Clare Liening, Senior Associate
Clare Liening, Senior Associate

Though it’s not a presidential election year, some very big decisions will be made in the November 4th election. Midterm elections have historically low voter turnout, meaning that your vote will go that much further on Election Day. Just think – rather than complaining about polices you dislike, you have the power to influence who ends up in the State House and Senate, Governor’s office, Michigan Supreme Court and much more. All you have to do is make a quick stop at the polls any time between 7 a.m. and 8 p.m. on November 4, 2014. To get you started, we’ve put together some simple steps to help get you to the polls.

First, make sure you’re registered to vote. Visit the Secretary of State website at https://vote.michigan.gov/mvic/ to look up whether you’re registered or not, and to get a glimpse of what your ballot will look like come November 4. If you’re not registered to vote, it will be too late to do so for the upcoming election. All that means is that you should register now and get it out of the way so you’re prepared for the next election. If you are registered, use this site to look over your sample ballot. You can easily research each of the candidates online to find out more about where they stand on the issues that matter to you, and look into proposals to better understand their purpose.

A great resource to learn about your area candidates is the MLive Voter Guide, available at http://www.mlive.com/voterguide/. Enter your location to get started, and each race and issue you can vote on will appear. You can even select candidates to compare, and view information about their personal history, education, previous employment, and their answers to questions like, “Why are you running for office?” and, “What, if anything, should the state do to change the current road funding situation?” You can select who you plan to vote for each step of the way, and enter your phone number or email address at the end to receive your completed ballot to take along on election day– making it that much easier to keep it all straight at the polls.

No matter your affiliation, be sure to vote this and every election year. Every level of government makes decisions that affect us all. Having a say in who makes those decisions is a fundamental part of what it means to be an American.

Clare Liening is a senior associate in the Public Affairs practice.  Prior to joining Lambert, Clare served as a senior communications advisor for the State Senate, working directly with various State Senators to create and implement communications strategies and provide media relations to aid them in communicating with their colleagues and constituents.