Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
If someone like myself doesn't vote it is because there is no one that I would like as president amongst the candidates. so that is a vote. My non vote should be counted as a vote because I am one person amongst a number of people who won't vote for someone that I don't like. Of course there are people that don't vote because they are lazy, don't care, etc. But their non vote is still a vote and will be counted as someone who didn't vote for their own reason. When they count votes they are automatically counting non votes also.
Location: When you take flak it means you are on target
7,646 posts, read 9,950,661 times
Reputation: 16466
Every election since Kennedy has only been a lesser of two evils, and there hasn't been a real leader since Regan, and he wasn't much.
This current clown parade needs a reset. Religious extremists on one side, a wife who can't keep a phillandering husband home or a socialist on the other. Why vote.
Each state knows how many registered votes it has, so based on the votes cast in an election it knows how many didn't vote. Does it count, no, it just means that this is the percentage of voters that didn't vote based on many reasons. It is up to the voter to educate himself on the various candidates that are running, one doesn't have to vote the 2 party ticket there's always a 3rd party to vote for.
When you don't vote you are essentially saying "let someone else chose for me". It is disingenuous to subsequently object to how the winner runs things. Don't let your frustration get in the way of helping chose the better man, even if the degree of good is only 51:49. At least it moves things slightly in the desirable direction.
A few years ago I didn't like either of the candidates running for governor in the state I then lived in. I didn't vote for anyone for governor, but did complete the rest of the ballot. I felt that was the same as voting for "none of the above".
OP, voting is based on counting votes, right? At some point, election simply can not be held.
If only the legal minimum number of people voted, it's likely that the two major parties wouldn't qualify to automatically appear on the ballot in the next election in most states. As a purely practical matter, I'd be willing to be that a state's secretary of state (or which ever official has to certify the state's election) is probably not going to certify an election in which only a handful of people in the entire state voted, but it wouldn't be done out of a necessity to comply with a particular law as much as that's just a weird and seemingly unnatural occurrence.
Assuming that low turnout is a reflection of disenchantment or indifference, a poll with very low turnout may not be an accurate reflection of the will of the people. On the other hand, if low turnout is a reflection of contentment of voters about likely winners or parties, then low turnout is as legitimate as high turnout, as long as the right to vote exists. Still, low turnouts can lead to unequal representation among various parts of the population. In developed countries, non-voters tend to be concentrated in particular demographic and socioeconomic groups, especially the young and the poor. However, in India, which boasts an electorate of more than 814 million people, the opposite is true. The poor, who comprise the majority of the demographic, are more likely to vote than the rich and the middle classes,[citation needed] and turnout is higher in rural areas than urban areas.[17] In low-turnout countries, these groups[clarification needed] are often significantly under-represented in elections.[citation needed] This has the potential to skew policy. For instance, a high voter turnout among seniors coupled with a low turnout among the young may lead to more money for seniors' health care, and less for youth employment schemes. Some nations thus have rules that render an election invalid if too few people vote, such as Serbia, where three successive presidential elections were rendered invalid in 2003.[c
Basically, when you do not vote "pro" you vote "against". LAck of votes, combined, is expression of the sum of "against" votes.
Though this will be argued, it is simple logic.
When you go and vote for candidate A, it same time means that you voted against candidate B, as he had one vote less.
Does it make sense?
Location: East of Seattle since 1992, 615' Elevation, Zone 8b - originally from SF Bay Area
44,570 posts, read 81,167,557 times
Reputation: 57798
I have never been affiliated with any political party, since I started voting at age 18 back in 1970. I vote for the best candidate, and if I like neither, will leave that one blank. I cannot in good conscious vote for the lesser of two evils which happens more often than not. I also wish those were counted, so the career politicians would know how many voters don't like either of them.
It's been said that Nixon won in part because millions of hippies didn't vote---they were disgusted with politics after Johnson and his escalation of the Vietnam War. They came to rue their non-participatory "protest."
I have never voted nor will I. I do not see the point in voting for the lesser of two evils, how is that even helping anyone? Your more or less telling them ( Hey we know your going to screw us over but not as much as the other guy) The voting system is so very flawed. There is no chance of anyone getting into office who isn't a member of one of the two parties. In the case of no one voting someone still gets elected. Both parties spend more time blaming the other so nothing ever gets done. No ONE party has the advantage over the other this country is in the crapper & will keep on going until WE ALL get serious about things.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
is 'not to vote' considered a vote?
The voting system is so very flawed. There is no chance of anyone getting into office who isn't a member of one of the two parties. In the case of no one voting someone still gets elected. Both parties spend more time blaming the other so nothing ever gets done. No ONE party has the advantage over the other this country is in the crapper & will keep on going until WE ALL get serious about things.
