Saturday, November 24, 2007

Every vote counts!

Every vote counts. Well, perhaps not every single, individual vote, but as a collective whole, every vote counts. Do you realize what this means? Do you realize the pressure this puts on the voter to be up to date on everything political? Would you want someone voting for governmental officials if that person didn't really know what he or she was voting for?

I can't believe I'm the only one. I'm for sure not the only one. There are most definitely plenty of people who don't really know that much about politics. So should we really be voting? I mean, I know myself. I can read up on politics as much as I want - I'll never truly understand what's going on. Yes, it's the right of every citizen to vote and yes, it's encouraged, but if someone really just doesn't know what's going on politically, is that person really fit to make such a decision for her country? To weigh down one side or another with her vote? What if it's the wrong side? And yes, it's not as simple as that, there isn't a "right" or "wrong" side, but I just don't understand all the gray in politics.

So should someone like me cast down a vote? How much is my vote really worth?

3 comments:

Ezzie said...

That's just it: The vote is of the masses, based on their mixed understanding. Nobody can be an expert in everything, everyone has their own biases. Collectively, we can pick the candidate that will best serve us.

Moshe said...

Do you really think that your one vote will make a difference? I mean will there be a different president or senator if YOU decide to vote this time?

:-)

Sarah K said...

Honestly, in state-wide elections, one vote doesn't count very much (in NY at least-- in states that can go either way it does count). New York will almost always go democrat whether you or I vote or not.

In local elections, your vote can count. Especially your vote. I think that people need to be able to vote for a candidate that they feel supports their issues and believes in what's important to them-- and if a candidate can't explain their opinion in a way that you understand, then maybe that's not the candidate that you should support.

And even if you can't understand all of the issues, vote based on what you understand. If, for example, you agree with a candidate's policy on education and foreign policy but you dont necessarily understand this candidate's fiscal policy, that shouldn't stop you from voting.
Being an American citizen gives you the right to vote and you should exercise that right even if you don't know everything about politics. Even if your vote won't count for anything (which really isn't always true), it's important to vote just to remind yourself that this is important. Anyone who tells you otherwise (and I don't mean to offend anyone) really doesn't deserve the right to vote.

Now I have secret, hidden text like on SerandEz!