Becoming an Informed Voter
Josiah Leake
Liberty University
GOVT 220 D01
2
Introduction
“Bad officials are elected by good citizens who don’t vote.” (George Jean Nathan, 1882-
1958). Here in America, citizens have the great and important privilege of voting on political
leaders for all three branches of government; executive, legislative, and judicial. However, with
this privilege comes great responsibility. As voters, being informed is one of the most
monumental responsibilities. It determines how you will vote which in turn establishes who will
govern the U.S. for the next term. While being informed is vital to elections, some people do not
take the time to become informed. Some do not become informed because they believe it is too
hard. Subsequently, because of this misconception, many do not even vote. This leads to bad
officials being elected. However, becoming an informed voter is not as difficult or time
consuming as people believe. According to Stephen Witham, to become an informed voter, all
you have to do is research the voting record of the elected officials and ask yourself, “do they
vote the way I would vote if I was in their office?” (Stephen Witham, 2014). At this point the
reader may be asking, “how do I research elected official’s voting records?”. Stephen Witham
lists several resources including The Almanac of American Politics and VoteSmart.org. He also
says to look at interest group ratings and see what they say about the candidates. Each interest
group is based around certain ideas, philosophies, and agendas that they agree and disagree with.
Stephen Witham says that you should find the groups that agree with the beliefs that you agree
with and see what they say about the candidates. In this paper, using The Almanac of American
Politics, VoteSmart.org, interest group ratings, and other resources, the author will examine the
congressional delegation of North Carolina with some specific examination of North Carolina
district 3.
Political Background of North Carolina District 3
North Carolina district 3 is fairly large encompassing the Outer Banks and all the
counties adjacent to the Pamlico Sound. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the population
was 749,823 with 50.1% male and 49.9% female (U.S. Census Bureau, 2010). Ethnic diversity is
74% white, 20.6% black, 1.2% Asian, and 5.8% Hispanic (U.S. Census Bureau, 2010). As far
back as 2000, the district has voted decidedly Republican in elections for the U.S. House of
Representatives (Ballotpedia, 2019). Albeit, district 3 has not always voted like this. In fact, up
until the election of former congressmen Walter B. Jones in 1994, the district tended to vote
Democratically. Once Walter B. Jones was elected, the district has voted highly conservative
with Jones consistently winning reelection by landslide margins up until his death on February
10, 2019. In terms of presidential elections, NC district 3 in the past two elections voted in favor
of the Republican candidate. On the 2017 Cook Partisan Voter Index, the district scored a R+12.
