Are you registered? Will you vote?
 

If you're not registered, do it now. And then vote for the candidate of your choice. The percent of the population that votes in Presidential elections has steadily dropped to embarssing levels. Arguably the most powerful position in the world is at stake. Makes no difference if you are a Republican, a Democrat, or something else, its your responsibility as an American citizen to cast your vote. Thousands have died to protect this right. Millions more in other countries will never have that opportunity. And yet we as a nation have become terribly complacent. I'm not advocating any political affiliation, just encouraging everyone to exercise their right to vote.

Do it.

If you vote, make sure you know what you're voting for. That is also your responsibility.

I am registered, and I vote.

It's hard for me to get excited about most of the candidates in local, state, and national elections. However, I am registered and I vote. As a citizen of the United States, it's a privilege and an obligation.

I expect that by the time March 2 rolls around, the democratic candidate will already be chosen, so I probably won't bother. Aside from that, I always vote.

Yeah... I'll vote. I don't want to. But I do anyway.

I vote. Did everybody see how close the presidential election was last time? Your vote ABSOLUTELY COUNTS! I've got more to say about elections being rigged, but that's something to talk about in another thread.

I am and I will. It's a right people die to protect

I'm registered, but I'm not voting. None of the candidates are worthy for a vote, so I'm not going to waste my time.

I'll vote... not that my vote will do much good in Good ol Republican Utah.

I feel it is our duty to vote, even if the candidates suck, atleast I spoke my opinion and know I tried to get some halfway decent.

been voting ever since I was 18.

Amen. And, frankly, if you don't know, I do feel it's your responsibility not to cast a vote based on ignorance. It's OK to not be up on the issues (although I do think it's everyone's responsibility to care and educate themselves on their politics), but recognize that by not educating yourself on the issues it's your responsibility to let people who have vote and to not complain as well. I'm sick of people voting on one issue, on party lines, or because a candidate "seems nice." Educate yourself or stop letting your ignorance effect how the country I too live in is run.

Personally, I'd say to this, go ahead and don't vote. I'm assuming that since you don't want to vote you don't take the time to educate yourself on the different candidates and such, so just don't vote. Nothing personal, but it's a waste of your time and vote to do so without knowing exactly what you're voting for and/or caring about it.

Good for you. Be sure to look at third party candidates and write-ins as well. Sometimes there are gems within the rough. Nonetheless, let me personally extend a thank you for not voting. You're voting (or not voting) based on what you believe and not a "lesser of 2 evils" attitude or anything similar. This is something that far too many people no longer do, and you are acting in the truest way to the concept of each individual vote counting.

I'm a strong advocate for people voting and more people being involved in politics, but I'll be damned if I ever suggest to someone that they should vote for someone they don't actually WANT to be their president or representative just because they want the "other guy" even less, or to vote because it's their "duty" even though they have no clue about what's going on other than who's popular and talks nicely.

As for myself, I'm registered and still looking for a candidate I feel deserves my vote. Not saying none of the current potentials may be that candidate, I'm just not sure yet.

I am a resident of Washington State, living in Asia. I am registered as a permanent absentee, meaning I don't have to request ballots, they are automatically sent to me for every election I am elegible for. I have voted four times in the last year, and chide those ex-pats that don't or won't. I think the last presidential election showed that absentee votes can make a difference.

yep. will have to re-register in the new township soon - we're movin in a month or so.

I'm a contributor to my party and causes as well.

Ironically I just registered today for the very first time. Only 19 so it's not that bad a record.

It was the first thing I did when I turned 18.

My first ballot was cast in Novermber 2000 in the State of Florida.

This year, I will vote and predict that Pandas will ride on Killer Whales, invading Washington D.C., rolling around, crushing things, and eating lucky banboo.

I am registered, I am pretty sure I will vote, pretty sure on who I'm going to vote for- but there is still more time to observe........

I'll vote. This will be my first presidential election. Like the bumper sticker on my car says:

Anyone but Bush

2004

^^^woohoo!

He he he...I like that. I'm gonna try to not vote with that mentality, but I simply don't like George Dubya.

Bravo!! :thumbsup:This is something that I think people in America has taken for granted, those damn non-voters. I was too young to vote in the last election, but this one I'll sure as Hell i'm gonna vote. GO DEMOCRACY!!!

I am 22 and started voting in the last few years. The Bush administration made me wake up and realize what happens to this country when people get lazy and don't vote.

Re: Are you registered? Will you vote?
 

isnt it illegal to not register? and also, isnt it illegal to not vote if you are registered?


over here in australia it is. if you dont register or vote you will get heavily fined if they find out.

talking about voting, i had to vote yesterday in our state election. i hate all those people who stand out side the place where you vote and try to get you to vote their party.

Not illegal at all. Making it illegal would be a violation of one's right IMO (and I'm guessing in the government's opinion), and not voting can be just as much a display of your political view as voting is (not to mention my thoughts concerning what I think about people who vote but aren't fully aware of what they're voting for and have good reasons why).

