Voting your conscience

[unixronin]

cymrullewes posted on why she's writing in her vote for President this election.  And you know what?  I'm there too.  Because you have to start voting your conscience sooner or later if you ever want things to improve.

I know lots of people who are dissatisfied with the offerings of the two major political parties.  Very few of them are voting their consciences this election.  "Because", most of them say, "the $XXX candidate is just so awful that it's vital to vote $YYY this time around to keep him out.  I can vote my conscience next election; there's plenty of time."

But that's what almost every one of them said in 2004.

And in 2000.

And in 1996.

And in 1992.

Do we begin to see a pattern here?

I'll put it as plainly as I can:

As long as they can keep you voting for "the lesser evil", they can keep you voting for things to get worse and worse and worse.  Because a vote for the lesser evil is still a vote for evil.

It's a vote that says you're OK with things getting worse every year, so long as it's your party doing it, and so long as they do it mostly to the other guy.  Then when the other party gets in power and does unto you in turn, because you're "the other guy" now, you'll whine about how unfair it is that your rights are being trampled.  Just like your party trampled the rights of "those other people" for the previous four years.

But there are no "other people".  There's just US.  We're all "us".  And we all have to stand up for each others' rights, if we expect anyone to show any respect for our own.

You want change?  Vote for change.  Not for the status quo with a shiny new face up front and a promise that it'll be better this time, and he'll stop beating you this time, honest, it was an accident and he meant to hit "those other people".

American voters are in an abusive relationship with their major political parties.  And it's time to stand up for yourselves and throw the bastards out.

Comments

Something you may want to check in your state

[dakiwiboid.livejournal.com]

Here in Missouri, unless a write in candidate has filed to be on the ballot before the deadline, your vote for that candidate will not be counted. It will be null and void. It may seem unfair, but that is the will of our state legislature.

Election law varies wildly from state to state, of course, but you should check.

If I had decided to do the same, I would have wanted my protests to register. A voice raised in vacuum is not heard.

Re: Something you may want to check in your state

[unixronin.livejournal.com]

Write-in vote information:

http://mfoster.com/misc/write-in_rules_2008.html
http://notgoddess.com/journal/dont-vote-against-write-in-your-candidate

In New Hampshire specifically, write-in votes for any candidate are permitted and counted, whether the candidate filed as a write-in candidate or not, and a candidate who did not win the primary can run as a write-in candidate.

Re: Something you may want to check in your state

[dakiwiboid.livejournal.com]

That's great! It's always good for voters to check their election laws. I heard a reporter from the BBC the other night wondering over our fifty sets of election laws.

I have this horrible forebodoing that I'm going to be serving one hell of a lot of voters who have not checked Missouri law, which means lots of people trying to wear political teeshirts and paraphernalia, trying to vote for write-in voters who haven't filed, bringing in little video cameras, and trying to take pictures of their ballots with their cell phone cameras. I hope to the gods that I really do have the 8-person crew plus the high school or college volunteer that they've promised me. We just won't be able to function with our usual 6. EEEEEEEE!

Re: Something you may want to check in your state

[unixronin.livejournal.com]

Some of the current laws I really have to question and wonder about. Political T-shirts, for example. If your vote can be swayed by a political slogan on a T-shirt you saw five minutes before you voted, you pretty much have to be so fickle a voter that your vote is close to random noise in the first place. Several of the recent "campaign reform" laws amounted to Congress restricting the ability for last-minute campaigning to themselves. The FCC essentially banned robo-call telemarketing this August (although it doesn't fully take effect until December 2009), but, no surprise here, Congress kept themselves a loophole; they can legally robo-call you as often as they like.

Re: Something you may want to check in your state

[perspicuity.livejournal.com]

"illegal political banners"

"police beefing up their ranks to quell riots"

nice!

#

Sadly...

[dakiwiboid.livejournal.com]

We have people who make up their minds in line in this state, believe it on not. I've met them. Sometimes they bring the newspaper with the voter's guide along and seemingly read it for the very first time in the voting booth, which is horrifying. I hope nobody does it this time, because our ballot will be very, very long as it is.

I just enforce the law as it stands, alas. One nice thing about the law as it's written is that it gives me an excuse to get candidates who vote in our polling place out the door fast after they vote. It's not legal for them to stand around and gossip with voters in line or election workers, because that constitutes electioneering. I really agree with that. Seeing the candidate hanging around in the polling place is not a good thing. It might change the weak minds. Sigh. Let 'em hang around outside the "safe zone" outside all they want in the lousy Election Day weather, but not in my polling place.

[ilcylic.livejournal.com]

I've voted libertarian in every election I've been old enough to vote in. :D

[tommx.livejournal.com]

I have always voted my conscience and always will. End of story.

[fatcook.livejournal.com]

I do my research, ask my questions and vote to stay true to my conscience and mores. That's the only way I know to do. It's brought me a LOT of grief in the past and it will in the future but I can still look at myself in the mirror the next day.

[fruitylips.livejournal.com]

I have the luxury of living in a State that will go Democrat by 10-15% no matter what I do, so no one cares if I vote Loony Party or not. In a lot of ways people think it is 'cute'.

[ilcylic.livejournal.com]

I have the luxury of living in a State that will go Democrat by 10-15% no matter what I do

Clearly, you're just not thinking big enough. ;)

[fruitylips.livejournal.com]

*ahem* allow me to rephrase...

'no matter how I vote'...

[ilcylic.livejournal.com]

Ohhhhhh. Well, that's an entirely different matter. :D

[unixronin.livejournal.com]

I can still look at myself in the mirror the next day.

And that's worth a lot. Getting grief for it is one of those things that goes along with the responsibility of the territory.