Not Voting Should Not Be an Option

NOTE: Patch.com does not endorse candidates for any office. The opinions expressed are solely that of the author.

You may have heard. There is a lot of cynicism out there. And rightfully so. Here in South Carolina voters have been inundated with ads and direct mail for much of the past year. It started with the primary in January, took a break, resumed in the early Summer with the state and local races, took another break and has kicked up again in the Fall. If you live in the Upstate, you may have seen a lot of advertisements directed at North Carolina voters where the state is believed to be in play in the Presidential race.

And the advertisements tend to be negative. If you see enough of them, you ‘d be forgiven if you wondered, “Why would I vote for either on of these two jokers?”

But you should. You should vote, that is.

It would be nice if voting were easier. Or that if we got the day time off from work to cast our ballot. Or if the election were held on a weekend so we’d have no excuse but to vote. Or if the whole process—with the negative ads, the consultants, the constant phone calls and the people who only are interested in your opinion once every two (or four) years—didn’t completely suck. It does. There are more things wrong with elections than there are right. Just ask the Operation Lost Vote people.

But you should still vote.

Why? Because there are people on this planet, right now, walking around, just wishing they could pick their own leader. There are people on this planet who fought and nearly died just so their countrymen could choose their own destiny. Hell, there are people who did die so their countrymen could choose their own destiny. Sure democracy is messy and its embarrassing, and as Churchill said, “it’s the worst form of government—except for all the others.”

So you better vote.

Two years ago, P.J, O’Rourke wrote a book called “Don’t Vote, It Just Encourages the Bastards.” O’Rourke, in case you don’t know, is a satirist. And something of a buffoon. So don’t listen to him. And don’t listen to the people who say not voting is actually a form of voting. It isn’t. Not voting is silence. And silence is tacit approval of the way things are going. Unless you’re happy with the way things are. Yeah, I didn’t think so.

So vote.

Voting is your ticket into the discussion of your community. It means you can show up at the school board meeting or the county council meeting and ask your elected officials why they did something. And if you don’t like the answer you can say, “I voted the last time and when I vote the next time I’ll remember your answer.”

Whereas if you show up at a meeting to complain without having voted you’re just being a whiner. Don’t be a whiner. No one likes a whiner.

So vote.

Not sure where? Find out here.

Not sure what you need? Find out here.

See you at the polls.