Bravo SecretMethod. I could not agree more.

I think too many people vote. I am astonished to hear from people who vote based entirely on a few sound bites they hear on the news the week before an election. One woman in my office votes the way her preacher tells her. Several years ago I asked her if she had seen an article in the paper. Her response was, "Oh, I don't read the paper." Frankly, that frightens me.

I would like to see people meet some threshold in order to be able to vote. Maybe they should prove they have read at least two editions of a newspaper in the previous 6 months. They should have at least a basic knowledge of our system of government and the way the voting process works. (I don't mean the punch cards or computers, but rather the way the electoral college works.) For the last time people, the popular vote does not now, nor has it ever, determine the winner. If you don't like it, fine. Get involved and work for a constitutional ammendment to change the rules, but don't whine because we follow the rules.

In Heinlein's Starship Troopers, voting was restricted to citizens. In order to become a citizen, you had to serve in the military or someother alternative service.

As an aside to those who want "anyone but Bush," that kind of negative motivation has been highly unsuccessful in recent elections.

i actually jagree with what you said secretmethod. if i didnt have to vote i probably wouldnt, well maybe not for the next couple of years. even though i am 20, i feel i am still a little immature to vote. once i start reading the paper properly and watching the news then i will. i mean i do have my preferences and do know who i would like to be in.

i know its probably not the best attitude to have and to admit to, but atleast im honest about it.

Yes I am register and I'm going to vote just to get Bush out of the office.

I've been registered in the past and haven't voted. I have no desire to learn about politics or to become educated in the corrupt ways of the politicians lifestyle. On a side note, it bores me to tears!

Our choice to vote or not to vote is our own personal freedom. No citizen has the right to brow beat others for their lack of interest in the government or for not voting.

registered, and have voted in every election i was eligible for since turning 18.

to anyone who says they don't have to vote, show up to the polls. get a ballot. turn it in blank. the number of non voting voters will at least give heart to new canidates and parties who might otherwise beleive they have no chance. to quote someone a hell of a lot wiser than me, be the change you want to see in the world. if politics sucks, take responsbility and start working on it.

I have voted ever since I turned 18. Every primary, general election and everything else. In a couple weeks there is an election to recall the county treasurer out here that I'll be voting in.

my first vote won't be so much as for one candidate as it will be a vote against another one. :(

One important thing is that young voters get their asses out there and vote. Even if they don't feel passionately about the issues that are currently in politics. The more young people vote, the more politicians will notice that they vote, and the more they will actually focus on issues that young people care about. Otherwise it will continue to be the sad cycle of all the old people voting and hogging all the issue-time!

Yea, vote every time...never vote a straight ticket...love to vote in the primarys where I can change back a forth between parties..
It really screws with those old peoples head that are running the voteing booths....they just don't understand not voteing the way you did the last time...

If you don't vote---don't bitch---you had your chance..

I'm not registered to vote yet.. but I will.. And I will vote. I'm already keeping up on who I want to vote for. I can't wait till we get to vote.

I'm registered and I vote. I've missed maybe 3 elections in the 24 years I've been able to vote and those were primary elections where my candidates ran unopposed. My son turns 18 this year and he'll be registered and I hope he'll vote too.

People take the right to vote for granted. The turnouts for elections is pitiful. Our subdivision has 1000 homes in it. The average turnout for elections in our subdivision is 4% :eek: WTF? Don't let someone else decide for you who gets elected. Your vote DOES count. Make it count.

i am registered but i didnt vote last year. kinda wish i did but i am registered only in one area and its 40 miles away. think i need to fix that for this year, i dont want Bush to come back.

My great grandparents have been registered for 60 years and never voted.

yep, registered and vote. I even show up in the off year elections where there's only one or two propisitions on the ballot. That's when your vote has the most voice because there's such a low turnout.

I am registered, and I plan to vote. It's an important duty.

I'm registered to vote and I plan on voting! I voted in the last election as well. I view it as my duty as an American Citizen.

I am registered, I vote in every eletion, and I am sorry to break the trend, but Bush gets my vote.

oops, sorry but the word is "ELECTION"

I don't vote. I'm not registered. I could give a rat's ass about who's going to come in and 'rule the world' next or who's going to come in and try to fix the last guy's mistakes. Its all bullshit.

And, I'm tired of people saying that I have no right to bitch about the state of the world. I love the world, I think that a great many things need to be rectified in the world and I openly discuss them with whomever wishes. Bitching only leads to more bitching and other arguementative language - if you see something wrong maybe you'd do better to try and actively change the situation, right the wrong. Start on a small scale - take the elderly lady down the block to the grocery store, or go read to the blind. If everyone showed a bit of kindness, our world leaders as well, the world would be a better place.

Voting is very important, I know for sure I am not voting for Bush, but for people who think it is not important who knows if hundreds of people would be alive today if Bush hadn't been voted for president. Think about that!

