I wouldn’t (in fact, didn’t) tell her how to vote.
You would think so. However, history has consistently proven me wrong.
I would not tell her how to vote beyond just telling her how I felt about some issues. If she was not interested in voting, that is her affair but I would be a bit disappointed and it would lessen my respect for my spouse slightly.
Luckily, I don’t have this problem. My wife is interested in politics and world affairs and thinks it is important to participate. She doesn’t quite have the nuanced view of things that I think most people should have, but she doesn’t spend the time reading about that I do.
My wife is not interested in politics. I urge her to go out and vote every year and I tell her how I think she should vote too. If she shows even the slightest glimmer of interest I’ll even tell her WHY she should vote that way but it doesn’t take long for the glazed look to return. I see it as my job in the partnership to keep up with what those wiley politicians are up to so she can do something useful.
People we don’t know are constantly bombarding us with information, and misinformation, about who we should and shouldn’t vote for. None of them would refuse a vote because the voter isn’t informed or interested. Why should a spouse sit by?
My SO is totally uninterested in politics. I’ve long since given up on even talking to him about voting. Last fall, MN had a constitutional amendment on the ballot, to ban same sex marriage. I know my SO is opposed. The polling place is a mile from our house, and I’ve never waited longer than 5 minutes. I told my SO that should he want to, an option was to just vote on the amendment, and leave the rest blank, and I told him that I really wished he would vote on at least this issue.
I mentioned it twice in 6 months before the election. He didn’t vote. I am slightly disappointed, but I haven’t mentioned since before the election. As stated above, not voting is a right.
So short answer? Mention important issues then leave them alone.
Thanks for the responses everyone. Just so you know, this is only a hypothetical! I’m not asking for advice, just trying to spark a discussion.
I would not be married to my wife if she was completely politically apathetic.
Having said that, in the OP’s hypthetical, damn straight I’m telling her how to vote - she asked me to!
I don’t think I would have married someone who didn’t care about the same things I do. I love my country and I believe in my principles.
But in the worst case scenario of the OP, where the spouse is voting for who ever I say just to shut me up, I would tell her who I am voting for. And then shut up.
Regards,
Shodan
I m very active in politics, and work with lots of people who are married, but I have never even met their spouse. I’ve spoken to several of them about this.
Usually the response is something like ‘we basically agree on most issues, but he/she isn’t interested in participating in all these events. I am more interested, so I go to events, meet candidates, write checks from our joint account, put signs in our yard, etc. Then I tell him/her which candidate I think we should support, and why. He/she lets me do the research, and then votes as I suggest. Meanwhile, he/she is doing the research on other things, like choosing a new car, or redecorating our house, etc., and I usually accept their suggestion on that decision’.
That always seemed to be a smart division of labor for couples – each spends time on things they are interested in, and makes suggestions for their joint decisions. They have to be in basic agreement on issues, and trust each other, but most couples are, right?