I don't want to argue about voting

[Food Lady]

So that time is upon us, the one I hate. I don't pay much attention to politics because I don't believe people in office can fix the world's ills. So I heard something about elections last week or maybe before, but I hadn't planned on doing anything about it. I just know people will ask if I voted and then lecture me because I didn't. The arguments:
--I shouldn't complain if I didn't vote. Well, I don't complain. I don't even talk about politics.
--It's my civic duty. Says who? Is there a law that I have to?
--If I don't vote for good people, I'll be ruled by bad ones. All people have badness in them. There's no perfect person to rule. And my personal belief is that no matter who's in office, God is in control.

The bottom line is that I'm an adult with the free will and choice to vote or not vote, and I shouldn't have to defend my choice for candidate or choice to avoid the whole shebang. I need a good answer to shut them up. I guess I could say "It's personal." I mean, it really is. We have the privilege of secret ballot in this country.

I can't wait until the Presidential election. NOT

[Greenday]

The Democrat running for the House in my area isn't worth voting for.
The Republican running for re-election for the House in my area isn't worth voting for.

The Democrat incumbent running for Senate sucks.
The Republican running for Senate sucks.

There's just no winning.

[AccountingDrone]

I swear that if I ever win the lottery I am going to run for office on the basis of 'I can't do any worse then the jackasses in office right now' *sigh*

Loo, it isn't rocket science - if you lower taxes, there will be no funding for any programs you do want, and taking it from the military won't last forever. The corporations and rich are [in general] ditching paying their fair share, leaving the burden of supporting the country on the lower income people. So, we need to change the tax structure so more tax burden is hitting the rich and the corporations, we need to limit the profits to investors and shift more income to the minimum wage drones that can actually use it instead of hiding it away offshore, and we need to become more like those evil socialistic and communistic foreign countries that can give maternity leave of a year, get medical care to everybody, and all that evil socialist crap that makes like better for everybody.

[HYHYBT]

A strange thing I've noticed: every time I've voted for president* or for school board, the person I voted for won. Almost every other contested race, every year, the ones I vote for lose.

Perhaps I should start voting for the ones I most want to lose...


*Not counting the time I voted Libertarian

[blas87]

Just about everyone at my work is against Governor Walker, so it was not a good day at work this evening.

Thankfully, most of them knew not to start anything with me. I don't feel like arguing about stuff that like when I'm already somewhere I don't want to be surrounded by a bunch of people I just want to punch in the face because I want my god damned old shift and people back.

[Rageaholic]

The civic duty bullshit annoys me. If voting is a right, than choosing not to vote should also be a right. I mean, I did vote, don't get me wrong, but I'm sure someone will go and tell me that I voted wrong because I don't listen to wingnut radio.

[sophie]

I didn't vote. Here we had the choice between two of the most pathetic bitchy women you could ever imagine. I didn't want either of them. Next year I'm voting for my dog at least he has a few things going for him.

[fireheart17]

The civic duty bullshit annoys me. If voting is a right, than choosing not to vote should also be a right. I mean, I did vote, don't get me wrong, but I'm sure someone will go and tell me that I voted wrong because I don't listen to wingnut radio.

Over here, it's compulsory to vote at both federal and state level (to further elaborate, it's compulsory to rock up on election day, get your name drawn off and get handed a ballot. If you decide that you don't want to vote, you just shove your ballot into the envelope and drop it in the box. Your vote doesn't count, but at least you made it clear that was the case)

I have yet to be told that I voted for the wrong person because I didn't listen to someone in the media, but I actually sit down and do my research on the candidates and/or their policies. My partner goes one step further and actually emails the candidates before ranking his votes depending on how open and honest they are with their responses (for instance, he's not going to vote for the guy who gives him a form letter)

[Seshat]

Minor correction: you don't have to rock up on election day; we have a number of ways to ensure that those who can't (or don't want to) rock up on that specific day still get the opportunity to vote.

Noone even asks for your reason for early voting, postal voting, or using whichever alternative you use.
Similarly, if you take your ballot paper and turn around and drop it in the box without even pretending to write on it, noone cares. Our system wants to ensure that every eligible person has the opportunity to vote, not that they must do so.


(Re: fireheart's comments about Australian voting law.)

[bex1218]

My grandmother was nagging at me and guilt tripping me. Sorry, but I am exercising my right not to vote.

[DGoddess]

I didn't vote. Here we had the choice between two of the most pathetic bitchy women you could ever imagine. I didn't want either of them. Next year I'm voting for my dog at least he has a few things going for him.

Too bad our ballot didn't have a write in option for the available Senate seat that was up for grabs (we had one of the most closely watched Senate races in the country.)

I don't like Thom Tillis (the guy who won the seat this go around) nor did I care much for Kay Hagan (the one who was voted out after one term and I only voted for her 6 years ago b/c I disliked her then opponent, Elizabeth Dole, even more.)

And don't get me started on those political ads: all they were were mudslinging the other person (Hagan follows Obama/Tillis wants to cut social security/yadda yadda yadda) and I heard absolutely NOTHING about what either of then wanted to DO this term coming up.

So I ended up voting for the Libertarian candidate. No write in option, or I may have voted for Abby (and she's got more sense than the folks who were actually running!)

I'm already dreading 2016 elections now. Doesn't seem to matter who I vote for: they all do the same thing when they get in office and as a result, nothing gets done for the little person. It's very disheartening.

[cindybubbles]

Here in Toronto, ON, Canada, we're just recovering from our 2014 mayoral election. I had a minor tiff with my mother, who usually doesn't vote, when she told me that she voted for Rob Ford's brother, Doug Ford, and my dad and I voted for Olivia Chow.

[fireheart17]

Noone even asks for your reason for early voting, postal voting, or using whichever alternative you use.

At state level I believe they do ask but only for data collecting purposes. I don't believe they enforce it though.

To further elaborate, if you aren't in your electoral district or even state on the day (note, that's going away on interstate holiday, not moving permanently), you can still vote by what's known as absent voting. Usually they'll have extra booths for this purpose (but the lines are a pain in the butt unless you early vote, which I did up until last election)

Oddly enough, my current workplace is going to be a polling booth for the next state election, so I wonder if I can early vote then

[Gravekeeper]

Here in Toronto, ON, Canada, we're just recovering from our 2014 mayoral election. I had a minor tiff with my mother, who usually doesn't vote, when she told me that she voted for Rob Ford's brother, Doug Ford, and my dad and I voted for Olivia Chow.

Oh god, really? Who would vote for Ford ( of any shape or size ) over Olivia Chow? >.>

[siead_lietrathua]

i admit, i'm one of those people that think voting is a duty as a citizen, and not something to opt-out of because you can't seem to pick the lesser of two (or more) evils. even if you consider it a right, why would you give up a right voluntarily?
but then again, there have been years here when the voting rate was below 50% (our last municipal? below 35%). when that many people choose not to vote, the system will inevitably fail. if that 50-65% of people had assed to vote, the results could have been drastically different.
so yeah, basically voter apathy pisses me off because democracies/ republics only work when the population actually friggan votes! otherwise you may as well toss up your hands and reinstate a monarchy.