Poll: Do you vote?

[viranimus]

Imagine the kind of message would be sent if 98% of the population came out and voted and lets say 40-50% spoiled their ballots by writing something like "non of the above".

Let me give an example of what can happen with that. In the US voting is handled by something called the electoral college. So even if you had an instance of 100% voter turn out and 60% of the votes were written in as "Vacate" or "no confidence" you would still see someone seated, because the individual vote is irrelevant. The electoral college takes the individual votes and are supposed to cast their vote based on what their district voted. However they dont always vote the way they were supposed to and theres basically nothing that forces them to do so.

Its a good idea in theory, Its a fail in practical application, at least in this one example.

OT: Thank you OP for adding the extra option. I appreciate someone conceding to the will of one hate filled nut bag.

 

[Geek_DR]

OT: Thank you OP for adding the extra option. I appreciate someone conceding to the will of one hate filled nut bag.

Hehe wouldn't be very democratic of me if I didn't
I'm just curious what people's reasons are.

Frankly the first-past-the-post system in Canada is sorta broken, as we have a "majority" government right now that has barely 40 percent of the actual vote. That doesn't mean I won't vote for the party I want. Maybe I should make a "Yes, but system is still broken" option

 

[Kaytastrophe]

Imagine the kind of message would be sent if 98% of the population came out and voted and lets say 40-50% spoiled their ballots by writing something like "non of the above".

Let me give an example of what can happen with that. In the US voting is handled by something called the electoral college. So even if you had an instance of 100% voter turn out and 60% of the votes were written in as "Vacate" or "no confidence" you would still see someone seated, because the individual vote is irrelevant. The electoral college takes the individual votes and are supposed to cast their vote based on what their district voted. However they dont always vote the way they were supposed to and theres basically nothing that forces them to do so.

Its a good idea in theory, Its a fail in practical application, at least in this one example.

OT: Thank you OP for adding the extra option. I appreciate someone conceding to the will of one hate filled nut bag.

Yeah I could see how that could be a problem in the states. I'm Canadian so I am more familiar with the west minster system of governance. In Canadian elections our districts or regions elect a member of parliament(MP) to represent them. These MPs may or may not be affiliated with a federal political party. Which ever party has the most MPs elected becomes the ruling party of canada (its a bit more complicated than that but those are the basics). Now I am not sure if there is a rule if there seems to be a lack of confident (where more spoiled ballots are cast then actual ballots) but I do think this sort of protest would cause parties to realize that there is a large percentage of people who would vote but just don't care about the politicians. While the american election system you describe seems to render my idea useless in canada I could see it having some merit.

 

[Hal10k]

I view politics more as an expensive source of entertainment than anything else.

 

[BreakfastMan]

Well I didn't, on account of the fact I was not old enough, but now that I am, you bet your bottom I will vote every chance I get. At least I will be able to make a difference in this crappy old world of ours. It is better than just sitting on my arse all day, wishing for things to be better.

 

[TwistedEllipses]

Considering the fight some groups had to go through to vote, why would you squander that right...if you do, you have no right to complain about the country...

That's not to say I like the election process or most of the candidates.

"Don't you see Stan, you always have to chose between a giant douchebag and a turd sandwich..."

 

[Kaytastrophe]

OT: Thank you OP for adding the extra option. I appreciate someone conceding to the will of one hate filled nut bag.

Hehe wouldn't be very democratic of me if I didn't
I'm just curious what people's reasons are.

Frankly the first-past-the-post system in Canada is sorta broken, as we have a "majority" government right now that has barely 40 percent of the actual vote. That doesn't mean I won't vote for the party I want. Maybe I should make a "Yes, but system is still broken" option

It is called a majority government because it has a majority of the seats (more than half). It does not mean that a majority of the population supports them it just means they have a majority of the seats in the House of Commons. They have more seats then any other party and while parties like the Liberals and the NDP may have more than the conservatives put together they are still two separate parties. While Liberals and NDP may both be center/left however because they are two separate parties they split the left sided voters much like how the Conservative Party of Canada and the Progressive Conservatives used to split the right wing voters. Thus, while the Conservatives may not have half of the votes in Canada they have half of the ridings in Canada. I think any system you subscribe to will have problems.

 

[simmeh]

I voted for the first time as soon as I was able. If I remember correctly, we had a federal election sometime around the end of January of 2006, not two weeks after I turned 18. My parents dragged me to the polls.

That was also my last time ever voting. Since then, I have abstained because, much like many people, I'm not satisfied with my choices. It's not that I don't want to vote and hate democracy, it's just that I don't want to cast my ballot for someone (or group of someones) with whom I am completely satisfied. Call me what you want, but that is my principle.

I'd also like to call BS on the people who chant the mantra, "if you don't vote, you have no right to complain about the government." I'd agree with you if that person just didn't vote because they didn't care, but for those of us who follow the election and look at the platforms and watch the debates, it's downright insulting. We exercised our civil right (and voting is a right, not a duty) and were well informed, and came to the conclusion that none of it was worth the time and effort.

