Today is election day! Once I got a postcard in the mail that had my voting record for the past five years (whether or not I had voted, not how I had voted) and it make me think, "Hey, someone's paying attention to that!" You know, usually whether you vote is secret, sort of like whether you floss or whether you really wash your hands after EACH trip to the bathroom. We all know we should do it, but no one really asks you or holds you accountable.
While living in Ecuador I learned that there, if you're a registered voter who doesn't vote, there are consequences. The government will take your ID card which means you can't get a legal job; you can't get a passport so you can't leave the country legally. In short, it's a pretty big deal. It's called "obligatory voting" and this little tidbit should be considered when looking at those self-satisfied lists of countries where the voter turnout is better than the US.
Here in the US we try to be a little cooler about it than that. After all, we're big on individual rights , including your right to be a slacker and not care. Is that wise? THAT's another blog post. Meanwhile, the result of this is that our voter turnout tends to run at about 58%. As a participation grade, that's a solid F. But I'm not really here to write about the people who don't vote.
Today whilst using the snazzy electronic voting device at Redeemer Lutheran Church, it crossed my mind that maybe we don't really WANT everyone to vote? I mean, when it comes to running a country, maybe we should aim a little higher than just showing up?
Let me give you a little peek into my decision-making process as I voted today.
[disclaimers that make me feel slightly less guilty for my level of bad citizenship: Please note that I'm fairly new to my community and therefore don't know most of these people. Furthermore, I live in a city of about 250,000, so "knowing everyone" isn't ever going to happen. Ever.
I also didn't plan to vote because I expected to be working from 8-5 and then grabbing supper in time to arrive at my 6-9pm class, neither of which is close to my polling location, so I didn't even bother to try to guilt myself into doing research about issues or candidates. I fully recognize that these are both shameless, overcome-able excuses]
Ballot question samples:
-Should we restructure the local government to put everything in one central place? (this isn't the real wording. the real wording read like an excerpt from the declaration of independence and must certainly have excluded a big chunk of the populace by simply preventing them from understanding the question itself. seriously? that makes me mad)
Leslie thinks: Uh... Hmm. Well, consolidation can be good; can help everyone be aware of what's happening in other areas of the office. On the other hand, re-organization is a lot of work and prevents other productivity while it's happening so if it's not really needed, it could just be a waste of time and resources. Will this involve buying or remodeling property? Will it cost money? Will it cost jobs? Who's in charge? How long will it take? What's the argument against it? IS there an argument against it, or is everyone involved for it? WHY AM I MAKING THIS DECISION?!?!
This is only the first question. Off to a banner start.
On to the people. I was sad there was nothing about funding for schools, police, firefighters, or other help-the-community stuff. I'd ALWAYS rather throw my money at that stuff than at a re-organization project. Those are the only issues I ever feel confident about. But alas. On to the people.
-Vote for one city counsel member. I pick the woman.
-Vote for three school board representatives. I picked one from each party (they should balance each other out, right?).
-I actually voted for one guy because his name was a word for a flower, and I figured that anyone growing up with that kind of challenge is either a criminal or chock-full of character. Since he's on the ballot, it's probably the latter. He gets my vote.
-Should ______ continue to be a _______? Yes. I have no idea, but I'll go with yes. Hopefully if ______ was doing a really crappy job at being a ________ BEFORE, s/he wouldn't be on the ballot again? I hope. Yes.
-Vote for one ______. (there is only one option). I voted for each of those. Does this even make a difference?
Do you see what I'm saying? I'm a terribly irresponsible voter. Maybe you are, too.
As a fixer, my thoughts after voting were all along the lines of why. If we know WHY I'm a terribly irresponsible voter, maybe I can work toward solving that problem. So what's the problem? I love my country, so that's not it.
Is it simply that I'm lazy? Well, I am lazy, but I doubt that's the whole answer.
I feel overwhelmed by the time and energy it would take to be informed on every issue. I'm not even sure if I'm allowed to take a cheat sheet into the ballot with me and I sure know I wouldn't be able to memorize it all! And if I decided next time to commit to that level of effort, I don't know how I would go about it. That's not to say that I couldn't figure it out. I'm pretty smart. I could figure it out. But it's just one more roadblock.
I rarely find someone who really represents me. I'm too liberal on social issues to be a republican. I'm too conservative on moral issues to be a democrat. So even after knowing the platforms, I generally end up not really agreeing with anyone. That's discouraging.
Another piece is that I not-so-secretly feel like my vote isn't really that important, and that notches down my motivation level a bit.
So there you have it. I voted. For better or worse, I showed up. I did NOT get a sticker, which I'm fairly disgruntled about. But then again maybe the sticker shouldn't say "I voted". Maybe it should say "I researched the issues and voted informed". Now THAT would merit a sticker, don't you think?
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