Navigating Election Season with ADHD
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2024 is an election year, and every election year, plenty of people are out there telling you to vote. I find this troubling. Yes, it is the citizen’s duty to decide how our country will be governed, but there are consequences to pushing people to vote. For those of us with ADHD, this can be doubly troubling. I am not saying don’t vote. What I am saying is vote responsibly and do not take elections lightly.
Forgetfulness
There are many steps to voting. Let’s look at each step to see where things could go wrong due to the ADHD tendency to forget things.
The first step is to register to vote. This must be done before a certain date, and the requirements can vary from state to state. The tendency of those with ADHD is to say, “I’ll do that later,” and then later never gets here.
The next step involves researching for whom and/or what to vote. This is the most crucial step. Your vote is wasted if you do not go to the polls informed. Many think they can just watch their favorite cable news network to know how to vote. This is not true. Whether you watch Fox News or MSNBC, you are getting a biased look at the events of the day. Most of the media is slanted toward a liberal point of view, but the outliers are conservative leaning. There are no truly independent news networks. In short, it is hard to trust the news. Fortunately, there are websites where you can look up the voting records of each candidate (well, at least the ones who have a voting record). These websites can be tricky to find, and the difficulty with finding quality information may make some with ADHD give up or say, “I’ll do that later.” As before, later may never arrive. Then, you do not know what is truly being asked of you.
Finally, you need to get to the polls and actually vote. You need to remember when the polls are open and where you vote. Neither of those tasks are easy when the ADHD brain tends to forget things. Every year, I have to remember to double check that I still vote at the same place I did last time. I take for granted that the polls are open from 7:00am to 7:00pm. I do not know if that is actually true. I should double check that.
Impatience
Some may give up on voting when they get to the polls and see the long lines. This is true for many people but especially true for those with ADHD. Patience is not an easy thing. Furthermore, standing in a long line is mind numbingly boring.
Impulsivity
The trouble with voting continues in that many with ADHD act impulsively. They decide how they are voting without giving it much thought. As discussed above, one must carefully research the issues and not decide too quickly, based on one piece of potentially false information put out by the corrupt media or even the candidates themselves. Taming impulsivity is key to responsible voting.
Rebellious Nature
Some ADHDers have the experience of being a tad rebellious. If they are being told to vote, they may decide not to do so because everyone is telling them to vote. Or, they may vote against their beliefs if they think everyone is saying they should vote a certain way, regardless of how they actually think about the issues.
Voting Tips
Here are some ADHD-friendly tips for voting:
Set aside time to research. Schedule this time! You do not want to do things at the last minute. It takes longer than you would think because of how hard it is to find quality information.
Double check your sources, and don’t believe everything you read or hear. Find quality websites that give you just the facts and do not offer commentary.
Decide what time of day you are going to vote. If you choose peak voting hours (usually first thing in the morning, lunch time, or at the end of the workday), be prepared for a long wait.
Do not vote if you are not informed. This does not mean you have to give up on voting altogether. You are allowed leave certain parts of the ballot blank. Don’t feel like you have to weigh in on issues on which you do not have strong opinions or about which you are uninformed. Vote on those things that are most important to you. If you are not sure how to vote, I would advise skipping those parts of the ballot.
Don’t let anyone tell you how to vote. This is where our rebellious nature can be a boon. We need to decide for ourselves. Do not vote a certain way because you drove past a yard sign telling you how to vote.
Let your mind be at peace once you vote. After your vote is cast, there is nothing you can do to affect the outcome. Relax. Do not watch the news until things are a little more settled.
Do not trust the polls. They kind of give an idea of what the votes will be, but they do not give you a complete picture. The polls can be wrong, and they most definitely were in 2016.
Ignore any advice I give in this blog post if you disagree with it. I am not infallible, and you are your own person. Think for yourself.