# How often do you vote? **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [November 7, 2012, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-do-you-vote/640219 "2012-11-07T14:31:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Cazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cazzle/32/75_2.png) [@Cazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cazzle)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2012, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-do-you-vote/640219/21 "2012-11-12T00:05:13Z")
I’ve voted in every election since I turned 18. It’s not just the right thing to do - it’s the law! ---
**Author:** ![Rucksinator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/898d66/32.png) [@Rucksinator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rucksinator)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2012, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-do-you-vote/640219/22 "2012-11-12T00:34:15Z")
I am shocked to see that I’m the first person to select “Every 4 years”, as I thought that this would be the runaway winner. (I occasionally hit one of the mid-term elections, but it’s typically only for presidential elections.) ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2012, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-do-you-vote/640219/23 "2012-11-12T00:40:11Z")
> [@Eliahna](#): > > I’ve voted in every election since I turned 18. It’s not just the right thing to do - it’s the law! It seems to me that English-speaking cultures that hived off of British culture later than America did have a more comfortable view than we have here of the general idea that the state gets to make you do things. Like, the draft, as such, is less controversial in such countries, isn’t it? More traditional? Heck, Americans resent jury duty. ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2012, 9:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-do-you-vote/640219/24 "2012-11-12T09:12:51Z")
> [@etv78](#): > > If you don’t vote, you have no right to complain because you ceded your right to vote. Tough titty. I can complain any damn time I want. (Like right now.) You just can’t hold ME responsible for what goes down; you’ll have to take the blame yourself. And my “right” to vote is also my right to _not_ vote. What do you think this is, Russia? ---
**Author:** ![suranyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@suranyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/suranyi)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2012, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-do-you-vote/640219/25 "2012-11-12T20:02:30Z")
I said “Every opportunity”, but there are cases like **DMark** mentioned, for local races, where I have absolutely no idea who to vote for. Like directors of the local water board, for example. Sometimes I don’t vote in those instances. ---
**Author:** ![tim-n-va](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim-n-va/32/3001_2.png) [@tim-n-va](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tim-n-va)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2012, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-do-you-vote/640219/26 "2012-11-12T22:05:02Z")
We have governor in VA the year after the president. I generally skip the local so hit three out of four general elections. ---
**Author:** ![Skammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skammer/32/143_2.png) [@Skammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skammer)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2012, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-do-you-vote/640219/27 "2012-11-12T22:24:13Z")
I vote in every election, but generally that works out to every two years. If we have elections in odd-numbered years around here I’ve never been aware of one. I grew up in a New England town that was run by Town Meetings. There was a Board of Selectmen who ran the town full-time, but any major issues came to a vote by all the registered voters of the town (who bothered to show up) in the high school auditorium. It was an awesome display of pure democracy - careening between intensely boring and amazingly train-wreck-y. Unfortunately I went away to college right after turning 18 so I never actually got to vote in one. ☹ But I covered several for my school’s newspaper. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2012, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-do-you-vote/640219/28 "2012-11-27T16:58:58Z")
I’m not American, I still remember the last period in Spanish history during which women weren’t allowed to vote and I vote every time I can. The only time I haven’t voted since I turned 18, it was due to a problem with the paperwork which prevented me from casting my vote, not because I didn’t mean to. ---
**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2012, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-do-you-vote/640219/29 "2012-11-27T19:06:22Z")
The one time I missed voting was because I switched states in mid-October and couldn’t get registered in time. Otherwise, every chance that fate affords. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2012, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-do-you-vote/640219/30 "2012-11-27T23:53:46Z")
I’ve lived in the US since I was 13 and haven’t applied for citizenship yet, so I can’t, but I’ve occasionally volunteered for socially liberal causes and candidates. I don’t pay income taxes in the UK, so I can’t vote there either. ---
**Author:** ![BigAppleBucky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigapplebucky/32/178_2.png) [@BigAppleBucky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigAppleBucky)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2012, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-do-you-vote/640219/31 "2012-11-29T21:27:40Z")
In more than 40 years of voting I think I’ve missed one school board election and one off year primary that had one race for judge. In April 2013 there will be local elections and I will not only vote, I will campaign for the candidates of my party. If there is a primary in March, I will vote in that as well. Years ago, voting in off-year elections often didn’t start until noon and then ran 'til 9PM. Sometimes that made it difficult for me since my job often required me to work late. That’s why I missed an election, or two. When all elections started voting at 6AM, it became easy for me. I’d just get up a bit early in the morning and go vote and still make my usual train. So far, I’ve never voted in an election where my vote or the votes of my wife and I and ten other people combined made the difference. But one never knows . . . ---
**Author:** ![suranyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@suranyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/suranyi)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2012, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-do-you-vote/640219/32 "2012-11-29T21:50:00Z")
> [@BigAppleBucky](#): > > In April 2013 there will be local elections and I will not only vote, I will campaign for the candidates of my party. If there is a primary in March, I will vote in that as well. Your local elections are partisan? Ours aren’t, which is one thing that makes it difficult to make a choice if you don’t know much about the candidates. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2012, 4:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-do-you-vote/640219/33 "2012-12-03T04:34:18Z")
Every opportunity I get! I’m a political junkie and a history buff. I like voting and would do it every week if I could. It feels good to play my small role in the democratic process. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2012, 4:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-do-you-vote/640219/34 "2012-12-03T04:40:21Z")
> [@etv78](#): > > If you don’t vote, you have no right to complain because you ceded your right to vote. You know, I hear that now and then, and I just don’t agree. In the U.S., you have a First Amendment right to complain about politics all you want. Should you vote? Of course; it’s a duty of responsible citizenship. Do you have, in a sense, more of a moral right to complain about elected officials if you voted? I suppose so, kinda sorta. But you didn’t give up your right to free speech just by failing to vote. ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Feldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lord_feldon/32/341_2.png) [@Lord\_Feldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Feldon)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2012, 5:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-do-you-vote/640219/35 "2012-12-03T05:01:43Z")
Every chance I get. That’s generally twice a year, although one of the off-year cycles doesn’t necessarily have anything other than a Republican primary (the Democrats rarely find a candidate for county offices). ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2012, 4:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-do-you-vote/640219/36 "2012-12-04T04:46:17Z")
I wanted to pick the first choice, but I only vote every other year. It’s just that, as far as I know, that is the same thing as “every chance I get.” But I decided to play it safe. ---
**Author:** ![pohjonen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pohjonen/32/423_2.png) [@pohjonen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pohjonen)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2012, 5:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-do-you-vote/640219/37 "2012-12-04T05:21:28Z")
I always vote because my state has voting by mail, so it’s absolutely painless. If you live in a swing state, don’t stand on one foot waiting for this painless system of casting ballots to happen for you. 🙂 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-often-do-you-vote/640219.md?page=1)