Do you vote?

sixlittleboi

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I was just curious to know if there is anyone that has never voted. I never have mostly because I have yet to see someone that compels me to vote for him or her. I don't think it matters who we choose most of the same things end up happening. Oh well. So am I alone in this?
 

mindseye

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Well, in a strict sense, it's unlikely that the outcome of any particular election will hinge on your vote, but very-very-close elections happen with alarming regularity. Just within the past five years:


  • Virginia, 2006: The Senate race was decided by 0.39% of the vote. That race, in turn, decided which party had majority status in the Senate, and determined that (for example) Harry Reid and not Mitch McConnell served as Senate Majority Leader. (The Montana Senate race that year was also decided by less than 1%.)
  • North Carolina, 2006: The House election in the 8th congressional district was decided by 0.2% of the vote.
  • Virginia, 2005: The Attorney General race was decided by an astonishing 0.01% of the vote.
  • Washington, 2004: The governor's race was decided by a final margin of 0.005%.
You write,
I have yet to see someone that compels me to vote for him or her.

We rarely see "compelling" candidates, and if you're waiting for a superhero to run for office as an excuse for not voting, then you're sitting by while other people decide what to do with your government, your money, your future.

That's your right, but a coalition of a few active citizens has a lot more power to change things than you might think. Your profile says you're 100% gay, and that you live in Dallas. Your senator John Cornyn has a 0% lifetime rating from the Human Rights Campaign. This rating is based on his votes during the 108th and 109th Congresses: He consistently voted to confirm homophobic judges that Bush nominated; he cosponsored a constitutional amendment eliminating same-sex marriage rights; he opposed Medicare funding for low-income people with HIV; he opposed extending immigration opportunities to the same-sex partners of US citizens.

His opponent, Rick Noriega, may not be "compelling" -- indeed, he's a moderate by standards outside of Texas -- but he's light-years ahead of Cornyn, and you could have a role in causing the seat to flip this year.
 

B_Morning_Glory

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well that is your choice if you do or do not vote. but when you dont vote i dont feel that you should have the right to talk bad about what happends when things arent going right such as now with the markets and all. no matter which party is in reps, or dems, or inde, if you didnt care enough to vote on any of them you dont have a right to call them out on what they do. you gave up your right to speak sort of when you didnt go vote so live with what you have and keep your mouth shut. every vote counts for something so you should voice your say by going to vote, also by not voting you are sort of like a welfare recipent, you are living off the fat of others who did vote to try to improve the things they belive in, even thow it mite take time by staying at home it will never happen
 

sixlittleboi

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Here's the thing. I am not lazy I am not apathetic to the process. It has nothing to do with my not wanting to vote. It has everything to do with my decision not to vote. I don't believe in either candidate. I think it's silly to tell me that I should vote for someone I don't believe in. I'm not going to vote for someone for the sake of voting. I completely appreciate my right vote. I don't feel either candidate earned my vote which is something that I think is important.
 

Industrialsize

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Here's the thing. I am not lazy I am not apathetic to the process. It has nothing to do with my not wanting to vote. It has everything to do with my decision not to vote. I don't believe in either candidate. I think it's silly to tell me that I should vote for someone I don't believe in. I'm not going to vote for someone for the sake of voting. I completely appreciate my right vote. I don't feel either candidate earned my vote which is something that I think is important.
Here's a question. What would it take to "earn" your vote?
 

Principessa

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I have voted in every election since I became eligible.
As have I.
I also live in a town of only 3,000 people. We have had elections that were won by 1 or 2 votes.
Yup, same thing happend back in my hometown in Jersey in a mayoral race.


Here's the thing. I am not lazy I am not apathetic to the process. It has nothing to do with my not wanting to vote. It has everything to do with my decision not to vote. I don't believe in either candidate. I think it's silly to tell me that I should vote for someone I don't believe in. I'm not going to vote for someone for the sake of voting. I completely appreciate my right vote. I don't feel either candidate earned my vote which is something that I think is important.
No, it is apathy; combined with the fact that as a white male your needs have always been taken care of one way or another. White men may rule the world; but for the first time in over 230 years they don't rule this country. :biggrin1:

My guess is that voting means nothing to you because your ancestors didn't have to fight for the right to vote. Perhaps if they had, you would feel differently. :usa2:
 

TurkeyWithaSunburn

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I don't know if your location is like mine but in EVERY election I've voted in there was something about raising taxes or funding bonds.

