With the 2020 election having a wide selection of candidates, it is hard to keep straight which candidates support certain policies. With all of this confusion about the candidates, the New York Times created a quiz that is 10 questions long to help voters figure out which candidates’ ideals match best with their own, but is this really a good thing?
With the quiz being an easy tool for people to use, it is not giving quiz takers all the information on the candidates. Not all policies are included in the quiz, therefore, there is bound to be some uncertainty with who the right candidate to vote for is.
According to the United States Census Bureau, voting numbers from the 2016 election were lower with only 61.4% of U.S. of-age citizens participating. While that is not much different from the 2012 election where only 61.8% of people voted, that is still a low number compared to the of-age population.
There are several reasons why someone could choose not to vote, but this quiz provided by the New York Times could eliminate the confusion of candidates and make it simpler for people to know who to vote for. However, voters need to be aware of the author’s background and room for error.
I personally took the quiz to see who it would match me with and my results yielded two candidates – Elizabeth Warren or Bernie Sanders. While I am not completely sure who I would like to vote for either of those candidates, I feel it was still a decent reference.
At the end of the day, whoever you choose to vote for is completely fine, just remember that a quiz will not always match your own ideals when choosing a candidate to vote for. This quiz can be helpful if you do not want to do endless research, but take caution of the possible inaccuracy.