How NOT Voting is Sometimes the Most Patriotic Thing You Can Do

Voting is not something everyone should participate in.  Find out why!

I have opined for many years, and still feel, that voting is not something everyone should participate in.  This has resulted in a lot of anger directed toward me, mostly in the form of twitter rants that I never read. But Fernie tells me about them.

This is an example of one:

Maybe you’ve seen videos where they go out and ask voting age people questions about America that 2nd graders should know.

Actually, a lot of these goofy answers don’t bother me. I don’t really care if you know how many people there are in Congress. That’s basically a trivia question that might help you win on Jeopardy but I don’t think it makes you an informed voter any more than being able to name the members of the Sinister Six (Electro, Kraven the Hunter, Mysterio, Sandman, Vulture and Doctor Octopus.) I think it’s much more important that a voter know at least what the position they’re voting on does, some of the key issues and how the candidates differ on those issues.

Let’s put it this way: I have only a very faint idea of what the Texas Railroad Commissioner does. I have even less of an idea what the two candidates for the job, Ryan Sitton and Wayne Christian, have in the way of qualifications. Maybe one is better at driving a train…THAT is how little I know about this race. So, when I go vote later today…I won’t vote for Railroad Commissioner. It wouldn’t be fair to the candidates, it wouldn’t be fair to my fellow Texans and it wouldn’t be fair to those voters who DO know some of the issues in the Railroad Commissioner race (I’m assuming most of them have to do with how rough the railroad bulls are allowed to get with hobos caught sleeping in the grain car. I told you, I don’t know what the Railroad Commissioner does.)

Now, as unknowledgeable as I am about the Railroad Commissioners race, there are plenty of people who are that uninformed about some of the more high profile races. Say, for Governor or for their congressional district. If you don’t know anything about the candidates or the issues, why should you be encouraged to vote? Is there some upside to having ill-informed voters that I’m unaware of? I guess, if you’re convinced that one party is in all ways superior to the other party, you could just vote the straight ticket without having any clue about the actual candidates but are you really making an informed choice at that point? It would seem to me that if you are so disinterested in the political process that you’ll just vote for someone based on if there is a (D) or an (R) next to their name, maybe your affinity for your chosen party is also based on a lack of knowledge.

If you feel like voting then, by all means, you should go vote. But I object to this idea that we should encourage everyone, regardless of their knowledge or even their interest, to vote. That’s right…some people just don’t have any interest in politics. And that’s a valid reason to stay home. I don’t have any interest in The Voice but I don’t see anyone telling me it’s my sacred duty to call in and vote.

So, vote. Hopefully, you’ll go in as an informed voter. If not, I don’t think you have anything to be ashamed of. In fact, you should be proud that you didn’t vote and therefore avoided skewing the results. Hold your head high. I only wish they made I DIDN’T Vote stickers. You will have earned them.