There is no such thing as a "wasted vote"

Zomby Woof

(1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore

Thu Nov-20-03 01:15 PM
Original message

There is no such thing as a "wasted vote"

As the primaries await us after the New Year, I would like to put in a plug on the sanctity of voting and the urging that if you are not registered to vote in your locality, please do so TODAY. Also find out if you need to declare a party preference in the primaries if your state is taking part in one. Many states will not allow Independents to vote Democratic. You can always switch back, if you are a Green or Independent, but want to vote for a Democrat you actually support.

Now then, about this "sanctity" business. We all know we live under a regime that mocks this very notion of a sacred vote, as Florida in 2000 (and numerous times and locations throughout our history) have taught us. Now there is the Diebold question and potentials for new thefts and abuses. Still, none of these entities can take away what is written in ink and consecrated with sweat and blood in our revered Constitution. We have the right to vote, but above that, we have an obligation to exercise that right. We have a civic duty to keep the very ideal of this republic alive.

It disturbs me deeply when there is talk that if you support some candidates, that just because they are polling in the single digits, that somehow a vote for that candidate is "wasted". There is an unspoken urge to conform and go with the pack, ally yourself with the frontrunners. Forget your heart, mind, and conscience, and vote with who the largest plurality or the majority wants you to. This phenonemon exists in sports, in the workplace, and everywhere there is the whiff of competition in the air. It is an American flaw, to make the competition of numbers, just for the sake of numbers, triumph over the competition of ideas - the latter being the very essence of democracy. Allegiance to raw numbers, valuing quantity over quality, drives these very pressures to "get in line".

I am not shy about criticizing candidates with whom I disagree, nor handing out praise to ones when deserved. But no matter how vehemently I may disagree with the candidate, or the candidate's supporters, I will fight to the hilt for their right to vote for that candidate, and would urge that they do no less than to vote their hearts, minds, or consciences either. There are lines even I will not cross. I am a human being first, before being an American. With that framework in mind, living within the guidance of the Consitutional compact, this humane and civic-minded American will never voice or give thought to such an inhumane, and disrespectful utterance, as "You are wasting your vote."

There is no such thing as a "wasted vote", with the possible exception of a vote not cast at all.

Yes, in the end, numbers do matter at the ballot box. A winner will take all. Your vote may very well be in a very large minority. But never, in any way, shape, or form, is that vote - any vote - less important, less valid, less borne of a citizen who cares enough about their country to want to change it, improve it, and make our lives better. Not only are all people created equal, all votes are too. Do not sit silently when someone disgraces the democratic ideal when they say you are wasting your vote. They not only disgrace that ideal, they disgrace themselves. Let us all vote with the mutual dedication that we all matter in these troubled times, and every one of our votes does matter, too. Every one of us matters.

Register to vote today!