The presidential election is coming, and everyone has their own opinion on who is going to win, or at least who they hope to win. Voters claim they know about who they’re voting for, but do they really know anything about the election, let alone the candidates they are voting against?

In California, the majority of the voters are registered Democrats. Most of them are more than likely to vote for either former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton or Senator Bernie Sanders. Both are competent candidates, but some individuals may be voting for the wrong reasons. This is a prominent trend that occurs within the pool of younger voters, composed primarily of college students in particular: lack of research. These voters tend to voice their opinions loudly, solely basing their views on what they see or hear on social media and the internet.

For instance, Senator Bernie Sanders is popular with younger voters due to his socialist and liberal views on social issues. But many voters from both sides of the party also view him as the “free education” candidate. This is totally unacceptable; Democratic voters should instead vote for Sanders because he is progressive and consistent regarding his support of improving civil rights, the Affordable Health Care Act, and racial discrimination.

In comparison, the most popular vote for the Republican party is Donald Trump. Trump is known to ruffle some feathers with his radical statements, such as prohibiting Muslims from immigrating to the United States, or his opinions regarding Latin American residents. Each statement uttered by Trump seems to only raise his vote throughout the country, but surprisingly, he has proposed some ideas that would be considered a positive in this election.

According to Donald Trump’s campaign website, he plans to give American citizens a simpler tax code and tax relief for middle class Americans. He plans to achieve this by removing income taxes for people whose salaries fall under $25,000 a year, or those who are married and jointly earn less than $50,000.

According to research conducted by The Huffington Post Business in 2013, 39.6 percent of people earn $20,000 or less per year. This means that, in Trump’s policy, 39.6 percent of people will be negated of income taxes.

It is common for individuals who are voting for Trump to choose him for the wrong reasons. Some of these people just spout his hateful actions and don’t ever mention that he was a successful businessman, not to mention they disregard many of his reforms.

These are some of the plans few voters know about due to lack of research.

Without any form of research, constituents cannot fully determine which candidate they should vote for. Voting should be seen as a serious matter that requires plenty of attention to pick the very best candidate that the country has to offer.

It only takes a few minutes to read articles that pertain to one’s favorite candidate and their respective opponents.

Voters should take the initiative to further inform themselves on what each candidate’s views are and what their plan for the country entails.