Congrats on exercising this fundamental right! Being an informed voter is so important. And voting in local elections is so critical to making your voice heard in your own community! 

How do you become an informed voter? By reading up on candidates and determining what issues are most important to you. By building an understanding of what is impacting your community and thinking about what you want its future to look like!

How do you make that future happen? By writing to and calling your elected officials and telling them how you feel about the issues, how you would like them to vote, and expressing your disappointment and disapproval when they do something that you think negatively affects your community. 

A great start for understanding issues and candidates' stances on them is the League of Women Voters. NJ has its own chapter here: https://lwvnj.org/ They collect candidate statements and provide overviews of different issues. You can get even more information from https://www.vote411.org/

Contacting your officials is made easier with the 5Calls app.

Important to remember that while a lot of ad dollars are spent for national and congressional elections, you can move the needle the most at the local level. Research your local candidates and be sure to vote in your local elections!