Do you believe that voting is a waste of time?
348774
As a Republican in California - yes.
957792
Lots of us DO!\nThose that don't mistakenly think their vote doesn't matter.\nOr they think registering is hard, or too "big-brother-ish"\nThey forget that voting is a PRIVILEGE that many countries do not offer!!!!
1158009
If you are talking about political elections, I do not vote.  All you are really voting for is whose lies sound the best.
330382
Here! Here! I agree 1 thousand percent! It sooo infuriates me, every election year, when I hear all these people go on about what's wrong with our country, and don't bother to vote!\n\nIt seems sometimes like the people who gripe the loudest and the most constant are the least likely to vote. Or do anything else.\nWhen challenged, I've heard "Oh, our votes don't really matter anyway." Well I think we found out after the 2000 election that every vote counted does matter. I've had people tell me they don't know how to vote, how to register, that they heard you might get called for jury duty someday so they won't register---every lame excuse you can think of. And yet they bitch the loudest. If you can't tell, I'm all for active participation. And we need a lot more people to get that way in this country. The middle class is disappearing, the country isn't going the way most Americans want it to--but if we don't get off our butts and make ourselves heard, then in the end it will all be our own faults. Plenty of special groups know how to get their points across --the ASPCA, NAACP, ACLU, NRA et. al.--now how about the Pissed Off Mainstream Americans. (POMA) I think I just invented a new lobby.
831778
Thank you for inspiring me to vote...I am 54 and have never missed voting.  My family is heavily into flag waving, are members of the Daughters of the American Revolution, and my aunt even worked as as secretary/receptionist on Capitol Hill for 50 years.  We got to tour the White House and watch the Senate in action with special passes as a kid.  I even went to the oval office once.  I wanted to grow up to be the first woman president.\n\nThis time though, it's different.  I live in a district that the Democratic party has written off.  I live in a state that the Democratic party has written off.  They wouldn't even spend the money to get a candidate listed on the ballot to run for Senate.  \n\nThe last election, our polling place was moved OUT OF OUR PRECINCT.  The mail says we live too far on the edge of our county for paper delivery same day.  \n\nI've even worked as a poll worker for elections.  I know the radio will say who won our state before our ballots even reached the courthouse for tallying.\n\nThe last election we used touch screen voting.  There was NO PAPER TRAIL.  No receipt that you voted.  No way to know if your vote was correctly registered on the machine.  There is absolutely nothing to recount.  I would say most poll workers do not own a computer themselves, yet are managing the votes on them.\n\nI have NO CONFIDENCE that my vote will count at all.  When Pres. Bush announced that he has NO worries that the Republicans will maintain the Hill, I believe he means he has people to enter the voting machines and make sure he's correct.  There is absolutely no way to know if they have been tampered with.  The party with power does not have to yield again, unless we use paper ballots which can be recounted, and of course scanned by a computer to count, which will make the process timely enough.\n\nI have always believed in this country.\n\nThey lost me when exit polls showed how people ACTUALLY voted, yet the final count did not reflect that.\n\nYour shred of hope will push me out the door.  I am ill today, and thought this may be the first time I missed.\n\nI belong in the Senate, not Senator Lugar.  He advertised with millions of dollars, WITHOUT a candidate against him.  What a wasteful man.  He is supposed to be a Rhoades scholar, but didn't digest the facts about WMD correctly at all and led us into this war which has killed thousands of innocents.  If he had been in any danger of going himself, or any members of his family in deep need of college financing through the military, perhaps he would have poured over the reasons for war more thoroughly.\n\nSorry, for any mispellings, I usually proofread, as I'm so particular.  I would be an excellent, conscientious Senator.  But, I better go vote.  I only wish it would count.\n\nPlease don't blame Americans if the results are not logical.  Our voting process will not stand up to the standards former President Jimmy Carter uses when monitoring elections.\n\nWish truth, justice, and the American Way Luck!  Hopefully, I won't be patted down there, and my paper with my write in candidate taken! Ha!  That is the only way to vote other than Republican in our corner of Indiana. . .
964535
No... there needs to be no electronic involvement.  Votes need to be done on paper, countable, and recountable.  We must have a system that can be verified and legitimized.  I have already volunteered to spend many, many hours counting ballots (along with two others).
6835
Many do not value it anymore.  That is the mistake they are making.  The lack of voting just make the other views stronger (conservatives).  They are not the biggest eligible voter group, just the more consistent one during election day.\n\nEach vote does make a difference, but when you just give up, the opposing view will win.
