It seams a lot of people are dissatisfied with our two parties but say they dont want to waste their vote.  why is it a waste just because you dont win right away.  isnt it more of a waste to vote for a party that you dont really support?
130068
Because most people are stupid and don't think too much.
666982
The two party system works great when a spirit of compromise exists.  That is what is lacking today.  There is no commom ground.  Our representatives seek our votes on election day and have us believe that we choose the candidate who best serves our interests but as soon as they are elected they serve only the party and the big money lobbyists.  It costs so much to get elected now that one pretty much must sell his soul to the devil just to get his or her message across , let alone to get elected.  We have created a government of extremes where the vast majority of people are centrist our political system represents only left and right it appears.  The question should be not why do they do it but how can we stop it?  Vote, vote against every incumbent and keep kicking the bums out until they get the message
343417
I don't vote for the party and I don't vote for "the person".  I vote for the issues.  If I don't know how a candidate stands, I have a phone, I can call and ask.  People who don't care enough to do a little research should lose their vote.
453271
I completely agree with you. I think people focus too much on being for or against certain political parties and less about being for or against a particular candidate based on that candidate's stance on certain issues.
422501
this is called "the punish vote". You know both are trash candidates, but there´s a slight difference between them that makes you vote for the least repugnant. \nI did this in the past elections.\nBut i´m thinking that supporting the "splinter" party is not throwing our votes away, it´s a form of "manifesto" in which the "social power" that we as citizens have, demand more respectful and honorable candidates for a country, that at the end, leads the way through history.
390956
I voted Straight democratic ticket for the first time in my life, because I am fed up with the soaring national debt, the focus on the war on terror, focus on tax cuts instead of providing incentives for lower income Americans, the scandals in the Republican party, and the sad state of the American family values. I also feel that it is dangerous to have no checks and balances between the two political parties when one party dominates the legislative and executive branches of government. My primary source of information is the Internet. We do not have TV and I very seldom read newspapers.
424805
I do. Both federal and provincial. I also show up for municipal ones.\nI too strongly believe that if you don't vote you can't criticize the government. I don't want to deny myself that pleasure so I make it a point to participate. \nIt's important to throw your 2 cents(mine are a little less than yours as I am Canadian). Even if you're opposed to the party that wins the seat you can make a point by voting for a suitable alternative. I haven't voted for the Conservatives or the Liberals for several elections now. My vote guaranties a small financial contribution to the party chosen on my ballot so I usually pick a decent alternative.\nKudos to you for voting even though you're apathetic. You have your right to grouse.
229457
this is really good question and an important one. \n\nI am a member of town government and there have been 2x we have gotten more then 13%-20% of community members out to vote.The first is has to do with "self interest". Services and/or programs that community members DIRECTLY benefit from would be cut due to budget constraints. Second, local businesses wanted a vote to pass regarding an issue. They contributed enough money to be fund a major campaign: radio ads, newspaper ads, fliers.\n\nIt takes A LOT to get people's attention. Additionally it takes even more to keep them engaged. You don't "win the battle" the first time...they give up.It is always, "I am too busy", Ya what ever", "they are gonna do what they are gonna do. my vote doesn't make a big difference", and on and on it goes.\nSometimes I think people are so busy and worried about just keeping their own lives together they do not look at the bigger picture and how it impacts their lives now and in the future.\nThe sad, sad result is that we allow politicians and government to serve their own self-interests and then play "Monday morning quarter back" about the results we have to live with.\nAgain, good question. Human beings are loosing their lives around the world for this right to have a government "by the people for the people."
617895
I like to know about the candidates and their parties before I vote.  I like to vote for both the party and the candidate.  I don't vote Conservative but if there is a good NDP candidate I may vote for them usually the Liberals get my vote.
415130
Why vote?  Even if your candidate doesn't win, you have shown the parties that you are one who doesn't agree with them.\n\nWhy do Rep/Dems get voted in? They are the 2 biggest parties in the country with the most money.
459438
Third parties are a bad idea. With a three party system, the winner is usually elected with a less than majority vote. Clinton won in 96 with a majority of people voting against him.
597173
You ask a very good question, and I believe ignorance is your answer. I believe that many people do not spend the time to actually research who they vote for, and then when the president (or any elected official) turn out to be bad, they complain about it even though they voted for him/her. The other reason is that people, more often than they should, vote along party lines. "If you're a Christian, you should vote Republican because of their views on abortion." That's the backwards logic some people believe. You have to vote the issues you agree with most, not the party lines. That happened in the last election, too.\n\nI don't know if this really answered your question, but it's a little of what I think is wrong with people and politics.
226710
Maybe you are happy with the way things are run, so you see no reason to vote.  But maybe you don't know yet how the government affects you.  Once you do, you may want to vote, or maybe you will think that your vote is powerless to change the system.  It is good that you are at least asking the question.
429543
Because it's a right for us to see who were electing. Thanks to all those who fought for our right to vote, we can decide what to do. Voting means that you can control who you're voting for in the elections and if that representative does a lousy job, you can vote him/her out. Of course, it would be better if you had a field of options not like the average race where you have between 1 and 3 at the very least.
426028
If people don't vote, they need to accept everyone else's decisions becuase that is why you have the right to vote.  You each have to exercise that right or you don't have anyone to blame but yourself.
365577
Because people foolishly believe the rhetoric of those who fail to win elections that "it's NOT MY REPRESENTATIVE, because I didn't vote for them".\n\nIn other words, they'll vote, but if they don't win, they won't play.  These are people who have no idea what democracy is about.  They're like Monopoly players who won't play unless they get the first roll.  They're little dictators, who if they do win, will continue to act like dictators because they feel they are "owed".\n\nThe rest of us respect our elected representatives, even if we disagree with their opinions or decisions, or even if we protest them.  We disagree, but we don't act seditiously.\n\nThe little dictators (no matter which party they roost in), want us to believe that 'We are NOT the government," but that the government is some outside agency that we are abused by.\n\nThis is how governments become just that.\n\nWe are the government.  Thousands of positions go unfilled or unchallenged by people who would rather whine and complain.\n\nDon't listen to the whiners, the seditious, and ALWAYS speak up against them.\n\nThey may have free speech.\n\nSo do we.  Use it.  Answer them.
586082
It sux we only get two choices.....Why cant we have more?  People just vote the lesser of two evils....No one is really ever happy with the choices.  We vote holding our noses.....