Why vote? Isn't it the electoral votes that count?
812994
Two reasons:\n\n1) The electoral vote is only used for President and Vice President. The U.S. Congress and your state and local offices are elected by the popular vote.\n\n2) The electoral votes from your state is determined by the popular vote in your state.
13967
Good explanation here:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U.S._Electoral_College\n\nBasically, the people vote, and the representatives of the Electoral College get to cast the real vote.  Who gets to be in the Electoral College is based upon the people's vote.\n\nThe Electoral College can do something unexpected, and vote against the will of the people.  But that doesn't happen very often.\n\nSo really, the people's vote is simply to determine which PARTY gets to put someone into the Electoral College, to cast the REAL vote.  And then a very small number of real people - individuals who are in the Electoral College - determine who the President is, by casting a vote.\n\nYes, it's a stupid system!
380821
The last answer was closest to the truth. The question isn't should we, because we already do vote on it. When we elect our government officials, they in turn make vote in Congress and the senate. So we do vote but rather indirectly. Certainly we would all like to have a louder voice but that is the very drawback of democracy we only get one vote, the majority rules. No...we don't always THINK the majority is right but we have to live with it. It is best to accept it rather than contiually fighting against it.
701475
Voting is important. It shows how stupid people keep electing greedy non-caring politicians in their districts so that they can have something to complain about.
579116
I vote every chance I get.  Voting is a privilege and should be exercised. I also research the issues beforehand so I am not voting just on the basis of the commercials put out by the candidates.
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.
1060432
a lot of people think that the electoral college is antiquated and no longer necessary and think that the president SHOULD get elected by popular vote.\n\nalso, in the vast majority of times, the electoral college and the popular vote match, so no one gets their panties in a wad until they don't.  \n\na lot of people don't know that the electors don't have to vote for what their state voted for.  Ohio went for bush on the popular side, but had the electors exercised their option and voted for Gore, there would be nothing the voters of Ohio could have done about it, and we'd have President Gore instead of President Bush today (since Ohio was the swing state this last time around)\n\n***please note that i have not expressed my own opinion, just what the issue is***
496590
Because the 'people' didn't know any better. Why in the world do you keep believing the lies that some jackass politician (any politician) tells you? \nVoting doesn't make any difference; so stop voting! \n\nBeware of stupid people in large numbers!!\n\nI never said I didn't vote. And not voting doesn't make you any less of an American!! But does voting really change anything? NO!  The more something changes the more it stays the same.  Has anything really changed? Are we better off each time we vote in someone different? No. We're still in the same hole we were before.\nGeorge Carlin puts it simply (Not a direct quote): if I don't vote and get a crappy president (Republican or Democrat), I should have every right to complain..I didn't vote the idiot in.  You on the other hand, the ones that voted, have no right to complain...you believed them.
333142
Not even close - for a start, how can 2 parties represent the views of all the people in one of the largest countries in the world?  Especially when the head of state is not elected directly by the people, but by an Electoral College.  It seems absurd that a President can come to power who, when the actual votes of the people are counted, didn't win?  Surely those are the votes that count?  You have one of the most culturally diverse populations on the planet, and yet your Parliament, Government and Judiciary are predominantly white, middle class, wealthy and male.  That doesn't sound very democratic to me.
253585
most of america didn't vote for bush. i didn't. the electoral college put bush back in office. so you can thank them. i'm still not sure how he can not win the popular vote and still be put in office based on the votes of a select few. seems like we went to war over something like that a couple hundred years ago.(taxation without representation) it would seem to me that he is only representing a handful of americans. most don't agree with most of his policies. lets see how they fix it in 2008! as for what we got out of it, well, we're alot further in debt than we've ever been and an embarrassment to the world.
1039857
There is a reason for it to exist.  The Electoral College was designed to make sure that there is a clearcut winner in the Presidential election to avoid the problems that could arise if the transition between administrations was not peaceful, as has been observed in other countries.  It also doesn't cut the small states out of the equation for selecting a President, for, due to the fact that each state's electoral vote is equal to its number of Senators and Representatives in Congress, the smaller states have a larger percentage of the Electoral College total than they do of the overall population (e.g. Wyoming's population is roughly 1/100 that of California, but in the Electoral College Wyoming gets 3 votes to California's 56 or so).  It is also not a "secret society" as almost every state has a law that the electors to the College are bound to vote for the person getting the highest percentage of the popular vote in the state (as each party nominates its own electors for each election, it's usually the case that those people will vote for the candidate of that party).\n\nAnd, given that it is part of the Constitution, and that that can only be changed by an amendment that would have to be ratified by 3/4 of the states, the Electoral College will always be with us, because there are at least 13 states that are intelligent enough to see that they don't want to give any more power to California.
