Voting Education

At the end of the day, the most important thing for you to know when it comes to engaging with politics is what you value, why you hold your values, and how you want to connect with your community to bring those values to light. The Center for Democracy and Civic Life hosts a wide variety of programs to help you navigate these questions; check out our other pages for more information.

That said, there are some specific types of information that people often ask about during election cycles. This page is meant to contain information about these various types of questions. Be on the lookout for events and programs that will be hosted by the Center for Democracy and Civic Life and others to learn even more that is not listed here. Click on the icons below to jump to the topic sections.

How can I engage with the election if I am not eligible to vote?

What are the different elected positions that are on the ballot, and how do I understand what their jobs are?

Who is running, and how can I compare the candidates’ policy positions?

How To Engage If Ineligible To Vote

A major barrier to political engagement in the United States is that many see voting as the only way to be involved in politics, which can be especially exclusive for immigrant, undocumented, and underage populations. Here at UMBC, we think it is important to include everyone in political life as well as foster an understanding that there are ways to engage in political life outside of elections. During election seasons, it is especially important to find ways to engage even if you are unable to vote. Check out the program calendar for other opportunities there will be this fall to find out how to engage in social change and making our world better through means not just limited to voting.

Even if you are ineligible to vote, you can still contribute to politics. The examples below do not cover everything you can do, but we offer these examples as easy things you can consider for staying involved:

  • Stay Informed: Political engagement, including all of the ideas below, requires us to stay aware of what is happening in the world, our nation, and our communities. Staying informed does not necessarily mean you have to just focus on election news. Learning about the policies and politics affecting the areas of social life you care about (e.g., technology, health, labor) can help you engage in political conversation, identify avenues for involvement, and make informed choices.
  • Contact Your Elected Officials: Just because there is an election happening does not mean the people currently in office are not still working! One way, among many, to influence politics is to contact elected officials, whether that is at the federal level, the state level, or the local level. While it is likely not the case that you will speak directly to the person in office, political staffers use the calls and messages that people send to inform elected officials about what their constituents are concerned about and find important.
  • Create Art: One often underplayed method for engaging in politics is finding ways to share your perspectives and values via creative expression, which can take the form of story sharing, poetry, visual art, music, and more. A healthy democracy is not only built on political structures, but also on the actions of people every day to be open, authentic, and vulnerable with each other. Art can be incredibly impactful for helping people think about their world in new ways, and it is a political act to create art that inspires critical thinking about the kind of future we want to live in together and the kinds of stories we need to understand today.

There are many ways to join with others to create change together, including political organizing, engaging in civic dialogue, volunteering, and other forms of working with others to create change.

  • Share Information: It can be challenging to filter through the immense amount of information that might inform our political decisions, but being able to rely on our friends and loved ones—those who know us well enough to know what information is most important to us—is a crucial way we can help each other sort through the chaos and live our values. Talk with your peers and help to share information you learn that you think they may value, whether that is through conversation, social media, or other means of sharing.
  • Volunteer: Volunteering to support social change and communities is a powerful way to exercise your values and put them into practice. There are forms of volunteering that are directly relevant to the election, like volunteering to support a political candidate, or you can volunteer to support other social causes. UMBC’s Shriver Center is an excellent resource for finding opportunities to volunteer in our local communities in ways that align with your values. And if you want to volunteer to help support political engagement at UMBC, reach out to us atciviclife@umbc.edu!

Center for Democracy and Civic Life programs such as STRiVE and Alternative Spring Break provide opportunities to learn how to be in community with others and work toward shared understandings and shared goals. UMBC as a community is full of examples of people, especially students, who have come together to engage in social change.

You can also directly support voter engagement efforts, even if you are ineligible to vote. It is often the case that those who are ineligible to vote will help others to vote as a way to express their own values. There are many ways in which this can happen, but some ideas are below.

  • Remind Peers to Register and Vote: Many eligible voters end up being unable to vote when they miss deadlines to register, and many registered voters end up not voting because they miss deadlines to vote. Check out the Important Dates and Deadlines page for details about local deadlines, and help your friends and family remember to register and vote.
  • Encourage Others to Vote: Sometimes, people do not vote because they do not feel it is important, and sharing why it is important to you and the values you hold that other people vote (e.g., if there is a policy at stake that affects your life) can be a way to encourage others to vote, if not for their own benefit, but because they care about you. Voters often show up because of the care they have for their communities, and reminding potential voters that you are a part of their community too can help raise the importance of voting.
  • Supporting Election Engagement Activities: There will be many political events throughout this election season, and sometimes, it just takes one person with the willingness to put in the effort to create opportunities for people to make sense of these events. You can help others attend election events, or you can host them yourself. Ideas include debate watch parties, documentary screenings, or book clubs. Any way that we can support each other in our learning can help us all commit to healthy and holistic political engagement, whether that is through voting or other means. If you do plan to host election-related events that would be open to the UMBC community, feel free to reach out to the Center for Democracy and Civic Life (civiclife@umbc.edu) for feedback and coordination support.
There are many ways in which people who are not able to vote, including immigrant and underage communities, are engaging with political processes every day, often through local and national organizations that have tailored their engagement strategies toward specific populations. Examples include Indian American Impact, the League of United Latin American Citizens, APIAVote, and the Nigerian Center. If you need help searching for organizations that might fit your needs, feel free to reach out to us at civiclife@umbc.edu.