I am registered and have voted in every election for the past 10 years. This year, for the first time, I am contemplating not voting, as I am completely dissatisfied with all my options. I think I will turn in a blank ballot. As someone mentioned earlier: voting for no one is just as powerful as voting for someone.

I have voted in every election since the first one I was eligible for in 1991.

This year will be no exception.

I'm registered, and I do vote-

Lazy options: when you register, you can request to be a permanent absentee- they send you ballots to be mailed in.

Other Ways To Be Heard: I recently signed up for the ALCU's newsletter- they send free faxes for you (in your own words) to your representatives in congress on any civil liberties you feel are being taken away. (ie: the PATRIOT Act). www.alcu.org

Not to threadjack, but I recommend it - it's easy and takes virtually no time to try to influence your representatives (whether or not you voted for them).

This is the first time I will vote in a presidential election. I've taken it upon myself to keep up with the candidates so that I can actually vote well.

Amen. I have the freedom of speech, and my lack of participation in the voting process doesn't take away my right to voice an opinion on the officials of my country. I disagree with the idea a vote gives you a voice since the electoral college are the ones who decide who is elected, and can override the people, as they did with Garfield's election. Even if it has only happened once It still happened, and that nullifies our voice IMO.

Combine that with partisanship and the fact that an "off-brand" candidate (like Nader) will never attain the presidency shows me the futility of voting since I won't vote for Democrats or Republicans, and that's your only two choices if you realistically want to vote for a winner.

and for the argument that ppl died for my right to vote...I would guess they died for many other things as well, not to mention they also died for my decision not to vote. I'm exercising my rights and not bothering like I have since 1990.

While to each his own, those of you who haven't registered because you didn't know how, just step onto a nearby college campus- There'll either be a college republican/democrat table somewhere, or people with clipboards pestering you :). I've spent a good portion of the last week getting people registered to vote, and trying to get people informed about what the major issues each candidate is supporting. A blank ballot is a vote, just get to the polls. While informed votes are the best, giving even a vague voice is better than doing nothing at all.

well i wasn't old enough by a year to vote in the 2000 elections. damn me. since then, i've had numerous chances to vote for other local things but never did because i didn't really feel i was very involved or educated in politics.

i'll vote this year because i am more interested in politics and how our country is being run than i have been.

Ya know.. George Carlin says that by NOT voting.. he has a voice.. because when the wrong guy gets voted into office it.. WASN'T his fault. If you vote in someone.. can you bitch? Not really you voted him in.

As for me? I go with Smeth where I plead ignorance. I don't educate myself on the issue because I dont' have the time. You could say, "sure you do!, just go and read up on blah blah blah" but if so,you don't understand. If i'm going to vote on something like this, I'm going to research over and over until I know everything as this isn't something that should be taken lightly. I don't have the time to gain all of said knowledge, and thus I will not feel prepared to take on the vote. Sometime it might hit close to home and then I'll find a way around my current issue.. but right now it stands as it is. I don't have the time to do the proper research to feel prepared enough to give my vote... so I don't. It doesn't help any that it doesn't interest me.

Same here.

I used to say that if you don't vote you shouldn't complain but I have come around to the idea that maybe not voting is a vote against the system or the lack of decent candidates.

This is not the same this as not voting due to apathy. I only mean this where not voting is a concious decision.

I think that it is a pretty bad situation that I have voted for 32 years and most of the time my only choice was to vote for the least despicble candidate because there rarely seems to be a "good" one.

I'm registerd, you can do it online now. I missed the last election by a few months. I'm definalty voting.

Registered and will be voting, twice.

Registered? Yes. Going to vote? Not likely. I coulden't care less as to who is our president. It makes no difference to me because I see them as all the same type of person, one quality that binds them all together : Corruption. I doubt there is one honest politician out there. So, that's a reason why I won't be voting -- It's no use.

I've spoiled more than one ballot.

To the original question, yes and yes.

Maybe if enough of us do, we can change history

I'm registered and will vote in both my state's primary and general elections.

I'm registered to vote. And vote I will.

If I didn't at least vote, I would have no right to open my mouth about a candidate I don't like getting into office. I also distribute information about candidates to help inform people who will be voting.

I don't have to register to vote. :P

yep and yep

Well i just turned 18 and the first thing i did was buy porn... ha

Next, I registered to vote and will be voting come November.

I don't actually remember registering...I think we did in my senior government class. At any rate, I voted in the last presidential election. Really not that enthusiastic about this year's election, since the candidate I liked is no longer in the running. Guess I'll have to read up on the other democratic candidates...

heh...I bought lottery tickets.

yes and yes.

I always wonder if my vote counts, but I love those cubicles!

I turned 18 over 4 months ago, haven't bothered to get registered. I plan on getting registered and throwing away my vote on the libertarian candidate.

Would if I could but I can't so I won't.

That's because I'm a lowly resident alien. But definitely will if/when I become a citizen.

I am not registered but will be soon. It sucks when you don't like any of the candidates but still want to pick someone.

Every election since '72. Never hung a chad, niether!