My Wasted Vote :-/

[oldwomanc6 60]

How many of you feel your Presidential vote doesn't count? And why?

I live in Maryland, and even though the majority of the state (geographically) is very conservative, the fact that Baltimore and Montgomery Co. votes liberal means that, in essence, my vote doesn't count on a nation level.

This was also true when mrowc6 was active duty, and we would submit absentee ballots. AFAIK, they don't even get opened (counted) unless there is a local close call ruckus.


Anybody else feel the same way? BTW, I would have posted this as an [on Topic], but I think the majority of SC posters, don't like that Anyway, I am looking forward to what you have to say.

eta: If there is a happy medium between [on topic] and the usual name-calling, vitriol-filled, flame-fests, that would be great

lisa
WSCR 594
FB 1023
CBDB 9

[billvon 3,114]

>I live in Maryland, and even though the majority of the state (geographically) is very
>conservative, the fact that Baltimore and Montgomery Co. votes liberal means that, in
>essence, my vote doesn't count on a nation level.

That's a plus and minus of the electoral college system. Sometimes your vote has no chance in hell of affecting the election. Sometimes (as in Florida in 2000) it has far more chance of anyone else's of affecting the election. Overall it balances out from a total influence perspective for your "average" voter.

Also many people feel that their vote doesn't count simply because they are one of about 200 million voters, and their vote doesn't matter unless the election is so close that their vote makes a difference (and statistically it never will be that close.)

[jimmytavino 16]

i have never cared for the electoral college system of electing a President.. But i do Not know enough about such things to suggest an alternative...

I HAVE sometimes wondered why we do NOT use Election Day Voting to determine certain POLICIES and / or procedures .

a national Abortion or Right to Life policy???? Vote on it.

Adjust the legal drinking age??/ vote on it.

Increase or decrease taxation on the general public. ? vote on it.

Clamp down on Wall Street Shenanigans??

Go to WAR???

decriminalize drugs and Tax them???

accept or reject certain infrastructure rehabs??

vote on them... Sure we have a legislative branch and a judicial branch, and they may create and diseminate Their idea of new LAW(s) even if it's contrary to the status quo....and is appealing only to certain "special interest groups"
THEY should not DECIDE... for all the rest of us...and If the 200 year old constitution says otherwise... then draft some New amendments..

time to take Back the country from the politicians who have long ago demonstrated their ineptitude and their pandering to financial supporters...

as for ow6s initial question.....being a new yorker i DO feel that my vote matters little...
I will go to the polling location , as i do EVERY Election Day and will cast a vote in matters that i support and for candidates that i support, but like the last 3 Presidential elections... i must decline to cast my vote... as i feel NO connection or affinity to Either of these current candidates...

God Bless us all and God HELP us all

[RonD1120 62]

I think voting is kinda like praying. Some people think it makes no difference but I think it does. This election requires both. If we can't have a conservative President, I believe we can, we better have a conservative Congress.

Look for the shiny things of God revealed by the Holy Spirit. They only last for an instant but it is a Holy Instant. Let your soul absorb them.

[Southern_Man 0]

I'm frequently a third party voter, which means that a lot of people would tell you that I have wasted my vote. Strangely I have never felt that way.

"What if there were no hypothetical questions?"

[quade 4]

That said . . . VOTE!

EVEN IF you think your vote is wasted for the President, there are a myriad of other Federal, State and locals you can have an influence on.

If anyone decides not to go the polls because they don't think their vote for the President matters, then they're not just wasting that vote, but a lot of others.

quade -
The World's Most Boring Skydiver

[oldwomanc6 60]

Quote

That said . . . VOTE!

EVEN IF you think your vote is wasted for the President, there are a myriad of other Federal, State and locals you can have an influence on.

If anyone decides not to go the polls because they don't think their vote for the President matters, then they're not just wasting that vote, but a lot of others.

I agree 100%.