Understanding the Positions On The Ballot

The election is about more than the President, and it is important to understand the full slate of the positions are up for election. Below, we provide a series of links to learn about each position. Which positions you will be voting for will depend on where you have registered to vote.

President

Junior Scholastic | What Does the President Really Do?

The Policy Circle | The Executive Branch

U.S. Senator

The Policy Circle | U.S. Senate

U.S. Congressional Representative

In the United States, “Congress” refers to the combination of the Senate and the House of Representatives. “Congressional Representative,” here, refers to members of the House of Representatives

The Policy Circle | U.S. House of Representatives

Delegates to the Republican and Democratic National Conventions

USA Today | What are presidential delegates and how does the process work?

Circuit Court Judge

Maryland Courts | Circuit Courts

School Board/Board of Education Member

U.S. News and World Report | The School Board, Explained

City Mayor/County Executive

Municipal Research and Services Center | Knowing Your Roles: City and Town Governments

City Council Member

Maryland Manual On-Line | Baltimore City, Maryland: Legislative Branch

Baltimore City Council | About the Board

Comptroller

Baltimore City Comptroller | Office of the Comptroller

Understanding The Candidates

UMBC and the Center for Democracy and Civic Life are non-partisan organizations, meaning that it is not our role to actively work to support any given political party, and our work to engage voters is meant for everyone, regardless of political ideology. We present the following information sources (in alphabetical order) for comparing political candidates as options, without commentary on which you should use. Being an informed voter also means being given the freedom to make choices about what information you read, and it is our intent here to provide multiple options so that you can make the choice for yourself. This information should not be taken as endorsement for any political candidate or political party. We primarily include voting guides related to the Presidential election. You can also often find guides online focused on other offices, including local positions. Feel free to email us (civiclife@umbc.edu) if you know of another guide that we should consider for inclusion.

  • Ballotpedia Voter Guide: “Ballotpedia is the digital encyclopedia of American politics, and the nation’s premier resource for unbiased information on elections, politics, and policy…Our content includes neutral, accurate, and verifiable information on government officials and the offices they hold, political issues and public policy, elections, and candidates.”
  • CNN Voter Guide: “We are truth-seekers and storytellers. We are journalists, designers and technologists, united by a mission to inform, engage and empower the world. We bear witness to history as it unfolds and explain not just what happened, but why, and what it means to you.”
  • Council on Foreign Relations Voter Guide: “The Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) is an independent, nonpartisan membership organization, think tank, and publisher dedicated to being a resource for its members, government officials, business executives, journalists, educators and students, civic and religious leaders, and other interested citizens in order to help them better understand the world and the foreign policy choices facing the United States and other countries.”
  • guides.vote Voter Guide: “Our guides.vote team creates nonpartisan voters guides, in English and Spanish, to key elections across the United States. These carefully researched guides allow readers to make confident voting decisions based on clear understanding about where the candidates stand. They offer a concise and credible way to help potential voters overcome political cynicism, overload, and misinformation by making clear the difference between candidates and the stakes of showing up. They help people get past the myth that it’s not worth voting because candidates are “all the same.”
  • NBC Voter Guide: “NBC News Digital is a collection of innovative and powerful news brands that deliver compelling, diverse and visually engaging stories on your platform of choice…We provide something for every news consumer with our comprehensive offerings that deliver the best in breaking news, segments from your favorite NBC News shows, live video coverage, original journalism, lifestyle features, commentary and local updates.”
  • New York Times Voter Guide: “We seek the truth and help people understand the world. This mission is rooted in our belief that great journalism has the power to make each reader’s life richer and more fulfilling, and all of society stronger and more just.”
  • Reuters Voter Guide: “Together with the professionals and institutions we serve, we help uphold the rule of law, turn the wheels of commerce, catch bad actors, report the facts, and provide trusted, unbiased information to people all over the world. Our role at Thomson Reuters is to serve our customers, pursuing justice, truth, and transparency.”