Michelle, you ask “What if my one vote made the difference in an election, resulting in this person winning?” In my (long ago) youth I consumed by the pound classic science fiction, including an old Isaac Asimov story called, I think, “The Voter.” The premise is that a super “Multivac” computer determines all election results but needs input from one and only one human being. That person is designated simply The Voter. Great speculation ensues every four years: will The Voter be old or young? From North or South? Average or extraordinary? Elections are known not for the candidates but instead the identity of the voter, viz. “The Michelle Austein Brooks” election.
Not so bad for Michelle if the winners govern wisely; problematic if not, as folks tend to blame not the President but, well, Michelle. Quite the burden for one humble voter: lionized if things go well but just as easily blamed for war, economic disaster, the Yankees buying another pennant and other assorted disasters. And it’s not as if Multivac asked “McCain or Obama?” The “ballot” more likely read: “So, Michelle, what color shoes do you like?”
On your other point: I’ll confess to the occasional case of ballot exhaustion. This past cycle, the head of our county government won a congressional race, opening his former position and necessitating a special election. Our local county delegate declared for that race. I respect her greatly, so on the appointed day I raced home from work and duly voted for her. She won, necessitating yet another special election for her old job. And I sat that one out. Not proudly, but so many new faces, not enough time to learn about them, so very much campaign literature stuffed under our doormat….
My mom once voted in a local election for a candidate named Friedman. She knew nothing about him, nor about his opponents. A Friedman, she figured, had to be good. He turned out to be a cult member and a total lunatic. Thankfully Mom was outvoted. But I’ve ever since steered clear of local contests when I don’t know enough about the candidates or the issues. Again, not with pride, but in recognition of my own all-too-real limitations.
The story of your mom reminds me of the type of logic many people use when they feel they should vote but don’t know who to vote for.
A democratic scholar once told me that in order for an election to be free and fair, people must have the right NOT to vote. So by steering clear of those local contests, you may not be exericising your right to vote. Instead, you are exercising your right not to vote.
Michelle, I do not believe in “democratic scholars.” A zillion years in graduate school introduced me instead to a fair number of dictators, each ruling over his or her little empire
Agreed that one has a _right_ not to vote; the harder question is whether promiscuously exercising that right amounts to an abdication of one’s civic responsibilities.
I am enggar from Indonesia.
My country is being in an election season.
members of congress have been voted, and 2 months later, we will vote our presiden.
but there’s many citizens chose not to vote. They knew nothing about all candidates, whereas one of candidates is good.
what is your opinion about this? shoud they choose?
i have site about peace of election campaign in Kampanye Damai Pemilu Indonesia 2009
I use this site to say peace in campaign.
thanks for your respon.
Hi Enggar,
Glad to have you with us! I read with interest recently about an important libel law/freedom of press decision made by the Indonesian Supreme Court.
I think your question is a hard one. How many candidates will appear on the Indonesian presidential ballot? In many U.S. states, the ballot can be crowded with “minor” candidates who have little chance of winning. Usually I know little about these minor candidates, but that doesn’t stop me from voting for my preferred “major” candidate.
Here’s a question for you. Would you vote for a candidate who has no realistic chance of winning? Would such a vote be “wasted”, or would it instead make an important statement?
And can you tell us more about your web site? It looks great, but I can’t read Indonesian, Javanese, or the other major languages of your country
This is the main reeason I love blogs.america.gov. Nice post.