“Rock the vote!” …
“I voted today!” …
“Look at my sticker!” …
Why is everyone so proud of voting? Why does Facebook so badly want me to vote, constantly reminding me how to register and letting me know where the precincts are? These notifications appear at the very top of my news feed, are impossible to turn off, and appear above even the “Sponsored Posts” that advertisers covet. Why did my “24-GO” gym app remind me today that it’s so important to vote? Sheesh, I was just trying to check in so I could work out!
Above is a tweet from RockTheVote.Org telling me that “voting doesn’t have to be spooky or scary…”
Seriously?
This is not a post about conspiracy theories or why Facebook is pushing voter registration above it’s own profitability. I’ll leave that to others.
It’s simply a question: should every US citizen (of voting age) register and vote?
I think most people would say, emphatically, yes.
I disagree, completely.
Everyone should NOT vote.
Please don’t misunderstand. I’m not saying everyone shouldn’t be ABLE to vote. If they’re of age and legally allowed to vote, I agree ALL people should be able to vote.
But some of them should not.
Why?
A couple of reasons.
First, this is America. In some countries, voting is compulsory. It’s the law. You HAVE to vote, or pay a fine. In other words, it’s against the law to *not* vote. This strikes me as un-American. In other words, “Hey, it’s a free country. I don’t have to vote if I don’t want to.”
If that’s you, then God bless you. Don’t vote.
Second (believe it or not), a lot of people just don’t care. They don’t care who’s president, and they don’t know anything about the issues. And they certainly don’t care enough to spend time researching candidates, platforms, or ballot measures. There are literally millions of Americans that fit that description. Please, let’s not pretend these people don’t exist. So, let’s not twist their arms or shame them into voting. If somebody doesn’t really care, do we really want to force them into voting? Do we want ignorant, uncaring, immature people out there “exercising their right” to vote? Do we want people who think voting is “spooky or scary” to vote? I think not.
Let’s not forget, voting is a privilege, not a right. You don’t get to vote if you’re in prison. Voting, as Mike Rowe pointed out in 2016, is more akin to gun ownership.
Here’s a brief excerpt:
“I’m afraid I can’t encourage millions of people whom I’ve never met to just run out and cast a ballot, simply because they have the right to vote. That would be like encouraging everyone to buy an AR-15, simply because they have the right to bear arms. I would need to know a few things about them before offering that kind of encouragement. For instance, do they know how to care for a weapon? Can they afford the cost of the weapon? Do they have a history of violence? Are they mentally stable? In short, are they responsible citizens? Casting a ballot is not so different. “
Well said, Mike.
Also, why is everyone encouraging me to be “proud” that I voted? Should I be proud that I drove the speed limit today? Should I be proud that I served on a jury? Should I be proud that I paid my taxes, that I went to work to feed my family, or that I rotated my tires every 6,000 miles? Responsible adults do these things. We are not (nor should we be) proud of ourselves for doing them.
Concerned, responsible adults should vote. Not uncaring, immature children (of any age).
The only reason to be “proud” you voted is that if you voted 100% correctly. Did you? Are you 100% certain that every single ballot measure you supported will ultimately benefit the public good? Do you know that every single person you voted for is absolutely the best person for the job and will uphold the integrity of their office and exercise their duties to the ultimate welfare of all citizens?
No, of course you don’t know that. We are flawed human beings, and we’re voting for flawed human beings. We’re voting for ballot measures that were not perfectly conceived, nor flawlessly written. And there is no possible way that these measures will be perfectly carried out, if and when they are made law. You can’t predict the future. The “right” vote today may turn out to be the “wrong” vote tomorrow, when all is said and done. Let’s face it, some of these candidates and some of these measures should never have been put on the ballot in the first place.
Will your vote make a difference? Yes, I believe it will. But will the “difference” you make be for good or for ill? Have you ever regretted voting a certain way? I’d bet most of us have. Are you “proud” of that?
I hope not. I hope you’re humble enough to admit that you get it wrong sometimes. I hope you’ll agree that, sometimes, the candidates we voted for were not the best choice, or even the second-best choice. We all get it wrong sometimes. People (and laws) are not always what they were made out to be.
So stop telling me that “everyone” needs to vote. No, they don’t. Some people believe it’s okay not to vote. Some people (i.e. Henry David Thoreau) may take the extreme view that voting is violence. Some people believe every vote doesn’t really matter.
And I’m okay with that. As I said, this is America.
And, just for the record: yes, I voted.
It wasn’t scary.