How to Vote Sensibly

As I'm writing this, we are in the middle of local body elections here. These often see really low voter turnout, and while there are several reasons for this, I think one of the is that people often don't know who to vote for in these smaller elections – unlike national elections, where the parties and personalities are (sometimes unfortunately) impossible to avoid hearing about.

Anyone who knows me will probably be able to tell you that I have fairly strong political opinions, but here I am going to try and keep this as generic as possible, not based in any particular ideology, but as with anything, some of my own opinions and biases are likely to come through. So this is not intended as a comprehensive list of "must do" actions, but instead a list to get you thinking and making better decisions. You can (and possibly even should) disagree with me on some points. That's healthy (or at least, good-intentioned, well-thought-out disagreements are healthy).

1. Actually vote. This should go without saying, but often people don't vote (especially in smaller elections). But, if you don't vote, you have no voice, and so you cannot complain about who gets in. If you have no idea, no time, or no knowledge about who to vote for, then talk to someone whose opinions you trust and ask them. People sometimes call not voting a "protest vote" (because they, often rightly, don't like any of the options), but not voting is throwing away your voice. Think of it this way: if you don't vote, then you are giving the choice of who to have in power to the person you most despise. Voting in elections that typically have low turnout is even more important, because these mean your vote counts for more. An actual protest vote is only possible where "No confidence" is an option, which is rare to find now (even voting for a joke option – I miss the McGillicuddy Serious Party – is a waste because those votes don't affect the actual outcome, so are still a throwaway).
   1. If you have no other option, at least vote for the "least worst" option. Again, not voting is handing your power to someone you don't agree with. I disagree with everyone (and most often with the people I care about the most), so you will never find a perfect candidate. Pick the person who closest aligns with what you think is best overall, prioritising the things that affect everyone the most.
2. Vote based on what's best for everyone, not just yourself. Instead of thinking "What's going to be best for me?" when voting, ask yourself, "What is going to be best for everyone?" Society is everyone, so your ability to thrive is deeply connected with everyone else's ability to thrive. This is especially important if you are in a position where you have financial security and there are people who do not. [On a personal note, I have been a student with two young children and I've been in well-paid roles (partly because of the study). I would happily pay more tax in my well-paid roles if I knew someone else didn't have to go through times as hard as we had when I was a student.]
   1. Vote in the interests of the least powerful. What I mean by this is thinking of the people who are the most marginalised, the people who society is currently failing, the people with the most to lose – if in doubt, simply ask, "How will this affect the poorest people in my society?" then vote in a way that helps them the most. [Side note: ideologies are going to disagree significantly on what this looks like. Some popular ideologies are distinctly anti-human in this respect; please don't follow those. If in doubt, ask if the way you are voting shows compassion – and probably go read research on what actually works (and does not work) to solve thorny issues like poverty.]
   2. Vote to protect society and the environment. Most politicians' favourite word is "The Economy" (usually said like it should be a capitalised proper noun, but almost never explained). But, the economy (the system of exchange, money, trade, business, productivity, etc) exists within society. Society, in turn, exists within the environment. If someone is wanting you to support a policy that ruins the environment but makes money or "strengthens The Economy™", it is probably a bad policy in the long term – not to mention that most pro-environmental policies end up costing less in the long term anyway.
3. Put aside time for voting and voting preparation. Good thinking takes time, so we shouldn't leave thinking about who we are going to vote until the last minute, or vote simply on feeling or "vibes". (Also, don't offload your critical thinking to AI on something as important as choosing leaders, please – especially as most current AI is run by huge corporations who probably don't have your best interests at heart). Put aside some time to research your options, to read the policies from different parties, even see about finding a tool that let you select your opinions on a wide range of issues and see which party best aligns: sometimes the results can be surprising. Setting aside time gives you the chance to consider what is best.
   1. Think long about your values and beliefs and how the options align (or don't) to those beliefs. You can't make a good choice about someone to represent you if you don't first understand what you want represented. How well do all of the options align? For example, if honesty is deeply important to you, were there examples of your top choice being dishonest? Wrestle with whether mismatches here are enough for you to change your mind.
4. Don't get caught up in single-issue voting. Manipulative politicians frequently choose an extreme position on a divisive issue to recruit followers. They might even be correct (though divisive issues are rarely simple; I'll come back to this). Doing this is effective, because if you can frame a debate in terms of "My opponents are evil" (not just wrong), then it taps into the worst parts of our us-versus-them thinking. If you think that the person you disagree with is not simply different, not even simply wrong, but vile, then your brain will categorise everything they say as coming from a bad motive (even when it doesn't). Unscrupulous politicians will tap into that, recruiting you as followers in their fight against wickedness. This is a problem for two reasons: one, it stops us from engaging the thinking and reasoning side of our brains, and two, it means the politician can get you to side with them on every other issue, too (and unfortunately our brains will accept this from "allies", even if what the ally is trying to do is worse than the issue they recruited us with).

   Look at everything each politician is saying, not only the thing you most care about. Watch for your own "hot button issues".

