I vote because It’s illegal not to 
Then include, local, state and federal elections… Yeah it is a pain but then there can be no argument over the results.
Well, yes, actually. People who already have a stake in the system, and this is intuitive, vote more frequently than those that don’t. So people with interests in maintaining the status quo tend to get elected.
This, of course, has nothing to do with the reason why you don’t vote, which is just that you’re lazy.
But either way, do you have any evidence (intuitive, anecdotal, or otherwise) to show that non-voters do vote just the same way voters do? Not sure how you could manage that. Even if they do, how small a representative sample is required to express all the opinions of the population? I don’t see how you can argue against the idea that more voting is necessarily superior to less voting.
I also vote because I’ll be fined if I don’t, however, even if compulsory voting was abolished tomorrow, I’d still show up and have my say.
[hijack] Hey Tigergirl, welcome from one Aussie to another. Have you checked out our little community, Doper’s Downunder ? Dip yer toe in and ave a go ya mug 
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[continued hijack]
And I just noticed you’re already a Teeming Handful ! Check out the new snazzy fandangled board !
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White Lightning-“This, of course, has nothing to do with the reason why you don’t vote, which is just that you’re lazy.”
I’m not lazy, just smart! I’d be willing to do the work of voting if there was any chance that I’d see results from my actions, but since there isn’t, why bother?
I’m not doing anything that doesn’t benefit me directly.
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Thanks Goo! I am registerd on the board but under a different name. Be seeing you there soon 
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The issue here is whether Surreal votes, so it doesn’t matter how “non-voters” would vote (White Lightning) or what happens when “people don’t vote” (RealityChuck). Surreal has no control over “non-voters” or “people”, just over himself, one person. Realistically, a single vote has almost no chance of making any difference in an election, and it takes time and energy to go vote. So why vote?
Surreal could even be more like an ideal citizen and say “I’m not doing anything that won’t benefit anyone” and your justification still wouldn’t convince him. It seems like the main benefit of voting is for the voter to feel more involved, represented, responsible, etc., but if it doesn’t do that for Surreal it’s hard to see why he should vote.
It’s true that Surreal’s vote is extremely unlikely to have any impact on the result of the election in which he casts it. But it does have an effect on the political system as a whole, and on future elections, even just by the simple fact of his stating to acquaintances that he voted, or what candidate he voted for & why. So while the individual votes of the current election may be independent of one another, the votes of the next election may be affected by a single person’s action.
You make good points. I vote because I sincerely believe that more people voting is superior to fewer people voting, and I try to actually behave in ways that support the theoretical opinions that I hold. But, as you say, if Surreal isn’t interested in any of the benefits of voting, it would be hard to convince him that he should vote.
Then again, ndorward makes a good point too, that single votes can matter in more indirect ways. I still think the theoretical justification validates the personal one.
By the way, I’m not confident that ‘not doing anything that doesn’t benefit me directly’ is a good definition of ‘smart.’
Some sort of a prisoner’s dilemma - I have no advantage from voting, so I don’t go, but if everybody thinks that way, you have one individual who fixes it all, as already stated.
But since experience shows there is plenty of people who vote, this line of argument doesn’t work, IMHO.
On March 2 this year, there were the mayor/town council and county elections in the area where I live; since I turned 18 last year, they were the first elections where I was allowed to vote.
I wasn’t sure at all whether I should go or not, but when we talked about it in my family they all told me it was wrong not to go to the polls and you should take that right and if you don’t, you have no right to complain (which, in my eyes, is nonsense. Why should having cast a ballott be the condition for “having a right to complain”? It’s like saying, “if you don’t run for President, you have no right to complain”), and the like - somehow, I was expected to vote since my father was running for town council. Finally, I did cast my ballotts, but I still think nobody has the right to call someone else anything from “bad citizen” to “irresponsible” just because they don’t vote. One individual vote doesn’t change anything, not even on the local level, so why bother. I don’t approve of the practice (in some European countries, like Belgium and Greece, it’s done) of fining people if they don’t vote.
I’m planning to go to the federal elections in September, however, although I can’t give a rational reason for doing so.
Some sort of a prisoner’s dilemma - I have no advantage from voting, so I don’t go, but if everybody thinks that way, you have one individual who fixes it all, as already stated.
But since experience shows there is plenty of people who vote, this line of argument doesn’t work, IMHO.
On March 2 this year, there were the mayor/town council and county elections in the area where I live; since I turned 18 last year, they were the first elections where I was allowed to vote.
I wasn’t sure at all whether I should go or not, but when we talked about it in my family they all told me it was wrong not to go to the polls and you should take that right and if you don’t, you have no right to complain (which, in my eyes, is nonsense. Why should having cast a ballott be the condition for “having a right to complain”? It’s like saying, “if you don’t run for President, you have no right to complain”), and the like - somehow, I was expected to vote since my father was running for town council. Finally, I did cast my ballotts, but I still think nobody has the right to call someone else anything from “bad citizen” to “irresponsible” just because they don’t vote. One individual vote doesn’t change anything, not even on the local level, so why bother. I don’t approve of the practice (in some European countries, like Belgium and Greece, it’s done) of fining people if they don’t vote.
