Telling People To Vote

Here's a thought: Telling people simply to vote may not be ideal. I'm not denying the importance of voting, but a lot of people don't keep up with politics at all, and voting for the sake of it when you're really completely clueless about who and what you're voting for might not be the best move. When we pressure people to vote without equally emphasizing the importance of first doing their research, it may cause them to select based on factors such as which names they've heard the most or not heard anything negative about, which names stand out, who their friends and family are voting for, etc. I'm not claiming to have any evidence one way or another on this, and I'm not discouraging people from encouraging others to vote; it just occurred to me that perhaps taking an extra moment here and there to remind people that looking into the people and policies they're voting for is probably just as important. As someone who's guilty of doing a less than stellar job of keeping up with politics, I do believe that pushes to remedy that, rather than just to tick boxes for names I'm unfamiliar with, makes sense. Oh, and no, I don't believe it goes without saying. People — especially when they're younger — often don't know what they don't know or how, why (as in solid and convincing reasoning), or where to acquire that knowledge and can feel like they're doing their part just by fulfilling the demands of those pressuring them into just voting. 

^Pardon the brain dump. This isn't a topic I'm particularly passionate about, but just thought I'd share what came to mind. Feel free to read and move on, or those of you who care more are welcome chime in and toss around thoughts. Perhaps something good will come of it. 🤷‍♀️🙂