How I will vote in 2020.

Photo by Parker Johnson on Unsplash

2020 is a new election year - as if anyone could have missed it!

It will be my second national election in the USA. So as I prepare for the onslaught of calls, ads, social media pushes and promotions of the various candidates I am considering doing something I have not done before: actually categorizing and prioritizing my voting issues and criteria. In my previous elections here in the US and in South Africa I voted based on a candidate's appeal, as long as they were not directly opposed to a specific value or core belief of my own. But that is too simplistic these days.

So, that gets me to a question: how do you prioritize or categorize your voting issues?

I'm a novice in this area and open to learning, so please share what you think.

Here are my current thoughts about issues important to me (not ranked by priority). These are stated more as subjects to think about, rather than positional statements. In future posts I hope to explore these subjects and evaluate candidates against them:

• Government size:a government large enough to care (provide, support, keep safe, grow and develop) those within its border, but not so large that it becomes a burden to those same people. This would include infrastructure, healthcare, taxes, education, judicial, legislative and executive powers.
• Security:the maintenance of peace within the borders and protection from attack beyond the borders, but not to the point of policing or fighting pointless battles in foreign countries. Included here is the development of privacy and security online as well as offline as well as foreign policy.
• A Global Worldview: focused on securing the safety and health of the entire world collaboratively with other nations. In this section I would resist nationalism generally, but extreme nationalism specifically, as a value. It would include the environment, the space race, scientific endeavors and the eradication of dangerous global events.
• Religious Freedom: the right for all people to practice what they believe as long as that does not impose on the practice of others.

Those are my current top issues. What would you add, delete, change or improve? And far more importantly, how would you be informed about these issues?