In my last post I looked at why being a good neighbor/citizen means exercising the right to vote. Today I list ways to be kind to others during the election season, when emotions may run high.

There’s that old admonishment to “never talk about religion or politics,” but during a highly contested election it can be difficult to sidestep the topic of politics altogether. Especially with how interconnected many of us are on social media, we now find our news feeds filled with well-meaning (or not) family and friends expressing themselves with frequent clicks.

Here’s my list of  ways to be a good and kind neighbor in the public space (in person and online) during the election. It’s not always easy; I admit it’s challenging for me to follow my own advice, and I’ve stumbled a number of times. Here’s to all of us elevating civility and focusing on the greater good at election time.

During an election a good neighbor:

• Is educated about his/her political positions BEFORE sharing with others. This takes a little homework, but it needs to be done anyway to be an informed voter. Seek out nonpartisan sources of information on candidates and issues, and don’t rely on only one source of news information (i.e. watch more than one news network or type of political show, read more than one newspaper, website, columnist, etc.). A good place to find nonpartisan info is the League of Women Voters (the California site is at ca.lwv.org), which also has its Smart Voter site, with links to more than a dozen other nonpartisan websites. KQED just published a comprehensive California Proposition Guide. [Read more…]