BY CHARIS LEE, Hillsborough High

Has the political crossfire caused you to check out? This happens to a lot of teens, who tire not only of the attack ads on television and radio and the Facebook wars among their friends but maybe also of parental lectures about the importance of pressing issues such as taxes, education and health care. Even if you are not yet old enough to vote, you have a responsibility to be informed so you can develop your own views. To help you cram for this important exam, here are three useful sources of nonpartisan information.

tampabay.com/nie/election2012
This website, produced by the Tampa Bay Times Newspaper in Education program, compiles a ton of resource links in one handy place, including a live feed to the latest election news updates from the Tampa Bay Times and politifact.com, plain English explanations of the constitutional amendments on the ballot and classroom activities.

politifact.com
This award-winning fact-checking site of the Tampa Bay Times rates political statements made by candidates and others on a scale of truth, from True to Pants on Fire. There is even a free phone app called Settle It to put an end to political arguments with your friends or parents. All you birds out there can follow Politifact on Twitter to see all the latest rulings on your feed.

County election division sites
Your county’s election supervisor’s sites, all of which are also linked from the NIE election page, are chock full of information to help you register, find your polling place, understand how the ballot works and more. If you vote by absentee ballot, you can go to these sites to check whether your ballot has been counted. votehillsborough.org, pascovotes.com, votepinellas.com