2024 is our election year. In 2020, the election wreaked chaos over everyone no matter what political party they were in, to the point that it ended in riots and violence. Examples of such were the January 6th Capitol Hill riot where protests of President Biden and supporters of Trump wanted Congress to stop counting the votes because they thought there was much fraud. Since then, many things have changed. President Biden has now been in office for four years and at the time of the 2020 election COVID-19 was at one of its highest peaks. The rates of COVID-19 are at a moderate level and much less severe than it was before and schools are back to normal. 

Many things have changed but there’s one thing that hasn’t, the candidates. The two biggest candidates for this year’s election are Joseph Biden and Donald Trump. Within the republican party there are two representatives, Former President Donald Trump and Nikki Haley; two democratic candidates, Current President Joseph Biden and Dean Phillips. There are also the other parties and their candidates including, Jill Stein representing The Green Party, James Bradley for the American Independent party, Charles Balley for the Libertarian party, and finally Claudia De la Cruz, Jasmine Sherman, and Cornel West for the Peace and Freedom party.

To vote in California you must be at least 18 years old (but you can pre-register at 16 if you please), a United States citizen and a California Resident, not currently serving a state or federal prison for the conviction of a felony, and lastly not currently found mentally incompetent to vote by court. If you can vote in California, it can seem confusing on who to vote for because there is so many people, there is a few ways to do it. Take a couple political spectrum tests and actually read what your results are. If you feel like what you got is what you stand for then you go with that. Here are some of the political compass tests that our Civics teacher, Mrs. Fennell provides seniors when they take Civics.

https://www.isidewith.com/political-quiz 

https://politicalcompass.org/test

https://www.gotoquiz.com/politics/political-spectrum-quiz.

Here are all the official websites to the political parties being represented this year in the election. This is where you can see the candidates and where you can find their information and their stances on particular issues. Perchance there are ones that may or may not be important to you, it is important to research and read all the information.

Republican: https://www.gop.com/about-our-party/ 

Democrat: https://democrats.org/who-we-are/ 

Green: https://www.gp.org/we_stand 

Libertarian: https://ca.lp.org/about/ 

American Independent: https://www.aipca.org/issues.aspx 

Peace and Freedom: https://www.peaceandfreedom.us/ 

Even with the Election coming up, make sure to remember your own voters rights as the Contra Costa County shows:

1. The right to vote if you are a registered voter.
2. The right to vote a provisional ballot if your name is not listed on the voting rolls.
3. The right to vote if you are still in line when the polls close.
4. The right to cast a secret ballot.
5. The right to get a new ballot if you have made a mistake, if you have not already
   cast your ballot.
6. The right to get help casting your ballot from anyone you choose, except your employer or union representative.
7. The right to drop off your completed vote-by-mail ballot at any polling place in the county.
8. The right to get election materials in a language other than English, if there are sufficient residents in your precinct to warrant production.
9. The right to ask questions to elections officials about election procedures.
10. The right to report any illegal or fraudulent election activity.

Using this link from Contra Costa County you can also register to vote here:

https://www.contracostavote.gov/elections/voter-registration/register-to-vote/ 

Remember one thing, your vote matters!