How to make the most out of this election

As the election gets closer with each day, it is important to know the best ways to make sure this is not just another Tuesday.

The most you can do is to vote. If you haven’t already voted by mail or through early voting, you can do that right now! As college students who don’t attend school in their registered county, you can request an absentee ballot. The easiest way to do so is to visit vote.org. This site not only helps you request a ballot but also allows you to register to vote if you have not done so already. However, it is too late to register for the upcoming November election.

If you are registered to vote in Missouri, they do not have early in-person voting, but Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee and Arkansas do, starting Oct. 19.

There are a lot of elections on this upcoming ballot. The best way to learn more about these issues in a simple way is to use the site Ballotpedia. On this website, there is even an option to see a sample ballot with your specific local, state and national elections for the Nov. 3 election. It also can give you more insight on the two state amendments up for vote in this election.

Researching these issues can also help you get a better idea of what the political wording is actually referring to, as sometimes it can make no sense and then you end up voting the opposite of what you thought you were. It happens.

While it might seem old-fashioned, talk to your peers! A lot of your peers could have similar or even different opinions about some of the elections. Sometimes just talking out your own ideas can help set your ideas in stone or push you toward something new.

Another way to learn more about these important issues is to pick up the election edition of the Arrow that was released Oct. 21.

The Arrow will also be streaming live every hour on election night via Facebook Live keeping you up to date throughout the night. I’ll be the anchor, so you should definitely watch!