how to become informed voter

To become an educated elector, one must first consider the governance processes, the right to vote in an election, what is required in the election, and how to evaluate the candidates running for the different positions. A well-educated electorate is capable of making an informed decision without being coerced by politicians. As a consequence, there are certain important choices that must be taken in order to be considered an educated elector (Cohen, et al. 2015). Second, he or she must recognize his or her voting rights and register as a voter with the electoral commission. Second, he or she needs to stay informed on the topical issues that are arising and the stance of the aspiring leaders on the arising issues. Additionally, the voter needs to fact check what is said by the politicians and sieve the truth from campaign pledges. Such calls for an open mind and not being partisan in the political; approach that one seeks to undertake. Importantly, an informed voter has the enthusiasm to[participate in an election as a way of electing good leaders to steer the development of his or her country. This paper discusses the concept of becoming an informed voter with focus on Tennessee and the 6th Congressional District of Tennessee.

Background of Tennessee Congressional District

The Congressional representative of Tennessee participates in the law making process within Senate besides articulating the issues that are faced by the residents of Tennessee. The congress representative is often welcoming and finds time to meet and interact with his constituents, hearing their plights and taking up the issues that they would require legislation to address. The congressperson is an active partner in improving education standards within Tennessee and is active during parents and price giving days in most locations within his constituency.

Politically, Tennessee is represented by two senators and nine representatives in the lower house. The current Senators are Lamar Alexander and Bob Corker. The representatives include David Roe, John Duncan, Charles Fleischmann, Scott DesJarlais, Jim Cooper, Diane Black, Marsha Blackburn, David Kustoff and Steve Cohen. Originally, Tennessee was a democrat zone but has since tiled towards the Republican wing, affirming the inroads that the Republican Party has gained in the region. Of the nine House delegations from Tennessee, only two are from the Democratic Party with seven being voted in through the Republican Party (Bullock & Rozell, 2010). Such affirms that the Republican Party takes dominance of the politics in Tennessee.

The congressional district if Tennessee has often been split in the different census held in the country. The latest poll is credited for the nine representatives in the lower house and the two senators who serve the country in the Congress. Tennessee has admitted into the United States as a geopolitical district about four decades ago and has often been manipulating by the changing political landscape in the country.

Tennessee senior Senator Lamar Alexander

A senator plays a crucial role in the national politics of the United States of America. The senator verifies the bills that touch on the devolved functions headed by the governors besides keeping the executive in check. In the United States Constitution, the Senate has the power to review legislation passed by the House of Representatives and even impeaching the president. However, Senators have a mandate to attend to the legislative needs of the people to who they represent in the Senate.

Lamar Alexander is a member of the Republic Party and has been an active and senior politician and civil servant for close to three decades. He has held the dominant position of Secretary of Education in the United States, thus, affirming his passion for transforming the education sector. Within the Senate, he has a preference for taking a bipartisan approach when addressing the issues that are affecting America. His most notable bipartisan contribution has been on the issue of reforming the healthcare sector to improve quality, reduce the cost of healthcare and increase insurance coverage to the Americans. Alexander has often held the belief of affirming autonomy instead of following the position that the sponsoring holds when making important appointments and decisions affecting the country. His bipartisan approach was evident when he supported the nomination of Sonia Sotomayor despite the resistance from a majority of the Republican senators. The Bipartisan approach has also been noted on his criticism of the Trump Administration despite being of the same party with the President. Alexander opposed the executive order by President Trump stopping immigration of people from Muslim states until America had set better screening strategies to counter terrorism. Such is evidence of the independence of thought that is expressed by him. According to the latest evaluation of different Senators in the United States, Alexander is the 32nd most conservative member of the Senate despite being mentioned as an active Republican politician.

