When elections come around, we all hear people yelling "Vote!" from the rooftops - particularly in presidential elections. People go to great lengths to get the message across, and some people even get upset when some people don't vote or don't show an interest in what's going on in the nation. Some people even go overboard and get seriously mad at such people. They say we should exercise our right to vote, because lots of people in other nations don't have that right. Afterall, the leaders we put in office have an opportunity to change this country drastically and are bound to affect our future, as well as the future of our children and grandchildren. This is some serious business. So should everyone always vote, no matter what? Are there some circumstances when it is excusable to refrain from casting a vote?
I am a proud United States voter, and I encourage people who might be interested in voting to vote. However, I do recognized that one of the great things about this country is that having the right to vote also comes with the right to refrain from voting. There are tons of reasons why people choose not to vote, including the following: the person doesn't feel like his/her vote will count, because he/she is a part of a 3rd party, which many people don't even realize exists, and therefore, the person knows his/her candidate will very likely not stand a chance in the election; the person does not feel like his/her vote counts, because of the electoral college (If you don't know how this works, I have written a blog entry explaining the electoral college); the person very much dislikes all of the candidates and doesn't believe he/she could live with himself/herself if he/she voted for any of the candidates; or the person is uneducated on the election, candidates running for office, and/or the office position itself.
I do believe the latter is lazy, although some people simply don't care about politics, and that that is a terrible excuse not to vote, as you can change that fact and educate yourself in time to vote, but it is a widely used excuse. However, if a person chooses to remain ignorant, I'd rather people not bully them into voting, because if they will just end up voting for whichever candidate other people tell them to vote for. This is ineffective in making our country better! This is a misrepresentation of America and who the informed people actually voted for. This may cause one candidate to win, even though more people actually wanted the other one to win. I had a friend tell me she did this in the last presidential election. And guess what? The person she voted for won the election! So who knows if the person who should have won the election won or not? The point of this entire note is: Instead of pushing the voting agenda, make the change that REALLY needs to be made by doing your own part, and don't judge other people for their personal choices.
In light of what a few people have said about this note, I feel the need to add one more thing. I still implore people to vote, as I vote too. There are all kinds of policies you can vote for on the ballot, even if you don't want to vote for any particular politician. Also, as I said before, it's good to take advantage of a right that some people don't have. And it's good to make your voice heard as much as possible. And if you are going to vote, inform yourself. Don't just vote to please other people. Everyone should be informed about their country, so inform yourself, and vote if you can. Also, if everyone decided to vote, I guarantee there would be change.
I am a proud United States voter, and I encourage people who might be interested in voting to vote. However, I do recognized that one of the great things about this country is that having the right to vote also comes with the right to refrain from voting. There are tons of reasons why people choose not to vote, including the following: the person doesn't feel like his/her vote will count, because he/she is a part of a 3rd party, which many people don't even realize exists, and therefore, the person knows his/her candidate will very likely not stand a chance in the election; the person does not feel like his/her vote counts, because of the electoral college (If you don't know how this works, I have written a blog entry explaining the electoral college); the person very much dislikes all of the candidates and doesn't believe he/she could live with himself/herself if he/she voted for any of the candidates; or the person is uneducated on the election, candidates running for office, and/or the office position itself.
I do believe the latter is lazy, although some people simply don't care about politics, and that that is a terrible excuse not to vote, as you can change that fact and educate yourself in time to vote, but it is a widely used excuse. However, if a person chooses to remain ignorant, I'd rather people not bully them into voting, because if they will just end up voting for whichever candidate other people tell them to vote for. This is ineffective in making our country better! This is a misrepresentation of America and who the informed people actually voted for. This may cause one candidate to win, even though more people actually wanted the other one to win. I had a friend tell me she did this in the last presidential election. And guess what? The person she voted for won the election! So who knows if the person who should have won the election won or not? The point of this entire note is: Instead of pushing the voting agenda, make the change that REALLY needs to be made by doing your own part, and don't judge other people for their personal choices.
In light of what a few people have said about this note, I feel the need to add one more thing. I still implore people to vote, as I vote too. There are all kinds of policies you can vote for on the ballot, even if you don't want to vote for any particular politician. Also, as I said before, it's good to take advantage of a right that some people don't have. And it's good to make your voice heard as much as possible. And if you are going to vote, inform yourself. Don't just vote to please other people. Everyone should be informed about their country, so inform yourself, and vote if you can. Also, if everyone decided to vote, I guarantee there would be change.
Results from the 2012 presidential election. Is this not ridiculous? The entirity of all the third parties were put into one category: "Other." That's how few people voted for a third party in this election, and that's how people view third parties - as "other" votes. We didn't even get separately recognized! That's such a shame. And this was the best representation of the 2012 presidential election results that I could find on Google.
2012 presidential election results - red states vs. blue states. Notice how there are only red and blue states. Because there's no need for other colors, because no third party candidates ever win any of the states! But really I put this picture up to show what I mean by "red states" and "blue states," and to give you guys an idea of how the results panned out in the 2012 presidential election.
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