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Debate Score:63
Arguments:35
Total Votes:72
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 Why do you vote? (35)

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Why do you vote?

With the election less than 3 weeks away, it's time to find out what the drivers are that causes everyone to vote.

Add New Argument
5 points

I vote for many reasons.

1 - I'm proud to be an American with the right to vote.

2 - By voting, even for an underdog, I show that someone is listening.

3 - I care.

4 - It makes me feel important; like my thoughts, emotions, and needs matter

5 - I can.

6 - I'd feel guilty if things got worse and I didn't do a damn thing about it.

7 - It's easy.

8 - It's free.

9 - I have a secret. (Who I voted for.) I can keep that secret or tell others

10 - No one else is going to do it for me.

Side: Many reasons
1 point

What would you do if you couldn't endorse any candidate?

Side: Many reasons
2 points

I have always chosen what I feel to be the lesser of multiple evils. My first two national elections (at ages 18 and 22) I voted Independent because I was disgusted by the options presented by the Dems and Reps.

Side: Many reasons
4 points

I vote because I truly believe that every vote counts, and if you want to make a difference you need to get out and exercise your right to vote. Too many people are apathetic towards the democratic nature of our country and don't vote, and then blame the elected leaders when things go wrong.

I'd rather ensure my voice is heard and vote for who I believe will do the best job rather than sit back and expect everything to work out. In an election that is bound to be extremely close every vote counts, so get out there and vote!

Side: Make my voice heard
hockeyhound(16) Disputed
3 points

Why should I vote? In America, we have been taught that it is your duty to vote, that it is right, and that if you do not then you are doing not only yourself, but also your country injustice. But are we really? Where has the injustice occurred, do you even have a choice when you vote? According to the two party system you do, and it's Democrat or Republican. This nicely translates to a choice of Liberal, and Liberal. It denies the possibility that, Fascists, Classical Conservatives, Socialists, and Communists do exist, and therefore limits not only their choice, but prevents them from being able to act on their beliefs.

We have been taught to believe that in not voting, you are giving up your right to do something, to create change, that to not vote is an abdication of your power. We are taught from a young age, that if you want to change the influence government has in your life then you must vote. However is the action of voting itself not an action imposed by the government; the end goal being to make you vote as they desire?

To quote author David Schuman, "Americans have a voting fetish." We feel that we cannot have government without voting, and thereby in voting you show your belief that government is in fact necessary.

By voting what are you doing? I feel that you are not showing your beliefs in what you believe public policy ought to be, but rather that you are fine with the policy in place. That your vote shows belief in a system that gives you no choice, but makes you "empowered." Why could not voting, not be seen as an act of expression, showing not only your discontent with the system but the fact that you've had enough of the politicians telling you what to do?

Voting itself shows your belief in the system, but how are we to know any better. Until this past summer I too believed that not voting was bad. That in not voting, I was accepting my fate, and that in voting I could find my voice. Interesting that we associate vote and voice together. By not voting are you really abdicating your voice? Are you really voicing your thoughts in a private secluded booth, where the only change you’ll make is a ballot that may or may not be counted?

I feel that you aren't, that by not voting on a conscious level you see the system as fundamentally flawed, that voting is in fact taking away your political voice. That it is stifling your thoughts and expression and forcing you to believe that you have a limited voice. Speak up! Not in a voting booth, but in public, make your voice be heard, not whether you’re a Democrat or Republican.

Side: Make my voice heard
Inkwell(328) Disputed
3 points

Are you aware that there are fourteen tickets running for president that have been approved for inclusion on ballots in more than one state? So you have up to 14 choices including representatives of the Green Party, Peace and Freedom Party, Prohibition Party, Constitution Party, Libertarian Party, Socialist Workers Party, the Boston Tea Party, Independent Party, Socialism and Liberation Party, Objectivist and Reform Parties. Additionally there are six candidates on the ballots in only one state and over a dozen write in candidates announced.

How much of a voice do you need?

Side: Because it's my responsibility AND right
2 points

I agree with you. Voting is a right that americans enjoy but it isn't a duty. The two party system doesn't necessarily work and while other parties are allowed to exist they get no media coverage unless its for entertainment, such as ralph nader or ron paul. It is good to vote you are at least attempting to be heard but usaually i feel at least for me that it is always between the lesser of multiple evils. like you said you basically are voting for who you can tolerate. I don't necessarily like some of Obama's policies or his actions such as disowning his preacher and any other left wing person, but i despise McCain not who he was but who he became and the policies that he preaches. I will vote for Obama in a system i seriously doubt but if McCain wins by a majority(two digit lead) i will lose faith in more than just the american voting system.