937738
It is scary that people vote based on a 30 second TV ad and do not know all the facts.\nI am also mad at the fact that illegals, dead people, and felons, vote.  Of all those groups, the stupid seem less harmful - but not by much.
1058852
About wasting time I believe..
480993
No, because it doesn't matter if you do vote. Politicians do what they want not what they're elected for, and most voting systems don't allow proper representation.
788094
People vote or don’t vote for a number of reasons.  Since I could first vote (1952) I have never missed an opportunity to vote (across three States), so obviously voting is important to me.  However, I would not apply the same to everyone.  Those who don’t vote simply make it easier for the rest of us to get our candidates and issues winning the vote.\n\nHowever, voting should not be the only rule of being proactive.  Do you (voters) know who is elected and appointed to positions in your own community.  Are you familiar with the budgets for the various jurisdictions?  Do you attend council meetings and county board of supervisor meetings?  Do you attend the work sessions for the various issues? \n\nIn opinion, voting is only part of the citizen’s responsibilities.  So if you are going to knock people for not voting, you should also knock voters who are not aware of what is going on in their own community.
135820
No. For some more enlightened and less idealistic-minded people we realize that the democratic system is simply a guide line. That every and any rule set can be circumvented or bypassed. Vote? As long as there are electoral colleges your vote means almost next to nothing. Our government is corrupt and run by influence and pay offs. You're kidding yourself if you honestly believes a flawed and corrupt system such as ours is effective. Look at Katrina relief. Look at the poor inside our country. Look at the homeless child rate. Then look at the golden umbrellas all the CEO's, senators, justices and governors retain even after retirement. There's what they want you to see and then there's the truth. Take the blue pill Neo.
207134
I guess if you don't care, you just don't vote. Like a lot of people on Election Day.
596040
Yes. I think citizens should have to pass a simple test to vote. As an example, for a national election you should have to be able to name at least one of your State's Senators and the current President. Ever watch Jay Leno's Jay Walk bit. It's really an eye opener.
1044569
I vote. However, I can understand why people wouldn't vote. Our elected officials are sold to us, plain and simple. Those who have enough money for advertising put themselves on tv between our favorite programs and we pick one. And its usually a which candidate do you dislike the most scenario. But I don't think its a good idea to encourage people to vote for the sake of voting. People should be encouraged to make an informed decision when voting. They should actually get to know the candidates platforms before they vote. If they are gonna vote for a guy because he's the kind of guy they'd like to have a beer with or if they are gonna not vote for a guy because they don't like how exited he sounded at his rally, then I would rather them not show up. It's like we all have to vote on what car we would drive and some of us are making a decision based on fuel economy and safety and some of us who had equal say based their decision on the song playing in the commercial.
601542
On the one hand, I applaud the concept of making every participate in our democracy.  No one should feel marginalized if they had a hand in electing their leader.\n\nOn the other hand, I am like a lot of the Founding Fathers who expressed severe doubts that the average person could make intelligent decisions.  I live in a typically middle class area where you would expect people would have the education and the interest in politics to understand the issues.  However, the amount of fallacious thinking I encounter is downright scary.\n\nI'd have to consider your idea further, but right now my gut tells me this: If someone isn't interested enough to vote of their own volition, how meaningful will making them put an "X" in Box-A, or Box-B ?  A lot of these people would know nothing about the candidates.  I think it would encourage candidates to "dumb down" their campaigns, and pander to certain groups.
229090
Very interesting question, Crappy (sorry for the shorthand). But to tell you the truth, it is already extremely easy for people to vote. If you can't find the time to vote for the people running your town, state, country - I really question your thought process. This is the greatest freedom given to the people of our country. It simply must be exercised. Especially in today's world of no excuse absentee ballots. I have not missed an election on any level since I have turned 18. This includes when I was away at college or working out of town on business. \n\nIn fact, I would go one step further (and will probably get bashed for this thought), but I believe that people should be made to take and pass a test on the candidates and their positoins on several key issues before they are allowed to vote. A bipartison comittee could mail out the answers to the test to the voters and make them available anywhere including the internet, but the important thing would be for people to know where the person they are voting for stands for on the major issues. They can take and retake the test as many times as they want, but I think if people were made to understand the candidates positions on key issues - we would have far more effective people elected and a far more informed populace...