why is it NOT important to vote in California?
473232
Why bother?  Nancy Pelosi, Barbara Boxer, et al. have got it all sewn up.  Open your mouth and utter a conservative word, and I think they'll actually kick you out of the state.  Really!
819397
Why? because they want to affect the way people vote. Are they qualified? No, but when has that ever stopped anyone. What qualifies actors to tell us how to vote? Many of them never even finished HS.
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.
1018008
I TOTALLY AGREE, I'M FROM CALIFORNIA, AND I HELP WITH PETITION SIGNING, AND I AM ASTOUNDED AS TO HOW MANY YOUNG PEOPLE JUST DON'T CARE, I ALWAYS GET ANSWERS LIKE; OH I DON'T VOTE BECAUSE IT NEVER GOES THE WAY I WANT IT, OR ITS NOT LIKE MY VOTE MATTERS. AAH! STUPID! AND CONTRARY TO THE COMMENT ABOVE ABOUT LATINOS, MOST OF THE OFFENDERS ARE YOUNG AFFLUENT WHITE KIDS, MOSTLY GIRLS. I FIND THE LATINOS ARE MORE PASSIONATE, BECAUSE THEY HAVE MORE TO LOSE.
802944
Because elections in the U.S. are a STATE issue, not a federal one. There are very few laws at the federal level dealing with elections. The government leaves most of it up to the states to decide how to do it.
1020326
I am beginning to understand that illegal aliens vote, too.  I think we need to check voter eligibility at least after the fact.  The addresses are there, too, so we should be able to find offenders.\n\nIt is interesting that it is always the Democrats that block requirements for proof of citizenship for voters.  Long, long ago elderly shut ins might not have had ID.  However, I don't think anyone can get by with no ID anymore, if only for Medicaid. Citizenship is no harder to prove than getting any other ID.\n\nWe could certainly pass a law requiring proof of citizenship for everyone under the age of 70, or something, if this is really seen as a problem.  However, no one says you shouldn't have to prove insurance eligibility with an insurance card, so why should you not have to prove eligibility to vote?\n\nLiving in Southern California, this is a real concern for me.
700702
I think there are some pretty heated issues dividing the state - and people are fighting for the representation that represents those ideals... so it just goes to show how Californians really feel. Strongly on both sides!\n\nMore specific to your question, Californians have their presonal extreme views and that will create a balance at the top - as they flex their voting power.  And that is the funny thing about watching the rest of the country say California is "Democrat".... because we usually have such a strong show from both sides.
193726
The most obvious danger of not voting is that the nonvoter sets themselves a part.  That is they choose to be not part of the decision making of their community.  No matter the stated justification they have decided to not a community participant.  Since the voting record of who votes is public record, vote active members of the community will increasingly regard the nonvoter as not significant.\n\nWhat policies boards of education develop, directions taken by city councils and county boards of supervisors, Township boards of Trustees, State Legislatures, are all impacted by lobbyists and petitioners.  However, not all lobbyists and petitioners are equal.  We all are aware that most lobbyists empower their access with funding of political campaigns.  Petitioners empower their access and influence with activism and the ability to deliver voting blocs.   Nonvoters have no such power. \n\nAs a people we are the inheritors of 3,000 years of cultural evolution which has produced the system we live within.  The more we are active within the system, the better it works, those who vote are part of that system, those who don’t vote demonstrate disrespect of those who have gone before.
495422
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.
551820
Politics is the candidates' quest to persuade the voters to elect him/her. The ad campaigns, news conferences, and the debates. The ordinances you mentioned is the legislative process of governing. The constituents can only influence, not control, the way an elected official governs. If the community gets angry enough at the leaders, the community will vote them out of the next election. This is the system of a republic as opposed to pure democracy, which is simply majority rule, as seen in California's proposition system.
714200
Of course no one should tell you how to vote, but they should be telling you why to vote for a particular individual. I tend to be all over the place when I vote, and it's because I look at the issues and the individual and make a decission accordingly.
822317
When you break the law, you show your disdain for organized community and the rules that govern it. Voting is a priviledge, not a right, and a person who has no regard for the laws or statutes doesn't deserve the right to have a say in them.\n\nEdit: Jaywalking doesn't make you a felon.
245264
Because California likes to be the experimental Utopia of the United States. And it does seem to be two separate groups agitating for both. \n\nI think California in the 70's and 80's used to have a lot of conservatives who leaned libertarian. Now a lot of them have moved elsewhere (Colorado has more than 1 million people living here who were born in Caliornia) or have been overtaken by those liberals who boreder on socialism.
410455
because they don't care.  young people care more about who won on american idle or who's dating jessica simpson.  young people have no regard for civic responsibility.  that is the reason why many young people don't vote!!!!
746396
Because they don't like what the voters passed.  So, they plan to find a way to do as they please, cuz they figure they are above the law.  And, it'll probably turn out that they CAN do as they please.  And we wonder why people give up on voting.
164909
Plenty is done for the people, including those  who do not vote. Even if an election result does not go the way I voted, I know that I had the opportunity to make my opinion known to those whom with I disagree. \nIt takes quite a bit of effort for anything to be placed on a ballot, people must support a candidate or issue and take proper steps to complete the process. If things that matter to you need voter approval, get out and volunteer with a group that supports your views, getting involved will give you a greater satisfaction with the political process. Your effort does matter and you can make a difference in your community,  good luck.
443298
I think that some young people do not want to vote because they find voting being meaningless but yet, they are the ones who complain a lot about the government. I believe that if you do not vote, DO NOT Complain on what is happening where you live.