who you honestly will think will be the best president. There are both Republicans and Democrats who may seem like they would be great presidents, but in all honesty would probably be absolutely terrible president. If you want a historical example, President Andrew Jackson was one president who was considered to be a great president at one point in time, but now would be looked upon as a president who made awful choices for the country. He was the president responsible for the forced migrations of hundreds of thousands of Native Americans from their respective homelands to their “reservation spots”, where thousands of them died from starvation, exhaustion, hypothermia, and several other causes. This migration is know as the Trail of Tears, and frankly was a very poor choice by a president widely revered for his toughness/leadership. Now of course, this also happens to be the president that you see on the twenty dollar bill, but there are somethings about presidents/presidential candidates that you should be wary of. By voting for a Party, you are voting for the man based on his party beliefs, and not for the actually person who is going to be calling the shots in the Oval Office. If you want to vote for a candidate who you think is going to get the job done, don’t pay attention to party allegiance and focus on if what they are saying is a feasible way to improve this country. To be dead straight, if you honestly care about how this country is going to turn out, you will be doing all of us a favor by voting on the best candidate and not just among party lines. If you have to vote among party lines for whatever reason, don't vote for the most popular candidate, vote for who you think is the BEST candidate.

Now, to put this all together, you must understand that voting is as much of a privilege as it is a “right”. Not every country in the world has the ability to have as open an election as the United States does without having much political backlash. The ability to vote is a very powerful tool given to the people by the government. As the saying goes however, “With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility”, and having the ability to vote isn’t a right that should be taken for granted. By following the three pieces of advice that I just gave you, I hope that you will make a smart, educated decision on who you choose to vote for this year's elections. Just remember that your government, your family, your friends, and the millions of other Americans around you are counting on your solid vote. While no one vote is going to change an election, it will have a ripple impact of the events around you. Just remember that it doesn’t take much to get educated on the candidates, and if you choose to do so, you will be helping this country’s political process so much more than if you choose to do so otherwise. While some of you might find this article offensive, you all need to know that I'm writing this because I don't want this country's political process to become a popularity contest(even thought it is) for all the wrong reasons. The United States deserves to have the best leader possible to fill the commander- and chief- role, and if you educated yourself as voter, I guarantee that you will be making the best possible decision for the United States of America regardless of what the turnout is.