 

[Ladette]

I vote so that I have the right to ***** about the results. It drives me nuts to hear people go on about how much they always hated a candidate when they made a decision not to vote against them.

 

[Geek_DR]

It is called a majority government because it has a majority of the seats (more than half). It does not mean that a majority of the population supports them it just means they have a majority of the seats in the House of Commons. They have more seats then any other party and while parties like the Liberals and the NDP may have more than the conservatives put together they are still two separate parties. While Liberals and NDP may both be center/left however because they are two separate parties they split the left sided voters much like how the Conservative Party of Canada and the Progressive Conservatives used to split the right wing voters. Thus, while the Conservatives may not have half of the votes in Canada they have half of the ridings in Canada. I think any system you subscribe to will have problems.

I know that. Obviously that's why it's called a majority government. Isn't there something broken about 40% of the vote netting them 54% of the seats. A 13 percent margin of error is pretty big.

On the other hand (not that I like them) The Bloc Quebecois got like 6 percent of the vote and only ended up with 4 seat or just over 1 percent of the vote. I like this result considering they usually game the system with vastly more seats than percentage of vote, but it's still broken.

 

[GWarface]

No.. Politics today is just a big theaterplay, like wrestling..

But i might vote for someone who points that out and wants to fix it..
Just too bad that i havent heard anyone say that here in Denmark..

 

[loc978]

As a US citizen, I vote locally and Federally. I've never voted for a presidential candidate who took a significant percentage of the vote, and I've only rarely agreed with consensus on local bills.
I say the system is broken through allowing advertising to be utterly rampant, and through the lack of enforcement of truth in advertising... oh wait, that was repealed. Money is more important than any other factor in winning political campaigns now... and that's why the system is broken.

 

[Altorin]

Everytime there's an election, a lot of things are said, and the parties we vote for have all burned us in the past, so I don't see the need to vote because there are no parties that could possibly win that would change the status quo enough for real change to happen. I probably will start voting soon because it's becoming clear that that attitude is irresponsible, because I certainly don't want the next logical conclusion of "noone voting", which is an autocratic government, some sort of dictatorship, and I certainly don't like that. If politics is left to swing, it will swing in that direction, not in a more liberal direction.

So yes, I totally understand that not voting is irresponsible, but I have never actually voted myself. I will eventually though, probably in the next election.

As a US citizen, I vote locally and Federally. I've never voted for a presidential candidate who took a significant percentage of the vote, and I've only rarely agreed with consensus on local bills.
I say the system is broken through allowing advertising to be utterly rampant, and through the lack of enforcement of truth in advertising... oh wait, that was repealed. Money is more important than any other factor in winning political campaigns now... and that's why the system is broken.

in the president's defense (although he really doesn't need it), there are probably a lot of good reasons why they'd change their tune once they take office, it's probably not as simple as "going back on their word". The difference in intel between a presidential candidate and the president himself is so vast that it would be like from here to the moon in terms of space. On the campaign trail, a candidate can only make educated guesses as to what is actually feasible and what isn't, and then sell those things they figure are feasible as promises. Sometimes they'll be wrong in those assessments.

It's a sad truth of the system. Noone ever really knows what they're getting themselves into when they go for the white house.

 

[Gaiseric]

I forgot once or twice to mail in my ballot, but other than those times - I do vote every time.

edit: I imagine things will get a bit better when there is a viable third party. The only way they'll ever be one is to vote for them regardless if they'll win or not(if you agree with their policies).

 

[thylasos]

Yes, the only election I haven't voted in since I was legally able was the General Election of 2010, which is somewhat excusable in my eyes, since I was in Russia, and didn't quite trust my parents not to fill my proxy vote in for the Tories.

 

[teebeeohh]

i do vote but on everything but local level i spoil my ballot(we vote the only proper way here in Germany, with pen and paper). This way my voice is heard but i do not support the broken system. I encourage people who don't vote because they don't think any option will help them to do the same. If everyone had done this the last federal election here the party with the most number of votes would have been the "spoiled ballot party" so to speak. Let's see those airheads talk their way out of that.

 

[tigermilk]

In the European elections a few years back the BNP (far right wing party) "won" two seats to represent England in Europe. If 40,000 people (out of about 50 million eligible to vote) had voted for any party other than the BNP they would have no seats.

If you chose not to vote "against the BNP" on that occasion but were eligible to FUCK YOU. Oh and if you voted for the BNP... FUCK YOU TWICE.

 

[dex-dex]

I know friends that don't when they have the election during the school year only because they need to vote locally and they don't have the money to get the train back just to vote.
I voted in the federal elections and I was twenty when that happened. but I did not get what i wanted which was that robot out.

 

[daniel the immortal]

here in australia you have to vote like it or not

 

[katsumoto03]

Nope, I'm only 16.