In the 34 years I’ve been eligible to vote, I’ve never not voted, even casting my ballot during university elections.

But even for someone who says ‘but I don’t want to vote for either of them, why go?’ - ballots are for more than just picking who sits in the spiffy elected chair. Vote to give your voice to school and emergency service funding. Vote your opinion on proposed changes in smoking or alcohol policy - do you want your city or state to become a no-smoking zone? Do you want someone else to make that choice for you? Do you want to permit legalized gambling in your state, or to change the laws governing gambling if it’s already legal? Is there a possible change in laws about when kids can drive, or a local curfew? All that stuff goes on the ballot as well, not just who goes to city council, or the senate.

And yes, add me in for ‘if you didn’t care enough to vote on who should sit in the office, don’t complain about how they’re handling things.’

So please, don’t encourage people to vote. That means mine will “weigh” more.

BRAVA. I have so much respect and admiration for you. As someone who studies politics in her day job, you have articulated beautifully what we too often overlook in politics.

I am in the minority on this and many other blogs I frequent, as well as in my RL context, because I’m totally fed up and disgusted with BOTH the candidates. I’ve voted in every presidential and almost every off-year election since I turned 18, but I genuinely don’t know what I’ll do this year for the Presidential vote.

That said, I will DEFINITELY go to the polls. Most people here have concentrated on the top of the ticket. Michele Lee and Suisan remind us about the rest of the reasons we vote. Even if you don’t want to cast a vote for one of the presidential candidates, don’t stay home unless you feel the same way about *every single issue and candidate.*

In other words, go and vote at the state and local levels. Don’t forget the judges if your state elects them! And all those bonds and referenda. Those affect people’s lives so much.

Wow, great idea. Any soldier in a firefight? has INSTANT SHRAPNEL waiting in his pants.

Sorry, but I don’t believe this.

And ditto not voting for the lesser of two evils. Moreover, I no longer believe in “actively participating by choosing leaders who can best fix our problems” — because most politicians take your vote as a mandate for whatever agenda they hold and haven’t bothered to tell you about during the election.

The politicians who come back and ask their voters what they want — or who listen to your e-mails and phone calls — because they know they are REPRESENTING THE PEOPLE are the ones I want to vote for. You can’t vote and go back to dreamland any more, people. Constant vigilance is required to keep a democracy healthy.

Voter training should include elements of conducting job interviews, because that’s really what this is all about. Too much can be hidden in the usual media memes that get thrown around or “she’s just like my Aunt Tilda!”

Now that I’ve experienced both running for office and sitting as an elected official, I will say that some of the most thoughtful people I know, the ones who are the most well-versed on an issue and who go out of their way to research topics or candidates have a surprisingly LOW voting average.

When I get a voter list from the elections office, I can request various variables: voted in three out of the last four elections, voted in two municipal and one national election, declared party members only, under 65, etc. I often got two lists. One for me and a more restrictive one for my volunteers. This way the volunteers would be less likely to bump into an undecided, unmotivated or aggressively partisan voter.

But when I compare the two, I end up finding MANY of my friends and supporters do not vote, even when they tell me they do. (Voter lists do not say HOW a person votes, just whether that person has a recorded vote in a particular election.) It’s very hard to look at a person who INSISTS that they voted for or against this bond proposal or mayoral candidate when you know that the elections office recorded no such vote for them. Sort of makes you wonder how strongly held any other view they have is.

This leaves the decision-making up to the hulking masses who don’t read newspapers or attend public meetings, and who may be voting along party lines because it’s just easier to vote that way.

Believe me, in a local election it is very hard to get the media to portray the candidate’s views correctly. They write only a tiny part of you platform, and they often don’t attend candidate forums or debates. Thus, what you read about in the papers may not be the full story of that candidate. (My local paper changed the number of children I had in every article they wrote about me. My age also kept changing. Sometimes I was married and other times I wasn’t. Weird.)

We’ve had two funding mechanisms for public schools die at the polls because California has a %66.67 threshold for passage of a parcel tax. One had %65 yay votes, and the next had %58 — these are OVERWHELMING rates of passage in any other election. Windfall. But both lost because the minority has control in that situation. The fewer votes you have recorded, the more likely it is that any measure will not pass. Because the ones who are dedicated to voting it down will be sure to record their votes. The ones who assume it will pass without their support are the ones who often forget to vote for it because someone else will.

In terms of voting for the lesser of two evils: contact the candidates. Tell them you hate XYZ on their platform. If they are local, ask to speak directly to them. Offer to host a tea or a fundraiser or work in a phone bank *if* they will shift in this one area.

But if you don’t vote, you WILL get the guys you do not want in office.

I ended up running because I contacted a school board member to say, “I’m sick of running auctions and fundraisers for the schools. Really. Seriously, how can I help you get the word out about what needs to be fixed in this system?” He was silent for a good bit and then leaned across the table and said, “The best thing you could do for our schools is to run for office.” I was shocked. Floored. Had absolutely no aspirations there at all.

But it was the best thing I could have done. I learned SO MUCH about public education and politics.

If you don’t like what’s out there, find the guy who’s the MOST like you in elected office, ask for some advice, give him/her some of your opinions, and then go run for office.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oFOTC30RhHY

This is a teaser of the 11/2 Simpsons Episode (D’Oh).

Vote if you can, vote if you want to. It is a right you don’t have to exercise. BTW, Wensi, I didn’t vote at your age either. I had my epiphany when I was living abroad and my state (Texas) didn’t send me my ballot. I felt so disenfranchised that I’ve voted ever since. :P

I vote every time I get the chance and have since the late 1970’s. I consider it my license to bitch. It also makes me feel like part of the process, instead of a helpless observer, if that makes any sense.