General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: If you sit this one out ( Joy Reid on Platner ) [View all]Beartracks
(14,796 posts)The lack of a ballot still counts as a VOTE for the candidate you really didn't want.
For many, there's often a candidate you think you don't want because they don't match you 100% on your priorities.
But then there's usually a candidate you REALLY don't want, because they don't match you on ANY of your priorities, and who might even want to roll back things that are important to you. THIS is the candidate who, if they're announced as the winner when the polls close after you didn't go cast a ballot, causes you to exclaim, "Well, shit, I really didn't want them to win!"
So unless you are enthusiastically voting FOR a particular candidate, your duty as a voting citizen is to determine which is the candidate you really couldn't stand winning and then go cast a ballot for the other candidate. Yes, this sounds like "voting for the lesser of two evils," because it is, and because democracy is messy. "Not voting" -- that is, not casting a ballot -- still numerically impacts the final tally, but never in the direction you would have preferred.
Even if you stay home, your voting influence does not. Go cast a ballot on every Election Day and make your vote actually count for something.
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