NW Bergen News

For Franklin Lakes resident Jonathan Viaud, the presidential race is important to him and other contested offices on the ballot.

The New Jersey resident said that his plans to exercise his right-to-vote at the polls on Tuesday, Nov. 3, in an interview with the NW Bergen News.

"Well in New Jersey, we've got a couple of local elections, so our district's congressman is up for reelection like every other congressional leader, of course," Viaud said. "So that's important to me. We've got a couple [of] other ballot, down-ballot races as well. Really next year is going to be important for New Jersey because the governor will be up for reelection as well, the state Assembly."

Jonathan Viaud | Twitter

Many residents in the Garden State have already voted, according to statistics from the U.S. Elections Project. The website reported as of Oct. 22 that more than 2.2 million residents have voted.

Viaud, a conservative, said he is looking for candidates with similar ideals. Those ideals do not include proponents of big government.

"But in particular just kind of getting out of the way of people, you know, to me, I'm a small government kind of guy," Viaud said. "And so, I would prefer [the] government to be as, you know, small enough to fit in your pocket, and I really would just prefer that government get out of the way and allow the free market to kind of take hold."

With the election drawing near, Viaud would encourage others to vote, a privilege granted to citizens that is not always utilized. It is particularly important in response to frustration with the current government.

"Part of the reason I think everybody is fed up with the way our federal government is running, and even our state governments, is because we have largely abdicated our role in this process," Viaud said. "And it's important that we reassert the part that we play because our country was founded, for we the people to get out there and express our views and our opinions. And if we don't do that and we just leave it to politicians, we get into the mess that we're in right now."