Side: Because it's my responsibility AND right
0 points

I concur. The whole 'blame officers' is wrongggggg. I want my voice to be heard loud. Definitely. :D

Side: Make my voice heard
3 points

I wrote a post on why I vote during the primaries. Basically, it was just what I was raised to do. When you turn 18 you vote. End of story. In fact, I think every high school civics class should include registering to vote as part of the final.

http://www.jamsbio.com/user/meghan/you_can_make_the_difference/

Side: Because it's my responsibility AND right
3 points

Because unlike many, I believe that America is as much about one's responsibilities as it is about one's rights. Usually the whiners who are the first to scream about the abridgment of their rights have no clue or accept no responsibilities.When you are a member of something, your responsibility does not end when you pay your dues. It is your responsibility to promote that organization and work for its well being and success.

I disagree that the two party system works to minimize choices. Instead I believe the traditions of America create the two party system. Fascism, Socialism, Anarchy and Communism are alien to American thought and spirit. Thus they are minor players in our political system. But to say they are prevented from competing when we have a radical socialist agenda being espoused by the candidate of one of the two parties currently and the likely winner at that, is silly. For most of our history the two parties have been similar, typically disagreeing on methods, not goals. This is because we as Americans recognized that fascism, monarchy, anarchy and socialism were all equally foreign, corrupting and anti American spirit. So it never took a limit of choices by American Government to keep Eugene Debs, Eldridge Cleaver, Darlington Hoopes, Benjamin Spock, Robert La Follette, Henry Wallace or the memorable Pigasus from being President. They were outside the mainstream and totally alien to American tradition and thought. THAT is why they never succeeded.

In fact how different is IBM's agenda from Spock's agenda, highlighted by :

"democratic and decentralized socialism". The party also called for withdrawal from Vietnam, cutting the military budget in half, a steeply progressive income tax with a maximum wage of $50,000, abolition of both property and sales tax, a minimum income of $6,500 per American family, and legalization of abortion and marijuana.

Obviously adjust dollar values for 50 years difference and Iraq for Vietnam. Spock was also against nuclear energy which Obama only grudgingly admits needs to be part of our energy solutions if at all.

Side: Because it's my responsibility AND right
1 point

lol spell check wants to plug in IBM for Obama and i apparently misclicked, so please insert Obama where it says IBM above. Sorry

Side: Because it's my responsibility AND right
3 points

Because I am in a group of people who got the last rights to vote in this country, and there are many WOMEN who fought for me to have that right. It would be disrespectful to not vote.

Side: Because it's my responsibility AND right
2 points

I would bump you up 5 points if I could. Amen!!

Side: Because it's my responsibility AND right
1 point

i couldn't agree with you more! it infuriates me that my mother has never voted and doesn't understand why i'm so passionate about it! I think if every woman knew what the women of our country and around the world had to fight and endure for us to have that right, they would get out there and vote. Every time I cast my vote I think of all those great and powerful women who fought for me and my daughter and her daughters and so on to have that right.

Side: Because it's my responsibility AND right
3 points

I dug up something I wrote on 11/2/04:

I voted today! That’s what my sticker says. And it’s true. I voted today. For the sheer joy of it. For the righteousness, the amusement, the gala and ecstacy of the process. I voted today.

Some people choose not to vote. For so many reasons, they elect not to elect. Maybe because they don’t believe that it will count; they don’t believe that it matters - that THEY matter. That’s one way to look at it, but not mine. I shall never be told that I do not matter. I do. Whether or not I can make a difference with my single little punch (truth be told, I punched four times) is not really a meaningful question to me. I don’t know if my one little vote will matter. (Or all four of them). My vote probably won’t be enough to win an election, sure, but electing not to certainly won’t help.

It’s about the process. The awe of the process. The joy of exercising my right to vote. Unlike so many other rights: freedom of speech, freedom of religion… unlike these very personal rights we hold so dear, the right to vote IS different. It’s not an inalienable right. It is a right given to citizens by its government. It’s a statement of trust - trust me to be self-governed. Trust me to make decisions. Trust me to believe in something and to act judiciously upon it. Trust me to vote, and in doing so, wield power. Not because my vote matters. Not because of the strength of my punch, but the unadulterated fervor of my belief. Trust me to decide what is right for me, my family, my children, and trust me to be so bold as to speak it in the anonymity of a booth. Just me and my ever-lovin’ stylus.

Oh the joy of anonymity! How powerful is that! To be one of many - to be singular in your expression - to have the quietest voice, unquieted by the process. The joy of solitary voting is unsurpassed by any other kind. Because the truth that remains after all else is quiet - the truth that you speak only to yourself - the truth that becomes YOU when you are alone, it IS the naked truth. It needs not be the same as the truth you speak aloud, or the truth you wear on your shirt, paste to your car, or post on your website. It IS the truth, so faithful that it comes to you and warms you when you are alone in your booth.