You like other people determining how much property taxes and sales taxes are? :confused:

Don't forget the write in candidate of Mickey Mouse is always a favorite protest candidate.
 

sixlittleboi

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at the end of the mexican american war people in the territories given to the US were supposed to be given the right to vote as well as citizenship. There were literacy and property requirements to curb that. There were also many places that used violence to stop people from voting. It hasn't been perfect for my "ancestors" to vote. Maybe before you start spouting off like you know everything about me you should take a second and ask a question. I am Mexican. My dad from Mexico and my mother from the U.S. My not voting is because it's all business as usual. I really hope Barack Obama lives up to what he says. I hope that he accomplishes what he sets out to accomplish. If he does a great job and decides to run again, then I will vote for him. He will have my support because he earned it. As far as what it would take. How about the issues that people shy away from? They never said if they were for or against gay marriage until near the end of their respective campaigns. Obama is against it but is for civil unions. A position I feel is a slap in the face. It's ok for us to play house but not actually do it for real. thats just for starters
 
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D_Marazion Analdouche

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You don't have to vote for anyone on the ticket, do a write in vote. That's what I've been doing for 4 Presidential elections now, someday my he will run lol.


I have voted in every election since I became eligible.
No, it is apathy; combined with the fact that as a white male your needs have always been taken care of one way or another. White men may rule the world; but for the first time in over 230 years they don't rule this country. :biggrin1:

My guess is that voting means nothing to you because your ancestors didn't have to fight for the right to vote. Perhaps if they had, you would feel differently. :usa2:

First, half of us "white people" still run the country, aw come on you know it was going to be said.

I agree with that to an extent, I think a lot of people don't vote because they either feel the issues don't matter to them, or they just really don't care. However, I am sure not every African American over the age of 18 votes either, so Apathy crosses all demographics. Obviously being disenfranchised is tossed in there too, my Grandfather was Haudenosaunee (Iroquois is how most people know it), if you want to talk about being disenfranchised. We can't even fill Fenway Park if we all got together and I say "we" loosely because I've been watered down.
 

mindseye

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Earlier you said that you have never voted: at 28, you've lived through five national elections since turning 18. Now you're saying:

It has everything to do with my decision not to vote. I don't believe in either candidate. I think it's silly to tell me that I should vote for someone I don't believe in. I'm not going to vote for someone for the sake of voting. I completely appreciate my right vote. I don't feel either candidate earned my vote which is something that I think is important.

Putting these two claims together means you're saying that in every single election, you've found all of the candidates lacking.

That's like saying, "I've been to five different restaurants and didn't see anything on any of their menus worth ordering." Or, "I've been to five different grocery stores, and none of them had produce that didn't look funny." At some point, the problem stops being with the restaurants or the grocery stores and starts being with you.

There will certainly be some elections in which none of the choices are appealing (my district's House of Representatives race was like that for me this year.) But if you're finding that to be the case all the time, then you're either just not paying attention to the real and genuine differences among the candidates, or you're saddled with a mental preconception about politicians that's so thick that you can't appreciate the actual qualities of each candidate.

If you still refuse to vote, please move to Virginia. I'm happy to have apathetic people occupying houses in my district so that my vote weighs more.
 

sixlittleboi

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I will say that first couple elections were my bad. I didn't care I didn't even pay attention. The past two, the ones bush won, I watched and began paying attention a little. It kills me how much people complained about Bush and his stupidity and proceeded to elect him again. And there are candidates I would have voted for. I like Hillary Clinton and I think she would have been great. But thats in the past. So because I refuse to settle on a less than, in my opinion, acceptable candidate somehow that makes me picky. Even if in the past elections I have not found anyone I like enough to vote for that is a small handful of people I would not like in office. It isn't unheard of to dislike 10 people. I refuse to force a vote for a candidate that thinks I'm not worthy of certain rights.
 
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Principessa

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I will say that first couple elections were my bad. I didn't care I didn't even pay attention. The past two, the ones bush won, I watched and began paying attention a little. It kills me how much people complained about Bush and his stupidity and proceeded to elect him again. And there are candidates I would have voted for. I like Hillary Clinton and I think she would have been great. But thats in the past. So because I refuse to settle on a less than, in my opinion, acceptable candidate somehow that makes me picky. Even if in the past elections I have not found anyone I like enough to vote for that is a small handful of people I would not like in office. It isn't unheard of to dislike 10 people. I refuse to force a vote for a candidate that thinks I'm not worthy of certain rights.

#1 - It's not like your gallery is labeled Mexican pene. My apologies for assuming you were white. :cool: It is a very nice penis though. :wink:
#2 - This is what you should have said in the first place. Why do you think there were so many black people voting for the very first time. Even though we have had the right to vote for 40 years. There haven't been many candidates who believed we really had equal rights.