An unbiased resoruce to help you decide in this election

"Government of the people, by the people, for the people," was the simple but profound description of democracy stated by Abraham Lincoln in his Gettysburg address.

2016 is yet another year where the American people decide on a government which holds the best interest of the people. One might say it’s easy to decide on a group who represents the people; however it is not. Why? Over the years, democracy has been soiled by the dirty antics of some politicians who try to cheat the people out of their hard earned democracy.

Attack ads filled with hatred are a common ground now in political campaigns. The hunger for power and money has caused a crisis in our nation. People are led astray by the influx of misinformation.

However, hope is not lost - it has been kept burning by an organization that has set on the path of defending democracy on unbiased grounds: Vote Smart.

At Vote Smart, more than 60 millennials from across the country have gathered to bring citizens "just the facts." I am an international student from Ghana at Claflin University in Orangeburg. I traveled to Montana to help Vote Smart as an unpaid intern and help sustain decades old American democracy, as it serves as a role model to other countries.

All workers at Vote Smart are sworn to non-partisanship in order to provide unbiased information to voters. We do not care who citizens cast their vote for. We do not support any candidate or political cause. We just want voters to have the candidate biographies, public statements, issue positions, voting records, special interest group ratings, and campaign finance information that they need in order to cast an educated vote.

If you are planning on voting in the 2016 election, take 5 minutes out of your day and visit votesmart.org to find the facts on your candidates. While there you can use our candidate matching tool, VoteEasy, and find out how to register to vote in your state.

The Founding Fathers built our country to be better than dodged questions, click bait, and false information. As a nation, we have a chance to elect leaders based on non-partisan facts, instead of the latest attack ad. It is time to take back our vote, and bring the facts to election 2016.

The writer is a student at Claflin University in Orangeburg.

This story was originally published July 17, 2016 at 9:42 AM with the headline "An unbiased resoruce to help you decide in this election."