375889
voting is one of the most important rights that we are granted as a society!  Do you realize the millions of people who fought for our rights to vote, only to have those rights squandered by a country full of lazy and uninterested people?  Women, Blacks... fought for hundreds of years for the right to vote!  I vote because it is my constitutional right to express my opinion, and I vote because in some part my vote influences the country.  What if everyone sat around and decided their vote didnt count?  The country would be totally decided by the politicians... thats called Communism!  \n\nAlso ponder this... if you didnt vote for the presidential race... do you really have a right to complain about anything that he does?  You had an opportunity to cast a vote against him, if you would have, then maybe he would not have entered office.  I believe if you dont vote, your forfeit your right to complain about anything!
300526
This is because each state is allotted a certain number of "electoral votes."  It is based on the population of that state.  For example, NY State has 31 electoral votes.  After the population goes to vote and it's decided who the majority is, the electoral voters (those 31 people who represent our votes) go and cast our ballots.  \n\nNow it's a simple majority rules.  Say that the majority (let's say 60%) voted for Kerry and 40% voted for Bush. None of that 40% goes towards the electoral votes.  It's all Kerry.\n\nNow they say that the electoral college (electoral votes) was first created because back in the late 18th Century, people weren't educated very well.  They wanted some sort of buffer, so they created the electoral vote, which was essentially where the voters could vote AGAINST the population's vote, if they felt it necessary.  Just so you know, they can still do this.  \n\nIt creates a huge problem today.  Al Gore actually won the populous vote, but not the electoral vote...pretty unbelievable that the president that was voted in by a majority wasn't actually placed into office, huh?\n\nThe problems that it causes is that presidential candidates focus their attention in a non-pleasing/non-ethical way.  Instead of spreading themselves around, they specifically target those countries with high electoral votes.  Of course you can argue that no matter what they are going to target bigger states, but I think that eliminating the formalness of it all will encourage candidates to venture off to states not normally visited.\n\nAs you can tell, I'm a big supporter of eliminating the electoral vote.  I think that most people are wise enough to vote in a sufficient way; after all, at least they have a high school background (most anyways).  It's outdated for our times and I for one think it should be removed.
526640
First off if you vote, at least that is a step in the right direction. Second, The Electoral College and the Popular votes are always off. I agree with you that this is not fair. Our voices are not heard, we are put in a group of Electoral votes and individuals don't count. For the presidency. \nWith all the technology you would think if we could  vote on the computers, then maybe just maybe the computer would not screw up the counts, it would be faster, and well no one would be counting the "hanging chads". \nGood Question\n\nAdded 4:10 a.m. Found this for you....The Electoral College was established by the framers of the Constitution as a compromise between the election of the President by popular vote and the election of the President by the Congress.  The framers were concerned that members of the public would not be able to stay informed about candidates from other regions. They were also worried about the arrangements that might be made between the state’s Representatives behind closed doors.  While the concern over deals struck between our elected Representatives might continue to be a concern in modern times, the ability of the public to be informed about the candidates is not...http://alllaw.com/articles/constitutional/article1.asp\n\nand getting it changed back is a lot of work....It will be interesting to see the public’s reaction if the results of the Electoral College don’t match up with the results of the popular vote in this Presidential election.  One strong argument for keeping the Electoral College is that it forces Presidential candidates to campaign in states with small populations.  If the Presidential election were decided by the popular vote, candidates might focus their campaigns only on highly populated areas, leaving states with smaller populations with little say in who is elected President.  It is hard to say whether this argument is strong enough to overcome any sense of unfairness voters may feel if the candidate who wins the popular vote loses the Electoral College election.  Because the Electoral College process is part of our Constitution, it can only be changed by a Constitutional amendment – not an easy thing to do....http://alllaw.com/articles/constitutional/article1.asp\n\n When, in 1824, Andrew Jackson won the popular vote but lost the presidency to John Quincy Adams, Jackson lost no time in complaining that he believed the election was stolen. He complained early, he complained often; even after he won the presidency the next time around he was still complaining...http://www.truthout.org/docs_02/11.19C.mundy.gore.htm\n\nI was so interrested in your question I did some more research and went to a wonderful site. AskALibrarian@oclc.org. They sent me those links. \n\nhttp://www.votescount.com/books/elecoll.htm\n\nhttp://www.uselectionatlas.org/INFORMATION/INFORMATION/electcollege_history.php\n\nhttp://www.fec.gov/pages/ecmenu2.htm
700491
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.
845749
popular vote, let every vote REALLY count. We should abolish the electoral college.\n\nI am tired of hearing Texas Democrats, California Republicans, and Florida residents saying their vote doesn't count.
1155110
Americans don't really seem to care and believe that their one vote won't matter but if you think about it that is what about half the population thinks. A thing you might want to think of too is if we get accurate results when we vote???