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Saturday, September 27, 2008
Vote, Or Else
The United States has one of the most pathetic voter turnouts of any country in the world. This seems astonishing if one considers that this country is supposed to represent the model of freedom and modern democracy, and if one considers how easy it is to vote: you can register online, or fill out a form at the post office. Our process may not be ideal, but frequently it's all we've got in order that some kind of change in political policies may be made.
Voting is a privilege that people in many other countries do not have, and sometimes suffer and die for. Americans have dozens of reasons for why they choose not to vote. Upon examination, do some of the most common reasons hold up?
One vote isn't going to change anything.
You are one of 305 million people in the United States, a great percentage of which has the right to vote. These numbers add up quickly when people go to the polls. There have been many instances in history when one person's actions and decisions have made a significant difference. Remember that it was a difference of a mere, greatly contested 500 votes over Al Gore that made George W. Bush president.
The politicians don't represent my interests.
The candidates are all jerks, you say, who don't represent myself or my concerns. But the job of elected officials is to represent their constituents, not just their personal interests. If you voted and vocally supported your interests, by calling and emailing your elected officials, for example, wouldn't there be a better chance that they would represent you than if you sat around complaining? Great strides in policy have been made in the past fifty years in terms of traditionally marginalized people, including minorities, women, and gays. It's still far from ideal, but how is it going to get better if we don't raise our voices politically? Sometimes you have to work with the system at hand in order to change it.
I've voted before, and it never works.
One reason that voting often doesn't seem like it's working in your favor is because many governmental seats, such as those of Supreme Court judges, are appointed, not obtained by public vote. The people who appointed them, in our current history, were primarily Reagan or the Bushes. But if we start voting against the right wing cowboys and their ultraconservative spawn, we may still see a change in the future. Are we going to let the next generation pick up the pieces of apathy, like we've had to do? Is that how we want to go down in history?
I live in one of the western states, and the votes are decided by the time I can go to the polls.
Besides the Northeast, the West is the most populated region of the United States. All the states of the west coast, except Alaska, are heavily blue, and some of the red western states ride the line between red and blue. You have an additional three to six hours for your vote to change what you think has already been decided.
I don't want to do jury duty.
It's true, if you are registered to vote, you could be called to do jury duty. You think, what could be more boring and a waste of my time? Until you go to jury duty, and see what a shambles our judicial system is in, often because our citizens are not participating in civic life. You see how cops have the most influence on what is occurring judicially, because the citizens aren't there to represent the people. You see how socially skewed juries have become, and do not represent a cross section of the citizenry. If your job does not continue to pay you while you serve on a jury, you have a legitimate excuse to postpone. Otherwise, is your job so great that you'd rather be hunched over your desk than involved in a process in which it is your right and social expectation to exert some influence over the judicial system?
I don't believe in capitalism.
You may think that because you don't believe in the system of capitalism, that you will have no choice among the candidates, who all represent this ideology. It's true, the United States is a bi-partisan political system where both the Democratic and Republican parties represent different approaches to this one doctrine. It irks me to no end that we live in a supposed democracy, yet only one choice of ideology. But there are other parties represented on nearly every ballot, from Working Families, to Green, to, gasp, Communist. Be an individualist and vote for a candidate in which you truly embrace their political views. You do not have to adhere to "the lesser of two evils" voting every time. In other countries it is typical to have cabinets of mixed ideologies.
Voting is boring and I have other stuff to do.
Great. You've taken the proverbial land of the free and home of the brave and helped make it into the land of the lazy and home of the entitled.
Cut the crap, Americans, and roll out of your complacent sloth. This country desperately needs some change. You may not like the voting system, but even that in itself will never change if we don't utilize the tools offered to us. If you've never voted before, this upcoming presidential election is the time to start.
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COMMENTS
Bravo. Two things I'd like to add though: for people who are really that gung-ho about voting for None Of The Above, there is an option to show your opinion. I've noticed in my local county election results a category of "Under Votes" for offices which represent ballots with the choices left untouched. So, my point here is, voters may have preferences for some but not all of the offices and at least the no-preference vote would be counted. Also, there are plenty of ballot initiatives at the state and local level which, if you don't have faith in the system, you can vote "No" on each and every one if you're so inclined, and therefore your vote is counted. In many cases, the initiatives will have a more immediate effect on the community (eg California's Proposition 13, and also the current Prop 8) so people who are eligible are definitely losing out by not voting on them.
Posted by: MP at September 28, 2008 6:36 PM
I've never understood this outlook. I I have a friend who says
"I don't vote, because I'm afraid I might make a difference."
He's politically ignorant out of choice, and that's his business. I rather wish that voting were MORE difficult, to weed out more impulse buyers.
And not voting IS a political act. Remember the empty polling stations in Zimbabwe for the "runoff"?
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