However, the stance of Alexander in the view of the Healthcare Reforms has not been progressive taking into account his contribution in such legislation. For example, he is recorded as having voted against the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act, Patient Protection, and Affordable Care Act and Obama Care. However, such does not serve to make him against the reforms that are needed within the healthcare sector. The stance of Alexander in health reforms is the need to sensitive to the impact that such policies may have on federal debt and increase of taxes to implement such bills. Therefore, the approach that Alexander has to the healthcare reform is pro-poor and is currently rewriting a separate version of the Affordable Health Care Act to make the cost of healthcare affordable to many Americans (United States, 2014).

Additionally, Alexander is documented for having opposed the gun laws despite the positive contribution that they may have brought to the American community. The primary concern that he had over the bill is the nature of the background checks that needed to be done to any gun buyers and how such could align to the individual and constitution rights to which they are entitled to by the America Constitution.

The positions held by Alex in the American political landscape are an affirmation of his leadership capabilities and the transformative agenda that he keeps. In the Senate, he sits on the powerful committees of Health labor and education and also sits on the Subcommittee on Energy. His involvement in the Senate is not limited to debating but further extends to the ensuring that transformation takes place in the society, for example, the establishment of the Oak Ridge National Laboratory.

Senator Alexander and Senator Patt Murray, a staunch Democrat representing New York have often been holding meetings to find out the most appropriate bipartisan approach that could be used to secure health insurance after failing to repeal Obama Care. Under the leadership of Senator Alexander, the new proposed change in the current health legislation intends to offer security to the insurance firms that were to be cut off by President Trump and provide each State to decide on the health insurance programs that are realistic for its citizenry.

The Almanac of American politics is increasingly an important resource that one needs to consult to find information about the contribution of his legislators in the national politics. The major concerns that the electorate tends to have with their leaders, especially the Senator, are the establishment of laws that gear towards economic prosperity of the country. Going through the Almanac provides one with the knowledge on the contribution that a legislator has to the national politics and the voting patterns that he or she makes (Cohen, et al. 2015). Such further enables a voter to determine if a leader is progressive or if the leader is committed to cutting back reforms that would be needed the better the lifestyle of his representatives. The other notable positive influence that a voter may receive from the Almanac is the campaign finance data (Cohen, et al. 2015). Usually, the campaign financiers tend to shape the policy consideration that an elected politician has. Therefore, such data is pertinent in enabling one to determine if the campaign of an individual is money based or issue-based and those who facilitate the campaigns of their elected officials.

Conclusion

Becoming an informed voter is a tedious exercise that requires self-examination and conducting independent researcher before making a political decision. The choice of a political leader needs to be premised on the understanding of the political background of the region in which the election is taking place and the affirmation of the requirements that such areas may present. The knowledge of the political history of the area in which one is supposed to vote enables him or her to know the legislators that he or she has to participate in electing or the region in which one with political interests may vie. However, the most important issue is the ability to make an autonomous policy decision when choosing a leader. Fact checking needs to be the basis for all political decisions that are made by an individual. The political lamentations and campaign promises that are made by an individual should not serve as the basis for voting for him or not. Taking the case of Senator Alexander, the records that he holds as a two-term governor of Tennessee and a Secretary for Education are foundational steps that would make one vote for him. Additionally, his critique of policies that have been brought before the Senate given the impact that they have in federal debt and increase of taxes makes him a transformational leader of choice. The previous record of a leader as rated by the civil society organizations and the background research of an electorate is a basis for making a more informed choice when selecting a leader (Cohen, et al. 2015). In the recommendation, there is need to conduct civic and voter education to enable people to make more rational choices when electing leaders. For example, Tennessee is a Republic zone. However, such should not aid the selection or preference for leaders, but rather their track record for economic prosperity to the people of Tennessee.



References

Bullock, C. S., & Rozell, M. J. (2010). The new politics of the old South: An introduction to Southern politics. Lanham, Md: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers.

Cohen, R. E., Barnes, J. A., Holland, K., Cook, C., Barone, M., Jacobson, L., & Peck, L. (2015). The almanac of American politics 2016: Members of Congress and governors: their profiles and election results, their states and districts. Columbia Books and Information services.

United States. (2014). United States: US Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions handbook : strategic information and regulations. Washington DC.