5. Talk to people you disagree with. We've all heard the term "echo chamber", and they do exist (they always have, but the age of social media has made this much worse, where even the most fringe voices can get an audience). But don't just argue: ask someone why they are thinking of voting that way. Ask if they can show you examples elsewhere that the policies they are wanting to support have actually worked – then really listen. I have significantly changed my political position over the years because I found out that some of the things I thought I knew were actually wrong. Being wrong is a good thing: it means you are wiser than you were yesterday. Don't dig in and defend a position if there's even a small hint that you might be incorrect (or just missing some details or a different perspective).
   1. A thing I like to remind myself in any debate is that if a problem truly was simple, we would probably have solved it already. If there is an issue where you think the answer is obvious and anyone opposing it is an idiot, yet the problem isn't solved and intelligent people disagree with you on it, take a step back and question if you actually understand it as well as you think you do. (Here, I can't recommend enough that we all should try and understand the Dunning-Kruger effect and Confirmation Bias; please, please read about and try to understand these and watch for them in your own thinking).
6. Cross the floor. Similar to my point above about single-issue voting, we all tend to align ourselves with "us" versus "them", blinding ourselves both to the failings on the home team and the good points made by the opposition. As much as you can, try and treat each issue individually: your chosen party might have good ideas about say transport but bad ideas about education. Call out things on your side that you disagree with (we should do that more than we do with things on the "other" side; see the bits about Confirmation Bias above). We don't get quite as much say on specific issues as we do on choosing a team, but you can still influence things.

   Or, you might find that you used to agree with a certain person or party, but this time around you don't. In that case, cross the floor and vote differently. People change (including yourself), and so changing your mind is a good thing. Changing your mind is good proof that you have been thinking.

7. Vote based on policies not personalities. One of the clearest indicators that a political party or individual politician is going to succeed is when they are a personality that people like. But someone can be charismatic and be a horrible leader. Popularity is not, by itself, a good indicator of good leadership or good decision-making. So take a look at what someone is wanting to do, not just that they can say what you like. Take a look at someone's actual plans, not just that they can say what you like to hear. (But, a caveat here: part of good leadership means being able to get people to follow you, so there can be reasons why personality matters – and the person's beliefs and morals even more so). It can even be helpful to avoid videos and stick to reading text, because video gives more ability for manipulation and playing on our emotions.
   1. Dig past the hype and the mud-slinging. Unfortunately we live in an age of targeted, deliberate, misinformation (even in little old New Zealand, I can give very recent examples of lobby groups using people's faces on billboards with slogans that person never said). If there is someone you dislike, ask why, and check if those reasons are real or "manufactured outrage". Go read details of a politician's past and their associations with other organisations (especially lobby groups). Ask if any of those other connections could be a harmful influence in their decision-making.
8. Follow the money. If a politician is wanting to increase government support or reduce the "bureaucratic burden" for a certain industry, check to see if that industry has made any large donations to their party or campaign. If it's a harmful industry such as a tobacco company or a fossil fuel lobby group, then you are probably seeing corruption. Never support corruption.
   1. On that note, check for who is supporting them. A party whose financial support base are lots of individual people is probably a better option than a party who have some suspiciously-large donations from a few corporations or extremely rich individuals. Even just the amounts matter: if they have been given more money, that means they have more opportunity to get their message in front of you – irrelevant to whether or not it's a good message. Unfortunately, money does buy elections.
9. Be a "YIMBY" (Yes In My Back Yard) not a "NIMBY". We probably all know a NIMBY ("Not In My Back Yard"), the kind of person who might support a necessary project, but only if it doesn't happen near them. This comes up a lot in urban planning: there might be a problem we all know needs to be solved (e.g. here in Auckland, it's the need for more houses, so urban densification in terms of adding more affordable apartments etc), but someone wants it to happen in a different part of the city because it might affect their house value or the "character of the neighbourhood" or something. If there's something you agree needs to happen somewhere but you don't want to happen here, ask yourself why – and consider supporting it locally by being a YIMBY ("Yes In My Back Yard"). If you're really diligent, pull out a map and look at infrastructure (e.g. transport systems), access to amenities (shops, schools, parks, etc), and see if there is actually a better alternative location for whatever is being proposed, as you'll often find there isn't. NIMBYism stops too many good projects for no good reason.
10. Make sure you understand how the voting system works. New Zealand uses the Mixed Member Proportional (MMP) system to elect our central Government, and it surprises me how many people don't understand how it works. Under MMP, your party vote is the most important, though both votes matter. Local body elections are different, as they will often use other forms of voting: the simple-to-understand (but often not great in terms of outcomes) First Past the Post (FPP) system, where you get one vote and the person with the most votes wins, but some also use Single Transferable Vote (STV), where you have to rank candidates. Make sure you are marking the voting papers in the correct way, or all the above work might be a waste. If you don't know how these systems work, find out; there are probably lots of YouTube videos that explain these things well. Every system has its problems (in part because voting tries to balance two incompatible but deeply important ideals: everyone's voice should be represented fairly but decision-making should be efficient and effective and not bogged down by too many competing voices).

One Final Note

Depending on if and what feedback I get on this, I may change the list if there's anything important I find I have missed or anything that I think wasn't correct. If you are wanting an update if I do change anything, please leave me a comment and I will try and alert you if the list changes. (As an aside, this is also the approach we should take with voting and politics in general: everything is negotiable).