In the upcoming presidential election I would vote for Kerry. However, I live in a red (will go Republican) state, so my vote will have no affect on the outcome of the election. Realistically, are there any other reasons I should vote, besides the “Civic Duty” and “People In Other Countries Wish They Had The Privilege You Take For Granted” and “What If Everybody Thought Like You” arguments.
Well, If Bush wins in the electoral college, but not the popular vote again, you can help those who want to say “But he didn’t win the popular vote!”. We all really want to hear that for another 4 years…
You do realize, I hope, that there are likely to be other things on the ballot to vote on, too. So even if you think your presidential vote is not going to do anything, there still is a reason to vote. In that case, why not go ahead and take the extra 2 seconds to register your presidential vote?
If Bush gets re-elected and continues his mad rampage across this country and the rest of the world, by voting you will have earned the right to say, “Don’t blame me, I voted for Kerry.” On the other hand, if Kerry is elected and begins a rampage of his own, you will kerry the blame for that.
If you don’t realize that there are other issues/offices on the ballot besides the president, then you probably shouldn’t vote. Please stay home on election day.
I realize that there will be other issues and offices to vote for on election day. My question pertained to the presidential election. I’m sorry, I should have said that in the first sentence of my post.
The problem is, far too many people do think like that. Voter turnout has historically hovered around 50%. If everyone actually voted, outcomes could be completely different. Go vote, convince your friends to vote. If you don’t, you’re letting me and other voters decide things for you.
Is it possible that the historically low voter turnouts in the U.S. are a direct result of the Electoral College system, particularly the deal where one candidate gets all of the state’s delegates?
Truly, if I lived in, say, Texas, it would be hard not to feel that voting for Kerry was absolutely useless. If the Electoral College system more closely reflected the nation-wide popular vote (for example, if the delegates were apportioned according to the popular vote of each state), it might feel less futile.
I would vote because, if nothing else, every voter who votes against the status quo in a very liberal or very conservative state makes a better case against the electoral college – which is, after all, the cause of your very dilemma.
I vote in elections in Washington, DC all the time, knowing full well that the outcome of literally every vote here is either predetermined or non-binding. (For example, our “primary” back in January allowed voters to cast their ballots, but no delegates were apportioned because of the vote – that was done in caucuses a few weeks later.)
I do it because I like voting and I collect the “I VOTED” stickers they give out. I have a whole wall of 'em.
If they give out stickers where you live, randwill, maybe you can start your own collection. Or meet your neighbors who volunteer to run the polls.
Please vote, I don’t care if it’s a write-in or for the Lyndon LaRouche. Just do it.sup[/sup]
Is America so sad now that people need a concrete personal benefit from voting in order for them to drag their asses off the couch to vote?
Do you have any comprehension how different the political scene would be if America had 75% voter turnout instead of 50%?
I suppose you’re also against organ donorship, too?
I have been wondering why I should vote as well…
So far I have not seen one one logical, thought-out answer. I have gotten the self-righteous lecture about it a lot. I have gotten what the governement and the media says about the whole thing endlessly chattered back at me like a bunch ‘o chatterin’ birds.
Frankly, I have never noticed any person who wanted/was in any political position that did the job for the job. What do these people get paid again? Then, the poor people get clumped together under a nice neat word called poverty then there is an “issue” of poverty in this country.
Why should I vote for anyone if its just voting for the lesser of <insert number> evils.
Oh and can somebody pontificate for me why people have decided that being lied to by our governing body and the media is ok? It is a common joke about politicians right? (When laws are followed to letter instead of the meaning or spirit)
Well, basically, I just don’t think its funny and also dont see how people in those positions can not lie when the government is like it is. So, I don’t vote.
I like living in a place that stands for freedom. I like being able to sit on my couch and watch people on tv lying to me. I like having rights. I just dont understand some of the common beliefs, standards, and aspects of the people of this country.
Please someone give me a good reason to vote.
Think about those two ideas together. Now think about government without democracy. Perhaps the king is strong and just, and treats his subjects well and leads them into peace and prosperity. Or perhaps he is paranoid, suspects you of treason, has you hauled out of your bed in the middle of the night with no explanation and imprisioned. No one tells you what you stand accused of, you are not allowed to speak to anyone about your supposed crimes, you rot in jail for a while, you are one day pronounced guilty and sentenced to hard labor, or your lands are confiscated, or you are executed. Under such a government, you have no voice and therefore no rights. Under a democracy, you are the government. But if you don’t care enough to use your voice, and neither do you neighbors, and enough people slide into apathy, you will one day find your voice has been taken away while you were busy watching the latest celebrity gossip while you laze about on your comfortable couch.
Frankly, I’d rather you didn’t.
There’s an ad running in the UK at the moment, to try to get more people to register to vote. Its basically this guy who trys to complain about various things, like hospitals, traffic etc and his friend saying “you don’t do politics, remember”, so he has to shut up. Its tagline is something like “if you don’t do politics, there’s not much you do do”.
Its probably not quite as relevent in the US, where there is less government involvement in peoples lives, but the main point of it is still valid i think, politics affects so much of the world around you, and the vote if your chance to affect politics. If you don’t use that chance but you then complain about the government then you’re being hypocritical IMO.
Voting in the US is a right. It’s not a privilege and it’s not an obligation.
So if there’s insufficient benefit for you to vote, don’t do so. You ARE exercising a right by choosing not to participate.
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[sup]Don’t encourage them![/sup][/indent][/indent][/indent][/indent]
[sup]Your bad[/sup]
As regards the OP, if a person doesn’t vote, they can’t complain about how things are run. It’s as simple as that.
Voting means you are taking sides in a issue(s), and participating in the governing process. As a character in a Heinlein book once said “Take sides! If you don’t take sides you are always wrong.”
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Vote, dammit. It’s the most important thing you can or will do as a citizen of this country.
What was the final number? If 700-some odd people had gotten off their dead asses and voted in the last election, we’d be suffering under Gore as President (and airplanes would probably be flying into buildings on a weekly basis, but that’s a seperate issue).
The fewer people turn out, the more important your vote becomes. If it’s not cast, then don’t complain about the results. Educate yourself as to who the better candidate would be (and sometimes it really is the lesser of two evils) and vote for that person.
You shouldn’t vote.