Those who choose not to vote have no right to complain about any government policy. Those who choose not to vote as a form of protest are choosing to avoid the path towards their goal. Those who are too lazy to vote are making a stupid choice. Those who don’t vote because elections are on a Tuesday have no excuse either — every state has early or absentee voting. Those who choose not to vote choose to abdicate their opportunity to voice their opinion, and therefore have no right to complain when the government acts in opposition to their opinion.
Having said that, of course don’t just go show up to vote. Get informed. Learn what issues affect your life, look at a sample ballot (New Jersey sends one to every voter), and decide exactly who you’re voting for and why before you leave for the polls. One of the best resources for this is ontheissues.org — it lists practically every politician running for office and their positions on the issues in their own words, along with source links so you can get full context. While in my book, voting is always better than not voting, I tend to flip-flop on whether I think uninformed people should vote. In any case, deciding who to vote for will take maybe an hour of sitting in front of the computer with a sample ballot researching positions and voting records.
Yes, of course it would be nice if election day weren’t a Tuesday. It would be nice if Republicans didn’t keep passing voting regulations that unfairly affect minorities in the name of “fighting voter fraud,” an issue that affected a whole 31 of 1 billion ballots between 2000 and 2014. It would be nice if everyone was automatically registered to vote when they turned 18. It would be nice if voter rolls weren’t purged weeks before an election instead of months (if they even need to be). There’s a lot to improve about the U.S. voting system, but the solution isn’t non-participation.
Change is affected in this country by those who participate — those who stand up and say “this isn’t right.” The absolute easiest way to do that is by voting. By getting your friends and family to vote. By encouraging your community to stay informed. By calling your politicians on their bullshit at the polls. We have the power to say, in the words of our incredible president, “You’re fired.”
I really don’t have anything more to say on the subject. If you need to know where to vote, check out vote.org. If you aren’t registered to vote, unfortunately you can’t vote in the election next Tuesday, but go ahead and register now so that you can vote in the next one! It only takes a few minutes and you’re registered forever, or until the voter rolls get purged. Again, check out vote.org and get yourself registered.
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