I’m planning to go to the federal elections in September, however, although I can’t give a rational reason for doing so.
I vote to honor suffergettes, some who dedicated their entire lives to allowing me to vote.
I vote to honor civil rights workers, some who gave their lives so that everyone had a chance to vote.
I vote because somewhere in this world, there are people who can’t vote, who live under dictatorships, that think I’m lucky to be able to go out in that snowstorm and cast my ballot.
Do I think my one vote makes a difference? - well, my one probably won’t (except in those little local elections), but, as Munch said 1+1=2.
So that is why I vote. If other people don’t want to vote cause they don’t think it makes any difference, or because they are too lazy - more power to them (or actually, that would be more power to me, and the other people who bother).
Same here. I love voting - I think I was the most excited person at the polling station last year. I had this big grin on my face and I got to teach this 50 year old guy how to vote. 
My boyfriend, on the other hand, didn’t care who he voted for. He actually rang me up on the day of the election and asked me who I wanted him to put down. I wasn’t sure what to do because I’m fairly sure that he would vote Liberal, but I vote ALP and didn’t want his vote to cancel out mine. But I also felt guilty about making my vote count twice so in the end I told him to make a donkey vote.
(On preview: ooooh, the smilies have colours again!)
I vote because it is good therapy.
Oh, I vote for a few candidates every year that I want to see elected, but that is not the motivation that puts me in that polling line.
No.
My real motivation is to go vote AGAINST all the stooges who have managed to offend me with idiotic/obnoxious campaign ads.
I have a great time in the booth.
“So, you ran ads every 1.7 seconds characterizing your opponent as a personal representative of Satan out to destroy the moral fiber of our state because they supported a state lottery to fund education? Bzzzzt. Wrong answer.”
It would be even more fun if you got an extra choice for each race—“None of the above.” A candidate would have outpoll not only his/her opponents, but also “none of the above” to win. Now THAT would make voting entertaining!
To redirect to the OP: My vote makes no practical difference on the outcome of the election, but it certainly makes listening to all the idiotic campaign commercials more bearable as I know that my day of retribution (be it ever so slight), is not only coming, but Federally recognized and protected. So I vote to stay sane 8-).
–jack
I vote to spite the democrats
I waited 18 long years to exercise my right to vote, so I’m not just going to sit idly by and not at least attempt to voice my preferences on who is elected. I also entertain the strange notion that if we don’t vote, the right to might some day be taken away from us by the people no one voted for.
Surreal, I’m not that far down the road from you, and not only will I be voting in November, I’m considering giving up my treasured Independent voter registration so I can vote for one of the two guys who are running for governor in Pennsylvania’s upcoming Democratic primary.
I vote for a few reasons.
[ul][li]As rjung and a few others have already said, to make sure I have the right to complain.[/li][li]As Dangerosa said to honour those who made sacrifices so I can vote.[/li][li]Because this naturalized American respects the fact that voting is a privilege which is not given to anyone in this country. Among the things several months of bureaucratic hassle several years ago earned me is the right to have a say in who leads this country.[/li][li]Because I genuinely respect the ideals this country was founded on and I will do my part to preserve them.[/li][li]To make sure Rick Santorum realizes there are a few people in this state who don’t like his right-wing politics (sorry, december)[/li][li]To spite the Republicans and Democrats[/li]And last,
[li]Because it’s this Jeffersonian democrat’s annual chance to legitimately attempt to overthrow the government! I haven’t succeeded yet, but hey, I’ve got plenty of time.[/li][/ul]
CJ
Actually, that is why I vote. Also, as a woman, I can never forget that we’ve only had suffrage since 1920, and in my opinion, I’m voting, in a way, for all the women before me who didn’t have that right.
Thank you, Dangerosa, cjhoworth and Creaky. In the United States, men and women fought for the right to vote for decades. They were mocked, they were arrested and they were beaten. What supreme arrogance for me to say, “Oh, gee, I’m just too lazy to read up on the candidates and get my sorry ass to the polls.”
I vote because I can, because it’s my right to have a say in who runs my government. You know, the government for, of and by the people. Yes, your vote makes less of a difference in national elections, but in local and state elections every vote does count. Yes, being an informed and active citizen is the right thing to do, and, no, thinking that way doesn’t make you a loser, a dupe or an idiot.
burundi, thanks. Sometimes I think that cynicism is a greater danger to the health of the democratic system than all of the other “isms” combined. I admire your integrity, and that of others who understand what a trust and responsibility voting is.
I think you’re spiting the wrong group – or haven’t you been watching John Ashcroft lately?