Yes, I do enjoy the booth. I enjoy the whole process. I enjoy walking into my polling location. I enjoy the passing of fliers just before you enter that righteous place. And when the man asks me if I want instructions, I say yes! I do want instructions. I wish to savor the process of this moment, this opportunity. I show reverence for that process and his part in the process by listening intently to his well rehearsed speech.

And when they look up my name in the giant book of printed pages - I peer into the matrices of dots seeking my name. It is the justification that I am wanted there… and I see it. My printed name, in its entirety, just slightly longer than the other names on the page, I can see me. I am on the list, and that’s how I know that I matter. I know that they were waiting for me. And then I arrived.

I voted today.

Side: Because it makes me FEEL American
1 point

Thank you for sharing, that is a great little essay.

Side: Because it's my responsibility AND right
2 points

Ask Susan B Anthony and many like her, why I should vote...

It is my right and my privilege.

NEVER surrender a right or privilege...

And this election, I feel is very important!

Never forget where you come from...

Sharon

~The Baby Boomer Queen~

Side: NEVER surrender a right or privilege
0 points

I like the Susan B. reference! Good point! I do think it is more a right than a privilege. A privilege can be taken away, my right better not ever be taken away. Well, something like that.

Side: NEVER surrender a right or privilege
2 points

Voting is one of the times everyone can influence politics. We can debate and talk all we like, but voting is action. It's the best way to show the world what you think, and what you and your city believe in. If you don't vote, you have no right to complain for the next four years.

Side: Make my voice heard
2 points

Hi Gunman! Although I can appreciate what you are implying I must heartily disagree with your thoughts as to having no right to complain over the next four years if one does not vote. There are many reasons why a person does not vote and some of them are deplorable, such as laziness or not caring...But those who do not vote as a dissent are a different story. I think everyone who doesn't vote for good reasons should come forward and state their thoughts and perhaps organize and lobby for a better system. Ink says that there are over a dozen ways to vote, but as we all know, no one is going to vote for the unknown because we all know that person cannot win.

But we have a right to complain, simply because we are Americans and as Americans we have the right to speak out and hopefully be heard and taken seriously. If not there are many avenues by which we can make our voices heard. You're right as to voting being one of the times we can influence politics BUT in a two party system it is very difficult to influence anyone in the way you would wish to.

Please don't judge everyone by the same measuring stick. Some people have very good reasons to hold their vote back and will always have the right to speak out in complaint or in kudos.

Side: Many reasons

I vote because I must! I vote because I have been given that hard fought for liberty. I vote because my country is of the utmost importance to me. I vote because, if I don't, the person I don't ever want to sit in the White House may sit there because of me. I vote because I believe we can do better than we have. I vote because I am called upon by my conscience to do so and I vote because I live in the greatest nation in the free world that has its faults but where the hope for the future will always prevail and send the cynics into hiding once again.

Side: Many reasons

I was going to say, "To get to the other side." But the topic is a serious one and the well throughout comments from the others made me change my mind.

Although I know the importance of voting, I'm sorry to say that I don't vote. I've been picking the winner since Reagan. Although the hanging chad election had me worried that my winning streak was coming to an end. Since I've been right for so long, I've been able to tell myself that my single vote wouldn't have made a difference. But the races are getting closer and closer. Another reason I don't vote is because (except for Reagan) I don't like the available choices and voting for the lesser evil sucks.

This election is also going to be close but I predict Obama.

BTW, I did vote in one presidential election and I voted for someone I knew was going to lose. The point was to let both parties know that there are a bunch of voters that are not happy with Republicans and Democrats. But I don't think they got the message. :(

But hey, I vote on CD and it's usually and up vote! I think that a "down vote" has too many negative connotations so I don't use it. Maybe they should have an "Up Vote" and an "Up Yours Vote" Doesn't that sound more up beat since they both use the word "Up?" ;)

Oh shiite! I promised I was going to be serious, didn't I? I'm sorry. I need to work on my self control. Will you forgive me?

Side: Many reasons
1 point

To do my civic duty, which is my primary way of doing a service for the country. Its the least I can do, considering I reap the benefits of living here.

Side: Because it's my responsibility AND right
1 point

I agree! (trying to post another thread here - newbie syndrome)

Side: Make my voice heard
1 point

I have voted in every election since I was 18 back in 1977. It is both a right and an obligation. Make yourself knowledgeable on the candidates and issues at hand. Don't be too quick to take someone's rights away in a poorly thought out amendment, based on your gut reaction. Remember someone can do the same thing to you someday on your own pet rights.

You get the government you deserve. In America, it's a bunch of incompetent greedy freaks because that's what we choose to elect. Don't complain. Inform yourself and do something about it.

Side: Because it's my responsibility AND right

voting allows you to chose what your taxes are spent on like the americans said "No taxation without representation!"

Side: Because it's my responsibility AND right

It is now 2015 and the reason I vote is because I want my vote to be counted in an election.

Side: Because it's my responsibility AND right