I haven’t voted in years after reading the argument that voting mainly serves to slot you into a cohort, making it easier for governments and corporations to profile you. Recently I heard someone argue the opposite angle: don’t vote because none of the politicians deserve you. A comedian mocked that stance as basically holding your breath when you are angry.
Now I’m conflicted because both arguments feel compelling in different ways. What are your strongest arguments for voting, or against voting?
You’re not just voting for politicians, but judges, sheriffs, school board members & many others. Often, you’re choosing the lesser of 2 evils and rarely will you match policy-for-policy with your best candidate, but in what other way do you have to express your opinions?
I research all candidates on my locality’s ballot and bring notes on who I plan to vote for. I sometimes can vote absentee, which is even better.
As I’ve found in many elections, I’m the minority. That’s ok because I believe that when the polls are close, it can pull the candidates closer to my views as they try to appeal to the groups that may give them a few more votes.