Since I turned 18, I have never not voted, except once, in a general election. That was when I was in Japan (thank you, Uncle Same ). My mom de-registered me when my ABSENTEE BALLOT came to her home address, instead of forwarding it to my APO address. That was before I realized they "threw it away". Since then, I have always registered in the state I was living in.

No matter if you think your vote counts, if you don't vote, you have NO ROOM to complain.

I have very little patience with people who don't vote, but want to complain (or explain how it should be). I usually tell them to vote or shut up. I told this to my 22 yr old son yesterday, so this is not just rhetoric.

lisa
WSCR 594
FB 1023
CBDB 9

[Tink1717 2]

I stopped wasting my vote in 2002. It no longer matters who or what party is in office because they are the difference between Tweedle Dum and Tweedle Dee. There is simply no functional difference win the two major parties and the "third" parties have no chance at all. I find it much more effective to just work with whoever trips over their dicks and gets in. I routinely harass my congressman (Harris, R, MD1 ) and my state and local guys know me by name. I walk my dog past my county councilmans house very morning and speak with him about once a month. It simply works better that way. None of the electorate is going to get what they want unless they have Koch brother level money anyway. But when you show up at their office, they can't ignore you either.

Also, if you think MD is blue just because of PG and Montgomery county, you need to take a ride to Baltimore city someday.

Skydivers don't knock on Death's door. They ring the bell and runaway... It really pisses him off.
-The World Famous Tink. (I never heard of you either!!)
AA #2069 ASA#33 POPS#8808 Swooo 1717

[billvon 3,114]

>I stopped wasting my vote in 2002. . . .

As long as people have that attitude, then 'the "third" parties have no chance at all.'

[faulknerwn 38]

I live in the Texas. It's no surprise no political commercials get shown here. It's always a lock for the republicans.

[rhaig 0]

Quote

I live in the Texas. It's no surprise no political commercials get shown here. It's always a lock for the republicans.

it's nice to not have my evening TV littered with attack ads, but at the same time, being a foregone conclusion is annoying. though at the same time, because of that and the electoral vote, I don't have to worry about "splitting the vote" when I vote L.

--
Rob

[davjohns 1]

I once had a buddy who refused to vote. He said it just encouraged them. Sometimes, I wonder if he wasn't a genius.

I know it just wouldnt be right to kill all the stupid people that we meet..

But do you think it would be appropriate to just remove all of the warning labels and let nature take its course.

[wmw999 2,587]

Likewise. Sometimes the most meaningful vote I have is to vote in the Republican primary, in those cases where I don't plan to vote for the Republican in the general election.

Wendy P.

There is nothing more dangerous than breaking a basic safety rule and getting away with it. It removes fear of the consequences and builds false confidence. (tbrown)

[Tink1717 2]

It's NOT that I want third parties to fail, but the system is rigged against them in every conceivable way. Unless or until a way can be found to impose change from outside the system, the status quo will remain and get worse. There is no representation of the left now, only the center right and extreme right are represented. There is no functional difference in the parties and what they do. We the people have no choices left. That's why I dropped out.

Skydivers don't knock on Death's door. They ring the bell and runaway... It really pisses him off.
-The World Famous Tink. (I never heard of you either!!)
AA #2069 ASA#33 POPS#8808 Swooo 1717

[kcjen24 0]

***No matter if you think your vote counts, if you don't vote, you have NO ROOM to complain. ***

+1

[champu 1]

Quote

I HAVE sometimes wondered why we do NOT use Election Day Voting to determine certain POLICIES and / or procedures.

...
Increase or decrease taxation on the general public. ? vote on it.
...
accept or reject certain infrastructure rehabs??

Moral issues aside (which is an even bigger problem with direct democracy, unless you require 2/3 or more to change things) the ballot is really not a good place to set fiscal policy. Every election in California we have a myriad of "add tax A to pay for B", "raise tax C to pay for D, E, and possibly other things we're not clear on", "Borrow F to pay for G" and many times they are overlapping and conflicting. Expecting the average voter to educate themselves enough to actually understand what they're voting on is, unfortunately, asking a lot.

This is not to suggest that federal reps and senators have been doing a stellar job at passing budgets in the last several years, but I think piece-meal national voting would actually make it worse.

[pirana 0]

Quote

>I live in Maryland, and even though the majority of the state (geographically) is very
>conservative, the fact that Baltimore and Montgomery Co. votes liberal means that, in
>essence, my vote doesn't count on a nation level.

That's a plus and minus of the electoral college system. Sometimes your vote has no chance in hell of affecting the election. Sometimes (as in Florida in 2000) it has far more chance of anyone else's of affecting the election. Overall it balances out from a total influence perspective for your "average" voter.

Also many people feel that their vote doesn't count simply because they are one of about 200 million voters, and their vote doesn't matter unless the election is so close that their vote makes a difference (and statistically it never will be that close.)

That falls into the no-raindrop-is-responsible-for-the-flood proverb.

In the past I have been very apathetic and barely mustered the will to vote. I figure the flavor of corruption isn't much of a choice and that the real power is wielded by lobbyists and their corporate donors.

That being said, the Republicans have now become such an appalling negative force in society that I am compelled to vote against them.

" . . . the lust for power can be just as completely satisfied by suggesting people into loving their servitude as by flogging them and kicking them into obedience." -- Aldous Huxley

[rehmwa 2]

I think the post is just the big old WHINE every time I read it. you vote and it gets counted just like everyone else's.

The WHINE is really about people that vote and then 'their vote' didn't end up being for the winner and thus they say it was 'wasted'.

It's pure narcissism

suck it up - sometimes your guy wins, and sometimes your guy loses. But you vote counts every single time.


Instead of focusing on whether you picked the winner or not, a REAL wasted vote is one that's cancelled out by an illegal voter. ((cue the rationalizations and accusations))

...
Driving is a one dimensional activity - a monkey can do it - being proud of your driving abilities is like being proud of being able to put on pants

[billvon 3,114]

> Unless or until a way can be found to impose change from outside the
>system, the status quo will remain and get worse.

Agreed. And third party candidates - even if you think they can't win - are a way to make that happen.

Look at it this way. The easiest way to ensure third party candidates will fail is to convince everyone that the system is rigged against them and that they don't have a chance. If you were the two big parties, you'd sure want people to think that, wouldn't you? And looking at replies here, they're managing to convince people of that.

In reality, of course, it's not impossible, just difficult. We currently have two senators who are not democrat or republican.

[Southern_Man 0]

Quote

Look at it this way. The easiest way to ensure third party candidates will fail is to convince everyone that the system is rigged against them and that they don't have a chance. If you were the two big parties, you'd sure want people to think that, wouldn't you? And looking at replies here, they're managing to convince people of that.

Yes, and as a large part of that effort both the democratic and republican parties use taxpayer funding to run their primaries and to pay for their conventions, both classic exercises in party building. Political parties are private entities, they should have to pay their own freight and not be able to build brand awareness with taxpayer dollars.

"What if there were no hypothetical questions?"

[davjohns 1]

Why do we call them parties? Any of them actually fun?

I know it just wouldnt be right to kill all the stupid people that we meet..

But do you think it would be appropriate to just remove all of the warning labels and let nature take its course.

[cocheese 0]

I'm not going to vote this time. The risk of dying in a car accident on the way there is greater than any benefit from voting.
Also, I have never picked a winner in any election. And I just got screwed again by the legal system yesterday.

I'm going to bury my head in the sand and let everyone else worry about shit. Sorry everyone, but the corruption of government has made me jaded.

And no, USPA I'm not voting in the wingsuit rating thing. The drama there is bullshit too.

[Glitch 0]

But,,, But,,, if you don't vote, you have no right to BITCH!


...otherwise I pretty much agree w/ya!

Randomly f'n thingies up since before I was born...